TeachthruTech

The district I work for, Lamar Consolidated ISD, is set to have its annual T3 Conference on August 7th.  T3 stands for Teaching Through Technology.  I know what everyone is thinking now and I guess you are probably all right…I stole the name for my blog!  I honestly did not even put that together until we started discussing this year’s venue.  When I set my blog up this name sounded good…now I know why! (Thanks @octobersmith !!! ;o))  It was unintentional, but funny none the less.

The T3 conference is a great way to kick off the school year.  What makes it great?  All the people presenting are from the district.  It is a combination of teachers, tech specialists, and administrators who are giving their time to share a technological breakthrough they have found success with in their classroom or school.  The day is split into one hour sessions with 8 sessions running each hour.  Participants are able to choose which sessions they want to attend.  It is a first come, first served basis.  They can stay for an hour or all day.  The sessions cover different topics from social media to IWB to 2.0 tools.  It seems there is a little something for everyone!

What makes this so special? 

I believe it is a combination of a few things:

1. Peer learning.  A training always seems more relevant to me when a colleague or peer is giving it.  They have been in our shoes.  They share the same experiences.  Right away the training has more value because it is tried  in our environment.
2. Flexibility.  Being able to hop in and out makes it nice.  I love the idea of being in control of my day.  If I only want to attend the morning, I can!
3. Short bursts of information.  I like being able to experience many different ideas in a training day.  It is nice to get the information, take in what you need, and then move on.  When you are stuck in an all-day training it most often results in over-kill.  You are hearing the same information over and over.  Not only does it get long, it also puts a negative taste in  you mouth for something that you may have been excited about in the beginning.