#tltsym18 Professional Development Experience

Yesterday, on St. Patrick's Day, #psuaged19 attended the 2018 Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium at the Penn Stater Hotel. It was a day for networking and meeting new people. My goal was to come away with at least 3 things that resonated with me.


The keynote speaker was Stephen Dubner, author of "Freakanomics." Who knew he would give a shout out to Norman Borlaug? He also talked extensively about agriculture! I was delighted to hear what he had to say about it. I was thrilled to know that an award winning author "understood" the agriculture industry!

My first workshop was about 360 video in the classroom. It was based on a case study by a professor at Penn State Berks. She used it to video a typical day in an elementary classroom. The first time her students viewed the video, they had to focus on the teacher. The second time, focus on the students. And the third time, look at the entire classroom. It was to show that  I really enjoyed this since we are in the midst of our 360 videos for AEE 349.

The following items are from the "Moral Moments" workshop that I attended with several of my other cohort members, Dr. Curry and Dr. Foster. I thought these were some keys to life.

1. "So be it til you change it."

• Unless you take action, things are going to stay the way that they already are.

2. "Changing comments into contributions."

• This is about not just saying something and leaving it go but taking action on it. You put meaning to something and make it worth everyone's while.

3. "Seeing someone walk towards you."

• Referring to actually seeing someone. Not just looking at them but looking inside of them. Realizing who they really are.

4. "Respond, reflect, communicate."

• Something happens, you respond to it. Write it down. Then reflect on it, think about it. Communicate your thoughts to others. If you don't understand, talk it out with someone.

5. "Lift it above the battlefield."

• Basically reflecting. The battlefield is what is going on in your life/around you. Lift it above means to go beyond just being there; think about it.

In "Moral Moments," I was lucky enough to sit beside a lady who had a HUGE jar of M&Ms. She said she won them somewhere and doesn't like them so she figured she would give them away. Each person only got a handful or two but it made my day. I was also getting hangry by that time!😊