iLearn Technology

Believe it or not, I have a life outside of education and technology.  I know…it is shocking!  When I’m not thinking education or technology I’m a big fan of cooking, decorating, sewing, creating.  Because I can’t fully ever leave technology behind, I started a blog to contain all of these extra passions. Happiness is a Project is a blog that I started to chronicle my other passions.  Some of the posts are creations from my talented, genius of a husband.  Others are my creations.

If you find yourself occasionally needing a break from education and technology, head on over and be inspired by our passions.  We hope that it ignites your sense of creativity and connection to more.  The full blog is at http://happinessisaproject.wordpress.com  You can also find us on my Happiness is a Project Pinterest board.

We are at our happiest when we have projects.  We love to create and putz around with new ideas.  Give yourself permission to pursue passions outside of education and tech.  I find that my creativity within education and tech is spurred on when I take a break to pursue other passions!

Maybe you fall in LOVE with my husband’s projects as much as I do.  If you aren’t down for recreating your own version, Jonathan just opened an online store where you can purchase some of his creations.  Check it out at http://LegacyGoods.com  That boy I love is TALENTED!

In case you didn’t catch it, the title is a quote from a Christmas Story.  If you haven’t seen this classic…it is time to change that!

Last night was the Edubro Awards.  I got the best award of my life: The Best Smile that kills award.  (not sure about the “that kills” bit but will take it none the less).

For the record this is the best education award show I have seen.  Well done @tgwynn and @thenerdyteacher

If you missed the award show, you can see the archive and list of winners here.

Wow!  Somehow the #Edublog awards snuck right up on me without me noticing. The problem with this: I completely missed the part where you get to nominate your edu heroes.  That is a bummer!  I seem to be about a week behind in my life in general this year.

I am so honored to be included in this year’s nominations.  Thank you to those of you who considered me worthy of mention.  I so appreciate all of my readers and those of you who give me consistent encouragement- you keep me going (even a week behind)!

This year I was nominated for  Best Ed Tech Blog (I assume that means iLearn Technology).  This blog is truly a labor of love.  I haven’t been as good at updating daily as I have in the past, but I do manage a few times a week.  For now that is a MAJOR accomplishment.  Thank you to all of my readers.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you and how it keeps me going to know that others benefit from iLearn Technology.  You are wonderful.

The next award, I’m not quite sure what to do with this one.  It is a lifetime achievement award.  Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely floored and flattered.  However; I am 30 years old.  I hope this doesn’t mark my lifetime achievement  I still have the Learning Genome to launch.  THAT will be an achievement!  On the other hand, if I have peaked at 30- I am blessed.  I’ve started a school (Anastasis Academy) that I believe honors children every day.  That is an achievement!

Thank you to all of you who have nominated me, who believe in me, who cheer me on and keep me going.  I honestly couldn’t do what I do without you.  Thank you!

If you are interested in finding some truly incredible blogs/projects/people to follow, you should take a look through the Edublogs nominees.  SO many people to inspire you!  Voting is taking place until December 9th here.  Of course I am flattered by votes.  If you recognize or find new eduheroes, it really is an encouragement to be recognized for what you do.  Vote for your favorites.

It is 22 days away.  That is it!  Can you feel the excitement building?  Me too!

The first EVER edcamp Denver is happening April 28, 2012 at Del Pueblo Elementary.  If you have never been to an edcamp, you are in for a treat.  This is not your typical conference…in fact, it is an unconference.  Best of all, it is FREE.  Yeah, I said it. Free!

Here are a few details about the day (but really, you should just head on over to the website to learn all about it and register.)

Edcamp Denver will begin at 8:00am with registration, breakfast refreshments, networking, and session-building with your colleagues. This is when you can sign up to lead a session, prepare for the day’s events, and meet some new friends. At 9:30, the organizers will kickoff the unconference and Edcamp Denver will get underway!
Sessions will be 50 minutes in length, and there will be 10 minutes in between each session to allow participants to navigate the building, tweet, pause, write, and reflect on their learning.
Lunch will be tbd.
Bringing a laptop or netbook is recommended. Wireless internet will be available, and we encourage you to use it!

Mark your calendars and plan on joining us.  You will be making history here!

Edcamp Denver

This post is for all of my American friends:  You may have noticed some of your favorite sites (Google, Wikipedia, Pinterest, etc.) have some funky things going on with them today.  That is because the Internet as we know it is at risk.  I know, it sounds diabolical!  I hope that you will take 3 minutes to help save the web by calling your Senators and letting them know why SOPA and PIPA are such a terrible idea.  Take a little visit over to American Censorship (http://americancensorship.org), enter your phone number and zip code (or fill in above).  You will immediately receive a phone call with some discussion points about the bill and tips for a worthwhile conversation.  Then, you will be directly connected with your local Senator(s).  After work hours? It was for me!  That’s okay, just leave a message stating why you believe SOPA and PIPA are such a bad idea.   This truly is a fast and painless process.  You know what wouldn’t be painless? Censored Interwebs.

I’m a little late on this one..I took a few days to lay low and really be off the grid as an early present to myself.   This holiday season I wish you all the joy of family, the happiness of friends and a new year of inspiration and love.  Sending you all a warm, heartfelt thank you for being a part of making iLearn Technology such a success.  I look forward to connecting with you all in 2012!

Try our video maker at Animoto.

This is a random one… so fair warning!

#1  An enormous THANK YOU to those who nominated iLearn Technology for the Edublog awards (also known as the Eddies).  It is enormously encouraging to be recognized for this little “hobby” I started almost 5 years ago.  You all push me forward, challenge me, encourage me and keep me striving for what’s best for kids.  I appreciate you!  The Edublog awards is a great place to learn about new edu resources that are worth keeping track of. Take a look at the nominees for instant inspiration!

• Cooperative Catalyst (this certainly has NOTHING to do with me lately…has been a while since I have contributed…but the other bloggers are AMAZING) was nominated for Best Group Blog
• iLearn Technology was nominated for Best Ed Tech Blog
• Reform Symposium was nominated for Best open PD/unconference/webinar

#2  I am addicted to Pinterest. Addicted. Sometimes I don’t blog because I spend 3 hours lost in Pinning goodness. If you haven’t checked out Pinterest, now is the time. Now, if only I could tear myself away from Pinterest to actually DO those things I pin.   You can find my boards by searching “Kelly Tenkely”.

#3  On Saturday I will be hosting the first annual “Staci” awards (pronounced Sta cee).  Those of you who are fans of the Office will remember the Dunder Mifflin “Dundie” awards.  We have the Anastasis Staci awards. It is going to be epic.  We have some pretty amazing (read hilarious) awards to give out to our teachers and board members.  When you build a dream team staff, get togethers are a WHOLE lot more fun!  The jury is still out for picture sharing from the event…there is no telling what will happen.

#4  Speaking of Board Members, we have an incredible board at Anastasis. They are incredibly supportive and approved our desire to send ALL of our staff to EduCon this year!  Philly, I hope you are ready for our awesome. Bam.

#5  Only the best for our Board Members, since they all have iPhones, this is the Christmas gift I am giving this year.  Koostik makes iPhone speakers (amplifies sound without power) out of gorgeous wood.

Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of the creator of Koostik.  I like to call him dad. He is a genius. And really talented.  And practically perfect in every way (anyone pick up on that Mary Poppins reference?).

Need some exciting news to start your March off right?  You all are so lucky, this is the place! StarrMatica is giving away a one year classroom membership (that is a $300 value!!) that will give you access to all 3,800 of reading, math, music, art, and science resources to a lucky iLearn Technology reader!  This stuff is GOOD, I should know because I helped out with the music, art, and science resources.  The subscription gives you access to teacher-written flash activities, animations, games and manipulatives as well as a database of over 3,200+ hand selected (some by yours truly) ad-free links.  Aren’t you feeling springy and smiley just reading about it?  Yeah, me too.

StarrMatica is a Prometheus award winning educational publishing company founded, owned and operated by one of iLearn Technology’s first Edublogger Alliance members, Emily Starr!

So, now that I have your attention you are probably wondering how to enter for your chance to win.  There are 3 ways to enter,  enter using all 3 methods and get 3 entries (just because I am feeling EXTRA generous on this sunshiny Colorado day!)

1. Subscribe to iLearn Technology via RSS or email. (If you are already subscribed, you can send me a Tweet with the hashtag #luvilearntech)

2. “Like” iLearn Technology on Facebook (Or if you have already “liked” it, you can leave me a message about how much you would like to win on the iLearn Tech FB page).

3. Fill out this Teacher Assessment/Creativity survey (would love for EVERYONE to do this one!!)

Easy peasy right?  Right. So get your buns moving and work on one or three of those entry methods!

Thank you to StarrMatica for letting us take part in a fun contest with such an outstanding prize!

I just got an email from Printfection that they are holding a warm up sale on 15 oz coffee mugs.  So for all of you coffee/tea addicts who need a stylin’ mug for your classroom here are the details: from today (February 17) to Sunday, Febrary 20th you can save $3 off of my Bloom’s Peacock 15 oz coffee mug.

To get your $3 off please enter coupon code 2011BRRMug before completing checkout.  The discount is applied to the subtotal and does not include shipping, taxes, or additional charges.

Wondering what I do with my Printfection profits? I use all profits to help fund Donor’s Choose projects, so by supporting your caffeine addiction, you will also be supporting classrooms.  Not. Too. Shabby.

Happy February!

Okay, here is the deal, I know this is a highly unusual post and request from me but bear with me for just a minute while I explain the importance of what I am asking.  At the bottom of the post I talk about a really cool new tool worth checking out.

I am working on a rather large educational project that will make it possible for every teacher to customize and tailor curriculum and learning for each of their students without putting a huge burden on teachers.  I have met some wonderful entreprenuers and business minds as I have worked on that project.  One of those brilliant people is @Toma_Bedolla.  Yesterday Toma and I were talking about this big project and I was trying to convey the powerhouse that is my personal learning network.  People outside of this network don’t really understand how it works or how it can make a difference in the world.  Toma could see that I have a lot of followers on Twitter and that I follow a lot of people on Twitter, what he couldn’t see is incredible support system that it is.  We don’t just follow each other. We make changes happen. We pull together and network and brainstorm and collaborate and discuss and encourage.  People who don’t use social media this way have a hard time getting it.

As we were wrapping up our conversation yesterday Toma mentioned this little contest he was involved in, a contest to get more fit.  Not education related per-say but I thought…what if I could use this contest to help someone outside of the PLN and outside of education see just what a powerhouse my PLN is?  What if by winning a contest (and subsequently $10,000) I could show someone outside of the PLN why it is worth investigating more, why it is worth investing in?  This is where you come in.  I’m hoping that I can get all of you to vote and help Toma out.  The problem?  The site is a PAIN to vote on, seriously, they couldn’t have made it more confusing.  But…it is really just 4 steps and if you know the secret (which I will tell you) it is a piece of cake.  Here is a hint I use on ALL websites that I sign up for that I’m not sure I really want to sign up for (education or not).  Use an @tempinbox email address.  You can type in anything you want before the @tempinbox.com and it will keep you from getting on lists you don’t want to be on.  To confirm the email just go to www.tempinbox.com, type in the preface you used infront of the tempinbox extension and you can click the confirmation in the email.

Here’s the simplest way to vote:

1. Register for a free account at Precision Nutrition: http://on.fb.me/fZBnXk (sign up with that tempinbox.com account if you want)
2. Click the link sent in the confirmation e-mail. (If you used my Tempinbox trick go to www.tempinbox.com to confirm).

3. Scroll to the bottom to click Vote at: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/s2b-winners-2010

4. You will be redirected to the poll where you can vote.  Vote for finalist #8.

Toma is only 146 votes out of the lead for the $10K first prize…  I’m pretty sure my powerhouse PLN can make that happen! I’m a big believer in helping each other out in any way we can, it creates some great education karma.

Now, for the part of the post where I share a really cool tool:  Toma is the brains behind a new website called How Tru.  You’ll have to take a look at the site to really feel its full impact but I have to say-this could be HUGE for education.  Toma describes it perfectly, everyone has a credit score…none of us had to do anything special (other than borrow money) to get that score. A credit score gives us a way to verify whether we can trust someone financially.  How Tru scores will give us a way to begin to verify a persons veracity online.  The ultimate in digital footprints.  The tool has a few implications for education: 1. It gives students and teachers a way to begin verifying the veracity of content. 2. It gives everyone a way to track their digital footprints and the footprints of those they follow.  Pretty cool!  I’ll write a full post as soon as the site is “officially” launched with my ideas of how it can be used in the classroom.

Thank you to all who helped and feel free to spread the word!

Now back to our regularly scheduled edutech content