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"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."- William Butler Yeats This week fires were ignited all around! For an entire week I had the privilege and honor to be with 75 other SEEs from around the world. Even though I had attended a SEE Summit in 2012, I began to get really nervous about two weeks before leaving for Calgary. I wasn't sure if I was going to be ready, if I was going to remember things from SMART since I had taken a few weeks off this summer after summer school ended, or if my fellow "oldies" that were going would remember me (even though we still keep in touch through facebook, twitter, google+, etc). Then a few days before I left I got an email from "newbie" that was going. She and I were actually able to talk on the phone. It made me feel a little better and I think calmed her a bit, too. My trepidation settled on the second leg of my plane ride when I saw familiar faces and shared the flight with friends from the past Summit and other conferences I attended. This made going through customs and the Calgary airport much easier.
The week started with a dinner kick-off on Sunday night that truly inspired and set the tone for learning and collaboration. At the beginning of the week we were sparked by hearing and seeing the direction SMART is heading. Everyone will have to wait and see what is coming, but your mind will be completely blown away! We also saw SMART amp, the new web based software that allows students to collaborate on any device, as well as be assessed on content. Throughout the week, we were able to ask questions, make suggestions, and put in requests for possible updates to the developers, SMART big-wigs, as well as many special others. Some of our SEEs shared their global collaboration success stories. After that, we were able to plan a global collaboration project. Everyone was generating ideas of how they could use SMART amp with their students. I can't wait to start mine with Martina and her class in the Czech Republic! Thank you Rafranz for the help, too. For two days, thirteen SEEs worked with developers during Hackathon sessions to create updates on software that might end up happening on some of the SMART products. It brought tears to my eyes and chills throughout my body to see what the minds of these people came up with in such a short amount of time. I can't wait to see what rolls on out! While the Hackathoners were working, we were participating in SMART amp camp, and asking burning questions, finding out about global collaboration, and planning our own. On Thursday, we were broken into focus groups with the SMART staff where each group shared information and presented new ideas. Neil Gaydon, President and CEO of SMART, sent us on our way in true celebrity fashion with the honorary white hat ceremony.
To finish off the week, we celebrated with an appreciation dinner at Fort Calgary with an 80's theme Murder Mystery. Then it was off to beautiful Lake Louise and Banff to sightsee and contiribute to the Canadian economy. This entire incredible week would not have been possible without Deena Zenyk. She is such a fabulous person and deserved the amazing award she received this week. Congrats Deena and thank you so much! You have lit the fire in all of us!
