Esri and being a Teacher Video Challenger Winner

I've been working a lot with ArcGIS online for almost 5 years now.  This amazing mapping technology has completely changed my teaching and given me so many experiences I would not have otherwise had.  

It all started with an amazing 3 day PD at the University of Maine at Farmington in 2015 with the Maine Geographic Alliance- The presenters are ALL now friends and GIS colleagues 

Then 2016 I actually went to Esri in Redlands, CA for T3G (Teachers teaching teachers GIS) where I met the most amazing people including many important people in Esri Education who I have continued to work with

I was invited to Louisville to look at a GIS teacher certification with other GIS educators from around the country

I've been asked to present at conferences on using GIS in the classroom including the National Geographic Education Summit and most recently I presented 2 sessions on making Story Maps at the North East ArcUsers Conference (NEARC) at Sunday River.  

My passion is teaching other teachers about this awesome technology, but I also love teaching students to use this technology, so imagine my excitement when I found out last Friday that I am this months Esri Teacher Video Challenge Winner for my work with GIS in my classroom.  I will be recording a 3 minute video next week for Esri talking about how I use ArcGIS in my classes and I get $500!  (I'm buying computer mice and a 360 camera for my class).  

It's amazing how passionate I have become about this company and this software.  All K-12 schools get a free ArcGIS organizational account.  I'm also very excited they are starting a national campaign and have released their first commercial, which means they will becoming a name recognized in households around the world.  

National Geographic Education Summit 2019

A week ago I returned from the National Geographic Education Summit, where I had been invited to co-lead a session on using ArcGIS online in the classroom.  This week has been crazy since coming back but I have to blog about this amazing experience.

So on Thursday October 3rd, I worked half a day and then boarded a plane to DC at noon to head for the conference.  Here I am listening to Michelle Obama's Book Becoming.  An hour and a half later I was landing at Ronald Reagan.

I took the metro from Reagan to the city and walked from the Metro station to my hotel.

 

 

I was tired (I had worked that morning) so I though I might take a nap, but then I realized how close I was to the Whitehouse so I decided to take a walk.  There were protesters out and sooooo many secret service agents around.

 
 

I then walked over to National Geographic for the Reception and Opening Ceremony.  I walked in an immediately ran into other GIS people I knew.  The reception was amazing, so much food, open bar, great conversation.  Then we went into the Grosvenor Auditorium and heard about the National Geographic Strategy and from some amazing presenters, we even went on a VR dive to swim with the Manna Rays.  This set the stage for the rest of the weekend.  I can't even remember all I learned I just know it was amazing, the explorers, the research, the imagery, and people.  I am now horrified by plastics, amazed by photography, want to explore the world, and map it all.  I worked with some other amazing GIS teachers and our presentations went very well.  I got to talk with educators in Mexico through a portal, learn about how Genetics works in creating medicines, oh and did I mention the people.  Every photo of me at the event I am glowing, I was in my element, and all I could think about is how do I make this my everyday.  I want to work with educators, I want to teach them how to teach about the world and use GIS, but I live in Maine and have a family here.  I think this is my big take from the whole thing is I need to figure out how to make this my reality, working with amazing professionals who inspire me, allowing me to travel, keeping me in education but in a different aspect, but still live in Maine with my family.

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

By the time it ended on Saturday afternoon I had fallen even more in love with National Geographic and Esri, if that is at all possible.  I still had some time to explore the city and I did, the entire time thinking about how I can do this type of work all the time.  

 

THANK YOU ESRI FOR INVITING ME TO BE ONE OF YOUR VOICES AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOR THE AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

Exciting start to the year

It has been a busy start to the school year.  I have 3 freshmen geography classes, 2 US History courses, and 2 students doing GIS independent studies.  I am also trying to get a mapping club going as well.  Oh and the 2 technology graduate classes I am taking.  Also my 4 year old is playing soccer.  So if that doesn't sound crazy enough a couple weeks ago I got an email inviting me to Washington DC to the National Geographic Education Summit.

Now I am a National Geographic Certified teacher and a Phase 1 certification trainer (you want to go through it come to the Maine Council for the Social Studies annual conference I am running a session), but I never expected to get an invitation to a conference where airfare and lodging are completely paid for.  I went through the nightmarish process of requesting the days off on the new system we have this year (that's a story for another time) and got them approved and then I got an email from National Geographic asking if I would be willing to be a co-presenter for a session on GIS at the Summit.

Okay let me recap- I am being asked to present at National Geographic!!!!!!!!! I am screaming on the inside.  I was recommended personally by my idol, Charlie Fitzpatrick, who is the Esri Education Manager (dream job).  So I'm freaking out a little bit.  I've been going over my presentation and over and over and meeting virtually with my teammates.

So needless to say things are crazy but so so exciting.  I have a dream of being chosen for the National Geographic Grosvenor Fellowship this year and this is going to look great on my application.

I plan to do some live tweeting on my trip so stay tuned for that.  Wish me luck.
Wheels up in 12 days!

5 friends we need as teachers

2 weeks until we go back to school.  I don't know about you guys but I am so not ready, but I am ready to see my people which is why we are going out for drinks tonight.  I work with the most amazing people.  These people make work fun and entertaining.  It made me think about the types of teacher friends we need. 

1. The crazy one-  That teacher friend who outside of school you would never know they were a teacher.  The have fun all the time.  They will drag you to a dive karaoke bar and then ditch you with a guy you probably shouldn't be ditched with.  They are the life of the party and when you see them in the halls at school all you can do is smile... because you know.

2. The responsible one-  This one has responsibilities both in and out of school.  They stay at work late and have to go home from functions early.  They keep you grounded and remind you of your responsibilities too.  They care about everyone and are a great source of positivity.  When you are having a bad day they are there to cheer you up.

3. The entertainer-  This teacher friend is the life of the party.  They always have a story and crazy things happening to them.  This friend could write a book with all the crazy antics they have seen.  They make you laugh constantly.  They also know everything else that is going on in the school because everyone tells them everything... even if they don't want to know.  This friend makes your days bearable. 

4. The newbie-  This kid just started teaching and they are still kind of living their college life, but with a pay check.  They don't have many responsibilities so they can do whatever they want.  They are stuck working with the veterans (aka old people) and encourage them to embrace their younger selfs and go out and cut loose.  You will end up with a hangover if you try to keep up with them... but they will be at the gym the next morning like it was nothing.

5.  The follower-  This friend is up for anything.  They are the friend you throw under the bus when volunteers are asked for.  All you have to do is say let's do something and they are there.  You can typically depend on them for anything especially getting a drink after a long week... or day.

Can you think of any other type of friends we need as teachers? Which one are you?  Drop your comments below. 

#clearthelists

So the #clearthelist movement has taken the twitterverse by storm and it is a great movement.  Teachers often have to buy their own classroom supplies and this allows people with means to buy them pencils and paper they need. 
My classroom wishlist is a bit different and honestly I feel bad sharing it because so many teachers are looking for paper and pencils.  I started my wish list a while ago with dreams and ideas for my classroom.  A drone for aerial photography for my geography students, a 3D printer to print out topographic maps, and create game pieces for historic games, and then this week after attending Summer Tech in Portland, Maine, a Google Expeditions kit and ipads got added to my wishlist.  So to clear my list it would be around $10,000. 

It seems teachers are donating to other teachers classrooms and that is great but doesn't that defeat the point.  We are limited and not even getting the basic supplied let alone in having a say in what technology we have to teach with in our classroom.  And that is the point: the teachers with the best ideas and plans don't have the resources to initiate those plans.  They don't get a say in how they go about teaching because they don't have a say in the resources they get to teach they way they want. 

I hope you all get your lists cleared by people who have the means to clear them.  Mine is a dream list so unless $10,000 is pocket change to you (I'm looking at you Zuckerburg) don't worry about me.  I make due.  Help out those teachers who need it. 
-TLM

Let's do this!

Okay hi everyone.  After spending a few days at a tech conference in Portland, Maine  I decided to start a blog.  What will the blog be about I asked myself? Pedagogy?  Technology?  My obsession of GIS? How about a little of it all and balancing life with a fun and snarky twist.  So follow along and lets see how this goes.