Before I got on the plane for Seattle I had already contacted and received information from a presenter whos session was cancelled. The presenter even offered to answer any questions I had throughout the school year. So when I arrived in Seattle I was eager to learn all I could from the different sessions and other people that who were attending the NECC. On the plane I meet eight of my fellow Georgia conference travelers. My excitement about attending this conference grew.
After the very long flight, picking up our bags and checking into the hotel we were finally on our way to the convention center. I was really excited about the bag I received from checking into the conference. At the newcomers session some of my confusion about the sessions, workshops and make & takes were cleared up. After that session I felt I had a better understanding about the different parts of the conference and what I wanted to do.
Following the newcomers session was a bus ride to the Key Arena for the keynote. I was very impressed with Dr. Jemison. She mixed humor and information into a motivated speech. I was inspired to learn as much as I could about technology from this conference. I enjoyed her speech and agreed with some of the points she made about technology in schools. For example the point about how technology is a tool and not a replacement for a teacher I thought was an important point to make.
I did spend some time at the reception that followed the keynote. The reception was outside with small tent for food and refreshments. The lines going into the tent were a little long for me so I wanted to eat at the hotel. I did get to see an Indian dance and heard metal drums being played. There was also an artist decorating name badges at the reception.
