Yes, I'm still at it, filling my blogs with names and appreciations. There's a bit of a shock when you realize you've been mentioned by name on someone's blog, and a thrill when it's for something good. Here are some more ECOO People categories.
People I Saw at ECOO 2013 that I know from Elsewhere (and Adore)
Annie Slater (@AIslater on Twitter) used to be a teacher-librarian in my family of schools in the Toronto District School Board. We co-presented at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference on "Pets as Possibilities @ Your Library" in 2012. Annie is now teaching Grade 7 at a different school. I'm sorry that she is no longer a teacher-librarian (because she was fabulous) but a great educator is a great educator, regardless of job description or location.
Cyndie Jacobs (@cyndiejacobs on Twitter) is supposedly retired - but if her schedule is that of a typical retired person, then if I want to relax, I better stay employed! Cyndie used to be the Director of Curriculum and Assessment at OTF and I first met her when the Ontario School Library Association began offering week-long sessions with Camp OTF. Cyndie's got her fingers in all sorts of pies and she did a great job co-chairing the ECOO conference this year.
Doug Peterson (@dougpete on Twitter) is a huge inspiration to me. If you search this blog for his name, you will see it appear frequently, as his tweets and blog posts make me reflect on my practice, try new things, and challenge myself. I think that I first met Doug when we participated in the very first Face Off (was it at ECOO or OSLA?). Doug makes everyone feel valued and valuable. If I get a mention in one of his #FF tweets or "This week in Ontario Edublogs" posts, it makes my day. Most of the time Doug has seen me in person, it's been wearing crazy outfits (like a mohawk, wearing roller skates, or a Creeper costume). Even though he was one of the busiest people at the conference, because he was co-chair, he still made time to talk with me.
Alanna King (@banana29 on Twitter) and her husband (Tim King, @tk1ng on Twitter) are to the Canadian Ed-Tech world like David and Victoria Beckham are to English sports&pop culture - icons! I first met Alanna at one of those Library Camp OTF events; I helped present and she attended. Demonstrating early on her huge heart and thoughtful ways, she helped arrange a thank-you card and gift for the OSLA organizers of that event. Alanna and I have a lot in common - we are both teacher-librarians, we are/were both part of the University of Alberta Teacher-Librarianship via Distance Learning, we both present at OSLA Superconference (and that girl can ROCK a 1970s dance party, trust me!), we are both wives and mothers ... my only regret is that I only get to see Alanna in person at conferences. When we are together, we can spend hours talking.
Julie Millan (@jsm2272 on Twitter) has been part of my volunteer and work life for quite a while. I don't remember when we first met. (Ask her. She has a better memory than I do.) She used to be a teacher-librarian and now she's the Instructional Leader for Teaching and Learning with Technology for TDSB. I have the pleasure and honour of working with her on the Ontario School Library Association's editorial board for The Teaching Librarian. I have attended her workshops (and my staff still refer to "remember that good workshop led by Julie whats-her-name? It was really good!"). She is the nicest person, patient despite bureaucracy, optimistic despite setbacks ... she is a person I want to add to my "friend friend" list, not just "work friend" or "TL friend". I saw her at ECOO 2013 for five minutes as we passed each other in the hall, because she's that busy, but we still squeezed time to talk.
People I Saw at ECOO 2013 That I Want to Know More About
(Not a stalker list)
Alana Callan (@alanacallan on Twitter) - Alanna King was "the other Alana", to distinguish her from the amazing human dynamo that coordinated the ECOO 2013 early-morning run. Alana seems to know me, although I'm racking my brain to recall when we might have met, not counting Twitter. Her playful banter with my buddy David Hann made me believe that she would be a joy to sit down and talk to, both personally and professionally.
Jim Cash (@cashjim on Twitter) - Jim was all over ECOO, giving presentations, like this one (which I unfortunately missed), attending sessions, like our Friday Minecraft one, and tweeting frequently and thoughtfully. For me, Jim radiates calm and consideration, two qualities I could benefit from experiencing more.
Moojean Seo (@moojean_seo on Twitter) - Who is Moojean Seo? The Twitter image for Moojean's account are sharpened pencils, and the tweets came fast and furious during ECOO 2013, but I'm dying to put a name to the face!
Andrew Schmitt (@Tall_teacher on Twitter) - Andrew is the "new Julie Millan", but he used to teach at Joyce Public School, a school with great technology integration. He also used to be the teacher-librarian there. We'd have some interesting conversations, I think.
Speaking of names and faces, tomorrow's blog will have photos from ECOO 2013. Happy Halloween!
Sorry I didn't reply last night when you added this post, Diana. I was watching Pit and the Pendulum. I remember distinctly when I first met you. It was at OSLA and I was with a friend at Greater Essex. She pointed to you and said "That's Martha's friend". I'm glad that we made the connection and you've served as a source of inspiration for me and so many others with your advocacy for students and learning practice. I'm honoured to be included in this post.
ReplyDeleteLaughing as I read this post - we actually met at ECOO a couple of years ago :) Your energy is very infectious (in a good way) and I was glad to see you again this year ... Love that you blogged about people that you met at ECOO!!
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