The last bit.

Having the proposal broken into a process was beneficial to me. I think it really helped me focus on individual steps as exactly that - steps to a larger movement. As was evident to me in the learning style week, I tend to look at things as a big picture and really don't focus on what it takes to get to that. Having an intricate model to walk through helped me move from ideas to action.

I think the biggest challenge for me was this - moving ideas into action. In a classroom setting, many times I we try things without much thought to the process we should probably use and go through. Sure, we think of pedagogy and the impact it will have on our students, but sometimes we just like to try technology because we saw success on a blog, Twitter, or from friends. We don't necessarily go through a process of how, why, or even IF it will work - we simply just want to try it.  This mindset doesn't necessarily clash with trying to obtain large amounts of money and time to implement a new technology and in my case, a large scale change in grading philosophy for technology. School boards, school presidents and principals, and parents want to see a much more substantiated claim as to why prior to engaging.

I believe that my proposal is going to be proposed at my school.  I want to work a little more on it with the actual tech people here, but I think it's probably going to be a go.  The rubric/dispositions thing was REALLY popular with the teachers/admin I talked to. I think discussing the proposal with them has opened me up to having a greater role in the school. I think we might even consider closing the gap between tech and information. There is discussion about setting up a knowledge management arm of the school and really showing how close the two can really be.  It's quite exciting.

I don't really see anything as incredibly positive or negative - I look at everything as an opportunity for growth. I think I have grown a ton in my knowledge and confidence in all of this and that I am truly grateful.

I think the roles of Tech Specialist and Learning Specialist are so important to schools. We recently got a tech coach at Carmel, but I'm not sure if one person can really do this job. I think it takes a team to do so. To some degree, we all need to be learning specialists or be discussing learning theory and practice on a regular basis. This is how tech integration and use in the classroom can really shine and grow. 

The Journey

When I look at the journey thus far, I feel this project has really helped me understand the role of a technology director at a school. The first step in making the decision to go with iPads was not that difficult as they are probably the best tablets out there, but it is a matter of what that means for teachers and students. As Kilbane and Milman (2013) state, “High-quality tools are dependable and have high odds of working…” (p. 57).The decisions of platform and device are a lot harder to make than I thought. It really took me a while to get my head around the educational philosophies as I am really not getting the devices for one project.  

 

I am getting these devices and creating the framework as a way to change the way the school views projects. As Kilbane and Milman (2013) states our goal should be to make school “1. efficient, 2. effective, and/or 3. engaging for all learners” (p. 55). My excitement for the project comes from this view. If these devices and framework check all three of these boxes, I would be ecstatic.

The success will come from my strengths or my ability to collaborate with others to create meaningful projects for students that provide them the best way to succeed in the ways they learn. Following ADDIE or even SAMR are excellent ways to guide me and my team to the success we need - these push the job of technology specialist into instructional and learning leaders.

Kilbane, Clare R.; Milman, Natalie B. (2013-02-20). Teaching Models: Designing Instruction for 21st Century Learners (New 2013 Curriculum & Instruction Titles) (Page 57). Pearson. Kindle Edition.

Content is King

My idea of education technology has changed, but not so much from the standpoint of how it will work in the classroom, but how educators will use it. 

The professionals that were in class with me came from wildly different backgrounds and ability levels.  To be perfectly blunt, a few people I felt knew a little more than I did, but a lot of people that knew less than most of the students that I deal with.  It will take hours of work on their end to understand the use of technology.  This class is definitely a step in the right direction. 

Sitting in class tonight and watching all of the projects, we saw a number of patterns that popped up.  Blabberize, though neat and engaging, is just another way to deliver a lecture or a speech, was in a bulk of the projects.  Many of the projects had students create presentations using Prezi – replacing PowerPoints of old.  In others, we say projects that included a plethora of links and embedded videos that students can engage in that isn’t as dull like reading. 

I think that’s the bottom line.  Every innovation in education – from even the actual lecture itself – we have pushed students further and further away from reading.  I chatted with a colleague last week about the very topic of reading.  He’s an AP teacher, very old school, and spends his summers reading AP exams and is in constant search for the best World Civilization textbook (how boring!)  What he’s found is that the text books that he’s looked at over the years have been “pictured up” with all kinds of charts, graphs, and photos that as he puts it, “really adds nothing to the story. Students don’t even get a chance to wonder about what things look like.  If there isn’t a photo, there’s a picture.”  This has negatively impacted the reading level.   In turn, the writing quality has diminished over the years, too. 

I think we spend a lot of time marveling at the what’s available on the internet and would love for our students to find their own answers on it.  A lot of times, the students obtain answers that are adequate for the application.  The problem is that when students easily answer questions or solve problems because the class is behind and we “have to get <this> in” we aren’t really helping them learn the material.  In the high school setting, the students are generally getting their information from a website that was written for the general population (around 8^th grade level) and probably throw those into a prezi and present it to the class.  Since the prezi had 5 slides, there were a couple pictures in it, and it had less than 4 words per slide, the kid probably gets a B, probably an A.  “They tried and worked together,” is a response I’ve gotten from a teacher before.  Let’s look at the whole thing – Kid gets an A, teacher “integrates technology,” and the rest of the students learn nothing, but at least they TALKED about the topic they had to!

Content is king and I just don’t think we remember that anymore.  I feel with technology, it’s turned into how the package looks.   

Activity 3: Using Moodle for Projects

I have always wanted to create Information Literacy classes for my students complete with badges support and for the low cost of FREE.  With Gnomio, this is possible! By simply creating a profile, I was able to create a class and if I want, join a class.  I can invite users/students to the site and even give out codes to allow guests to view my content.

infocommoner.gnomio.com > Click on Museum Walk - Podcast Workshop > Log in as Guest > Password: carmelcorn

Process
First, I had to find a suitable project for the Module. I just got finished working with a few teachers on a museum walk project that I created a website for.  This website contained presentations, examples, and helpful tips for students to complete the project. This project would be perfect for
Moodle because it offers skills that can be carried over to other projects and purposes - mainly searching the internet more effectively with Google and Source Evaluation and Citation.
Next, I selected the types of information I wanted to post from the project.  Since a lot of the information was already in the website, I chose to link to the site when I could.
Next, I created a quiz for students to complete upon looking through the information.
Finally, I created a badge for them to earn when they complete the quiz.

Activity:
Basically, I would want students to go through the modules and look at the website to complete the project.  Coupled with workshops in class will provide students the skills they need to be successful on the project.  Finally, I want students to complete the attached quiz in hopes of getting a badge!

What I like about Gnomio:

• I love the badge system.  I envision having a badge system for all of my students.  That way, I know what levels they are all at based on what they have done.  Some students have to sit through presentations that I give to classes numerous times because of the nature of their classes.  Teachers want me to go over Source Evaluation and others don't.  Having badges would make it so everyone knows what the students have done.
• I love the modules that I created.  Since I had most of the materials already done, it was easier, but the modules make it easy for me to flip the class.  Students can be responsible for going through the module and entering class with questions and ready to work.  Students that have missed can easily catch up by going through the modules.

• The quiz function is really nice, too.  There are so many different question types that teachers would be hard-pressed not to find something of their liking, but I just chose the essays for the most part.  I did do a short answer question that was able to be scored by Moodle for me.  I even gave alternate answers that students could earn partial credit on.  Really cool!
• Finally, MoodleDocs - basically, the manual - are linked all over, so users should not get stuck.

What I didn't like about Gnomio:

• The time it takes is kind of nuts.  I would estimate 4 hours to create the modules and I had most of the information done already!  I think future modules will be easier to create and probably less time consuming, but Moodle is by no means "quick".
• I think it took me so long because I really wanted to think about how to present the materials to the students.  This is a good thing, but it was a little more time consuming that I wanted.
• Having stand-alone classes is one thing, but this would REALLY be effective if it were something the entire school invested in.  The badges are a really nice representation of what students know and have gone through.  Many of the same features on Moodle are in Canvas or Blackboard and those are used as LMS.  

Bottom line:
Gnomio offers users a really nice platform for Moodle and will house unlimited classes for free.  Students will like the modules (I think) and might get into earning badges for skills learned and demonstrated.  Teachers might see this as a HUGE investment in time, but will appreciate the results.

Activity 2: Using Tackk with a Club

At Carmel, I've been asked to take over the Broadcast Club and turn it into something big. A lot of this comes from expanding what the club does and how it is perceived.  As a way of starting this process, I chose Tackk as a way to create surveys, advertisements, and chat boards for students.

Ultimately, Tackk provides users a way of connecting to followers using a vast array of pre-packaged "things" students can use to communicate, collaborate, and create.  I liken this to a control center for all of information being pushed out from a person or group.

Beyond these things, Tackk also has a nice array of educator tools. They are really trying to get the educator community involved and have teamed up with a number of educators around the world to get other teachers and schools on board.

Process - Changing the Perception
There are no

1. The first thing I did was to create a hashtag for the posts - #cchsbroadcast.  In Tackk, when one searches for this tag, they are brought to a page of Tackks that have that tag.  Makes sense, but what is nice about this is that users can immediately create a Tackk from this page by clicking the green button on the right.  This will automatically tag his/her next Tackk with that tag.  Pretty impressive.
2. The next thing I did was to create a survey for students to see if anyone is interested in joining the club.  
3. Next, I created a chat area for students that join Broadcast Club.
4. Finally, I created an Instagram for Broadcast Club and connected it to Tackk.

Activity

The first thing I want students to do is to get an understanding of the Tackk program.  The students will create short videos and share them with the world carefully tagging them with cchsbroadcast.  

What I like about Tackk for this Activity and Club Integration:

• I like the idea of this program being the place by which all communications for the Broadcast Club will be created and disseminated.  This provides for a unified front coming from all of the students in the club.  The look and feel of posts from the club will be similar.
• I like this as a place to hold conversations and to post different things. Hashtags really make this program shine.
• Finally, I like integration with almost every social media platform.  I say almost because there are some that are not in here that are gaining in popularity with teens.  I specifically love the integration with Reddit as I think this is an often forgotten place on the internet.  I feel that teens could really get a lot out of Reddit and probably already are, but schools tend to block it as is the case with my school.

What I don't like about Tackk for this Activity and Club Integration (and everything, really):

• I find it to be really generic.  This might provide users freedom to focus on content, but I just feel that the overall look is kind of bland.
• I love the integration, but I really don't like to be integrated.  It's a great paradox about a lot of people.  I really don't like that my information may exist on their servers.
• Finally, the posts are extremely limited.  For the lesson plan I created, I found that this varied slightly from a regular post.  Basically, they slapped an extra text box to say "teacher - class" and added a place for students to upload assignments (basically, this was the comment section before).

Bottom Line:
I think this would be a really awesome place for clubs to organize and disseminate messages to followers and create places for collaboration for members.  Think of it as a social media manager.  Beyond that, I don't think teachers will get much use out of the extremely limited Educator tools.  

Activity 1: Creating an Infographic using Google Drawing

Description of Activity
Link to assignment: goo.gl/cESaeX

For this activity, I want students to learn how to take data and turn it into an infographic.  I imagine the students using Google Forms to create surveys to obtain the datasets necessary for the infographic.  This way, they can easily create graphs and charts to easily incorporate into the Google Drawings.

Google Drawings provides users with a little more control over what is put onto the page as the students are presented with a blank canvas.  They find the images to place on the page and add all of the information.
There are no templates that are ready to use, so I created a guide for the students using data that I collected from students and teachers. I came up with the idea, "3 things I learned today" in order to focus students on a few things.  I even gave the students a tray at the bottom to put in their own thoughts or off-the-cuff type of information they thought was fun, interesting, or just plain silly.

What I like about Google Drawings for this application:

• I love the ability to do whatever you want.  I think that Google has provided a very creative space for users to just use.
• Other sites focused on creating slick infographics are mostly pay, have very little options, and are generally generic.  They are also hard to work with on a Chromebook.
• The font selection is immense and diverse.  I tried to show students this diversity without getting totally crazy.  The three fonts I displayed are whimsical, serious, and handwritten.
• The picture search feature AUTOMATICALLY searches photos that are free use.  I believe this to be the strongest point of the entire program.
• Once I had an idea, it really only took about an hour to create this.
• Students can collaborate and work on items together.

What I didn't like about Google Drawings for this application:

• Having ultimate creative freedom can be a burden. It took me a while to get an idea of what I wanted to do and ended up staring at a blank page for a while.
• It's not Photoshop.  The tools are one thing, but the problem that I have with Drawing lies in the layering of the project.  It was really hard to get a sense of where each element was on the page. In Photoshop and Gimp, this is really easy to interact with and control.  Just not here.

Bottom Line:
Google Drawings is a pretty intuitive program for students to create fantastic looking pictures that can easily integrate elements of other Google Apps.  Of course, this App works really well with Chromebooks.  The only drawback for some students is that it does not offer the control that other programs might have, but this program should provide every user with the ability to create something amazing.

Media Literacy

I think the way we talk to our students and our teachers about marketing and the media has changed a bit.  The consumption of media has changed.  It's been put more squarely in the hands of the viewer, more so than ever before.
Commercials
When I teach kids about commercials, some kids look at me like I'm some square that carries a flip phone.  Actually, most of them don't know what a flip phone is, so I'm some kind of square that checks his twitter using the web interface.  What a nerd.  Bottom line: my kids rarely, if ever, watch commercials.  The business teacher at my school did a Super Bowl ad watch and subsequent hashtag to get kids to interact a little more with the media.  The following Monday, he reviewed the ads and the conversation.  Many of the kids had no reference point for the ads and had a hard time talking about approaches of the advertisers.
Why is this?
I try to suspend my understanding of commercials.  How would I understand commercials if I were a a student?  Here's what I'm thinking:
1) I don't consume television live unless it's a sporting event.  Where are the ads?  The ads pop up during breaks in game play with the announcer generally speaking over them.  Most fields or ice have ads that might not have noise, but provides an almost subliminal message.  I honestly don't believe kids consume these ads.  The players are ads.  LeBron, Kobe, and DRose are billboards.  Beats headphones, Nike shoes-Adidas, Gatorade-Powerade.  Are kids buying these things because of the attachment here?  The amount of money dumped into these players to advertise these products makes it seem like it.
2) When I watch content on YouTube or top plays on the ESPN app, many of the videos start with ads that cannot be bypassed.  Of all of the ads that I've seen, I think I am desensitized to it - I couldn't tell you one that I've seen.  I wonder if the kids are the same.
3) Twitter has "Promoted by" tweets that are ads that pop up in feeds.  I generally scroll by these.
4) The apps I use - primarily games that are free like Madden Mobile or Trivia Crack - ads pop up ALL the time.  For me, I've tuned them out as annoying as they are.  Have the kids?
5) Go to the kids - Kids are using Snapchat, so let's go there.  More and more companies are moving there - even Rand Paul has joined.  This is just one thing in a long line social media "stuff" trying to reach these new audiences.  I wonder how companies used Facebook in 2007 vs today.  Most of my students don't use Facebook much anymore.  My mom does.
6) I generally find out about products and services from people I follow on Twitter.  I wonder how kids do it?
I think what I need to do is a survey with the kids to see how they get information about products or services.  Also, I should find ways to get them to tell me about how they are taught about social issues or how they see the world.

Making a video about Portland.

Background

Having known people that have gone to/lived in Portland, hearing people talk about Portlandia, and going there myself, I tried to kind of triangulate that understanding.  Most of the people that I know that go there talk about how cool it is without really saying why exactly.  People who watch Portlandia, a show I've seen a few times and one that doesn't really excite me, tend to say the same thing about the show, it's really cool, but without really saying why exactly.  Just that, "If you go there, you'd get it."

I've been there twice now and the only real difference I see is a climate that is a bit different than that of Chicago.  I don't check the temperature in the middle of winter there, but I know in October and in July it tends to rain a lot in Portland.  It's a different rain, though.  A rain that I really can't tell you exactly how it's different.  You'd just have to go there and see for yourself.

So, the focus of my video was just to point out how just how absurd Portland love is and I came to the realization that I went there for one reason - I love beer.  

Amassing the Media

When I was amassing my photos for the video, I found a lot of shots of beer that I presumably posted to some social network site.  I knew at that moment, I had to make that the focal point.  

The other two things that seem to be synonymous with Portland are the light rail system and the food trucks.  Since I had videos of them, I thought it would be nice to throw those into the video.  The rest of the shots were basically just shots from around town when I would spend the AM hours walking around town, talking to bums, and finding great coffee shops while my wife slept.  If I had the foresight, I would have taken photos of the forgotten Portland as that would've made a better narrative.  The people ravaged by heroin or crystal meth that ride the trains looking for spare change and something to eat.  That's not the Portland people "know and love."  

The music was easy.  Loretta Lynn and Jack White did a song a few years ago called Portland, Oregon.  I love the lyric, "Well I lost my heart it didn't take no time, But that ain't all. I lost my mind in Oregon." I think people honestly lose their minds there for a myriad of reasons.  Another line that I like is, "Next day we knew last night got drunk, But we loved enough for the both of us."  I think the whole "thing" of Portland is that people get drunk on it.  Like, it's a thing that you just need.  I definitely wanted my video to start with the beer pictures at that point in the song. The song also talks about a weird love affair that develops that is presumably kissed with alcohol lacking any kind of true feeling.  I think also works for people's "love" of Portland.

Plotting and Scheming

I started by plotting my pictures methodically.  I really don't like the "Ken Burns effect" on the photos, so I made sure to take all of those off, added a really easy dissolve, and made sure the timing was what it was to hit the different parts of the song.  The opening was perfect as the song slowly plods along until really taking off about a minute and a half in.  This made my video go a little longer than 4, but I wanted to keep that opening scene.  

The other video, the food truck sign, provided a nice separation between the sober and drunk parts of the video.  Albeit, "flipped" in that we ate at that place AFTER going to breweries with the idea of getting closer to sober.  

I outlined a script of what I wanted to say during the pics, but probably re-hashed it roughly 10 times.  Through my speaking parts, I wanted to show that Portland love is very shallow and without much real thought.  It's meant to be cynical and come of as a little flippant - from the beginning of the video in "Super Cool City" to the end where I play "Pretty Vacant" (again, an allusion to just how I feel about vapid nature of Portland Love) by the Sex Pistols.  The line, "And, we don't care" are my sentiments exactly about the place as I was there primarily for the beer - as almost every other person I met at the breweries was.  The only person I met that wasn't was a guy there to brew at Base Camp brewing.  He was from Idaho and brewed a beer I actually had for breakfast the morning I met him.  

If I had to do this again...

If I had to do it over again, I would probably go through the beers that I drank.  Maybe even throwing in some of the posts I made to Instagram or whatever.  I think I would add some bits from the actual homeless people that live near VooDoo donuts.  It's always funny to me as I watch roughly 50 tourists line up for overpriced and overdone donuts while a family is sleeping on the street corner by a dumpster.  These are the same people that claim to love Portland.  I think they like the idea of it.  

The trains are cool, though.  Really cool.

EDIT: Making the Video
To make the video, I used iMovie to put the pictures and clips together.  I recorded the audio clips using an iPhone and GarageBand.  The songs were probably illegally added.

Tagboard and Twitter Chats

I shared this really awesome tool, Tagboard. It was posted by Richard Byrne.  He has a website called freetechforteachers.com.  

Retweetin'

Richard Byrne

Tagboard pulls together #s from all over the net - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, etc (see picture) and presents them in a beautiful interface making it easy to scroll through and browse.  With more and more people (albeit at a glacial pace) moving to Google+ for PD, searching it might benefit users.  

Here's how it works.

Just add a #.

That interface!

I took part in a Twitter chat called #EdTechBridge.  The chat focused on project based learning - specifically how they are graded.  I've always been fascinated  by the idea of using project as a way for students to learn. I find that it is a daunting task to get started, so I am always looking for tips. I am trying to start an initiative at my school where we would start with, say, 50 students, and try to create a PBL-based curriculum for them all 4 years.  

Chattin' and retweetin'

I am somewhat glad that this screen grab has Craig Kemp on it.  Craig is an educator in Singapore.  The first twitter chat that I took part in was a chat that he started, #whatisschool.  That chat tries to reimagine what school can and should be.  It has provided me with amazing ideas that I've learned from educators around the world.

My opinion of these chats is relatively positive in that I can get a ton of ideas from them and I love to chat in the theoretical.  Gets me away from the mundane

Stages of Technology Integration
Entry - Mindset that what has worked in the past (no technology) still works.  Students are still learning, so what's the point.
Adoption - Mindset that one or two tools will work, but that's as far as it goes.  Seemingly, this stage doesn't offer much in terms of teaching or student interaction with technology, but the TEACHER uses it perhaps for presentations and documents.
Adaption - Teachers begin to see value of technology in students' hands.  They adopt technology for students to create simplistic presentations and papers - in essence, transferring their successes to the students.
Appropriation - Teacher begins to find confidence in technology and starts to use everything and anything for every lesson.  Technology is so much focused, but merely used for the sake of use.
Innovation - Teacher begins to be selective with their use of technology and find precise tools for lessons or find precise lessons for pieces of technology.  Classroom becomes more free for students to create and find their own purposes and uses for technology.
I think the main idea of the stages is that what the teacher is comfortable with dictates what the students are able to do in the class.  Even at Appropriation, the teacher has not relinquished total control of what is done - students are merely being asked to replicate what the teacher has done.

My Personal Interactions with Technology
It's hard to put myself in one of these stages because I'm all over the board.  I think that I revert back to Entry mode whenever I find something that works.  I have an iPhone 6+ and have found it very difficult to even attempt to use anything other than that.  I really dislike using PCs and have almost refused to even come into contact with Windows 7 or 8 opting for a MacBook Air instead.
In terms of entertainment, I've recently moved to streaming everything and find little regard for "owning" it.  I've recently moved to Netflix to get my television and movie needs, but I also have a pretty robust Uverse package.  I look forward to the day when cable packages are a thing of the past and we simply just buy and stream our entertainment.
As for production, I don't really do much with it.  I just don't have the time.  I'm really a huge fan of Photoshop and editing the thousands of photos that I take on vacations. I love to put them together into books or streams (Flickr) but rarely have the time to devote to this hobby.

My Professional Interactions with Technology
It's part of my job (as it should be a part of EVERYONE'S jobs) to stay up on technology to help students and teacher find new ways of creating and collaborating.  The most important skill that I have is the ability to fail and it not completely throw me off.  With technology, this is necessary.  I've spent so many years tinkering with various pieces of technology - first setting the time on my VCR, fiddling with a Commodore 64, setting up stereos and television systems, recording my high school band, recording my college band, mixing, sampling, ALL of it has been from tinkering and eventually figuring it out.  I have not been formally trained on anything, but have a pretty good grasp of a lot of technology. When my kids at school ask questions, I tend to tell them to look it up themselves or I show them how to find the answers - sometimes, I don't even know the answers!  With teachers, I take mistakes and failures in stride always using them as ways to learn for the next time.
I am also a huge advocate for allowing students to show understanding in the ways they feel the most comfortable.  With so many ways out there, it only makes sense.  I understand that papers are necessary at certain times during development, but for the most part, teachers I work with tend to try to lock students into using one site or creating a specific kind of thing.

Other Models
Below are a few other models for looking at tech integration and tech use within schools.  The pencil is such a neat way of looking at it.  I'm not sure where I fall, but I think it's probably near the sharp area.  I find that I work with a number of people that are erasers.  They spend the most time in the copier room trying to get those last minute copies like they have been for the last 25 years.  Even teachers my age (which is somewhat young) still rely on paper way too much and openly discredit technology because the world became different when technology was all over the place.



The SAMR model is new to me.  I really like the way we can define where we are and what we need to do to get to the next level.  It is very similar to the model we looked at for this week.  This picture is nice in that it provides us with ideas to move up the model.
I

It's me.

Follow me on Twitter here.

Eric Franklin
MLIS from UIUC in 2004, BA in History from UIUC
School Librarian at Carmel Catholic High School
Currently in my 3rd year at Dominican University to obtain my teaching license

It's me.  Here.

I started my library life working for my childhood public library during graduate school.  I did tech services and ILL which was really fun.  I did a little circulation and reference work, too.  I spent a lot of my evening hours working with students from the middle school across the street.  I helped them with projects and posters.  I really fell in love with creating maps and reading goals for a children's summer program centered around Lewis&Clark.  I had officially been bitten by the teaching bug.  I'm celebrating my 10th year at a school library - spending most of this time at Carmel Catholic.  I worked at a charter for 3 of those years, too.

During this time, I have focused my work on information literacy and collaboration with teachers infuse these skills into the general classroom and not just an add-on to the curriculum.  At the charter, I had the opportunity to teach my own media class that incorporated a lot of information literacy skills to help students stay afloat in the endless stream of information.

Beyond information literacy and library learning, I established a teacher communication and collaboration program.  We meet at lunch and discuss topics that fall within the categories of Technology Integration, Grading, and Research.  I'll definitely be blogging about these meetings.