Ready or Not Here I Come……

Ready or not here I come… to MACWORLD! This time next week I will be on a Southwest flight from Baltimore to San Fransisco.  Color me one happy chica!  I cannot wait to see the newest of technologies that help educators under one roof!  And I am thrilled to be going as an ambassador for CANSON  for their newest and their Macworld Best Show producst- The PAPERSHOW

Now this is not going to be a sales pitch.  Sorry, if you were expecting that.  But, I will tell you why I think the face of education is at an exciting cusp. So read on if you want…

Many moons ago when I was sitting in my school classrooms I was bored.  Now anyone who knew me then knows that Louise being bored also equated to Louise being in trouble or just day dreaming.  I was the kid who often was encouraged to “take a walk”.   I just couldn’t take being “talked at” so I would “stir up trouble”.   I also had great compensatory skills during long lectures.  I would doodle (a skill I learned from my Dad), tied and untied my shoelaces multiple times and made clever notes the size of a quarter.  I was the quintissential child with ADHD well before the term was coined.  I also was ADHD in camp, girl scouts and other places where quiet was mandated.

Which is why I am so jealous of all the kids who are in school now but functioned like me!  I would  have loved access to fun, interactive and engaging teaching methods.  How super it is that no longer kids need to sit still all day long.  I would have  cheered if someone asked me to take a “magic bluetooth pen” and write my responses on an interactive paper for the whole class to see on a whiteboard.  I would have enjoyed being able to complete my homework as a powerpoint which may have allowed some of those dormant cognitive juices to flow.  I would have done ANYTHING that was creative and allowed me to work with peers.  Instead I was usually bored.  And bravo to the rare but wonderful teacher who was ahead of the technology curve and was creative in their classroom to address the needs of kids- like me.

Thankfully, my parents set clear and very concrete boundaries.  My job was to go to school.  Learn.  Do the best I could an stay out of trouble.  Hmmm.  Well, three out of four wasn’t too bad. But having those clear rules was maybe the ONLY reason I made it to the honor society instead of the principals office.

So, this brings me to why I am so excited to attend Macworld.  Because I will have the opportunity to help talk to educators so that they can in turn create classrooms that spark the minds of students to want to learn and stretch their abilities.  I will be able to chat with teachers how this way cool bluetooth technology is portable, accessible, affordable ($249 total price) and perfect for classrooms with children who are deaf, use an interpreter or have exceptional needs.  (The teacher never needs to turn away from the students giving total facial and sign advantage).  I will be able to help present and future “Louise’s” from a fate of boredom within their classroom.   My bags are packed.  Ready or not here I come……

If you want to follow my experience at Macworld from January 27th-29th please follow me on Twitter as @LouiseASL

If you want to learn more about the PAPERSHOW go to http://www.papershow.com

If you are interested in buying one for your school or a 100- I can connect you with a representative.  I know my friend Brian Friedlander would love to honor Macworld expo prices with readers of this blog for the next week. (WINK ;-))

And if you have ever used the PAPERSHOW or another kind of technology would love to hear about that too.

Thanks for reading.

About Louise Sattler:

Louise is a nationally certified school psychologist, owner of Signing Families™ and media personality.  When she is not blogging here she contributes to the JustAsk column for Education.com