• 2010 Minneapolis
• 2013 Houston
• 2014 Pitttsburg
• 2015 Orlando
• 2016 San Diego
• 2017 St. Louis

The conventions always prove to be a wonderful opportunity to grow as a Catholic, teacher, and friend. Each year has special memories. It’s so hard to blog about all of them so I’m sticking to a format I used last year of 5 quick (sort of) takes.

1.    The Daily Liturgies – where else can you attend Mass with 8,000 people? Well, maybe a Papal Mass…and St. Louis did borrow an idea from a Papal Mass…they had umbrellas! The music was lovely. I especially enjoyed Thursday’s teacher choir. I also used Audioboom to record each homily and you can find them on the blog.

NCEA17 Opening Mass

NCEA17 Mass Day 2

NCEA17 Closing Mass

Umbrella to show you where you can receive the Eucharist

2. Presenting, with Debbie Fucoloro, a standing room only session on BreakoutEDU. Debbie and I were overwhelmed with the popularity of our session. Could it be because the Breakout idea is awesome? Click HERE to learn more about Breakout. We only brought 4 boxes for our session which made our presentation not as interactive as we had hoped. At the very least we were able to share our love and passion for Breakout!

BreakoutEDU session with Debbie

BreakoutEDU

BreakoutEDU

Hasp and Locks

3. The Keynote with Jonathan Doyle. Jonathan’s Keynote really touched my heart! I knew he would have a wonderful message as he built up the anticipation through Twitter in the weeks before the convention. He inspired, encouraged, and centered me in remembering the primary and secondary vocation that God has given me. I was able to meet with him and his beautiful wife in the Expo hall. Of course I bought his book and gave him a big hug. A few tears were shed too…that’s when a speaker realizes that God is working through him…tears of the Spirit were shed!

Jonathan Doyle and I

4. The Expo Hall – I know you are wondering why an Expo Hall, at a convention, would be a highlight. The NCEA Expo Hall is like no other I have attended. The people at the booths are so nice. You will not find pushy sales people. The hall is filled with ‘Cut Out People’ so you can take a photo. The hall is filled with wonderful books. I bought so many books for myself and my classroom that I had a problem zipping my suitcase! I also bought many Tiny Saints keychains and other medals. In a word the Expo Hall, rocked!

NCEA Expo Hall

5. The people! Yup. The people. Attending a NCEA convention is all about being with my peeps, my tribe, my buds. This year had a unique twist. I was featured on the Fall 2016 cover of the magazine Today’s Catholic Teacher. When I think back to joining Twitter on May 1, 2007, I used a photo of me when I was 5. I wanted to be anonymous because I thought I didn’t have much to offer the world. I was ‘just’ a Catholic school teacher working with my 3rd grade students. I now feel differently about that. We all have valuable ideas and opinions to share and meeting IRL after #CatholicEdChat twitter chats is the best! Connecting with my peeps, my tribe, my buds and getting and giving a hug gives me energy and encouragement to continue in my secondary vocation as a Catholic school teacher.

This year also had a fun game that the St. Louis teachers played. I was a box in the #NCEA17 Bingo card. I never knew that being a space on a Bingo card was a #lifegoal but it certainly should be on everyone’s list!

NCEA17 some of my peeps

#NCEA17 Pics

…The Surprise…Aaron Heintz is tall!

This past fall, Nancy and I, had the honor of presenting a webinar on Connecting for Professional Learning with PLNs and Growth Mindset for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Technology Department. The whole team was so professional and very nice. Aaron was online during the webinar as part of the AOP tech team and you just don’t get a sense of height from a computer screen.

Aaron and I

and finally…with the convention being in St. Louis, I was able to see my son and daughter in law. We had dinner together right before I flew home. Because my son was in class and my daughter in law was at work, I ubered over to St. Louis University and spend 90 minutes at St. Francis Xavier church. It was the perfect ending to my NCEA adventure.

St. Francis Xavier church SLU

But first, a photo. Here are the amazing educators who spent a morning working on professional development that fits their needs. Aren’t they an awesome group?!

There are many reasons I love EdCamps and here is one reason to organize one in your area…the new batch of teachers. Our EdCamp is located at Creighton University and they have a unique program called the Magis Catholic Teacher Corps. You can read more about this program here and here. What better way to pass on your learning but through an unconference. And is there anything more satisfying, as a seasoned teacher, to see a group of young people excited and ready to teach in our Catholic schools? I am so grateful for the many seasoned teachers that came today too to lead the way!

Another big plus, in an EdCamp, are the sponsors. Companies reached out to us and donated some great items. I was overwhelmed at the generosity of these companies. They know how to build good will and get their products into the hands of teachers who will use them and share their product on Social Media. I personally know that this strategy works, I have bought several items myself from our sponsors. 

Click here to see the Sponsor page from this year’s EdCamp. Look at all these freebies!

Our EdCamp has a few unique touches. This Magis teacher won a handmade twine Rosary because he traveled the farthest. He’s from the great state of Rhode Island!
Another unique touch added to #NECathEdCamp are fresh flowers picked from my garden! 

And what’s an EdCamp without great people! I want to personally thank this year’s team. Mike, Jim, Terri, Sara, and Deb We did it! Another EdCamp in the books…ready for next year?!

If you need any help putting together an EdCamp in your area, the EdCamp Foundation offers all you need to get started. Click here for more information and to see when an EdCamp will be near you.

5. Mass with 4,400 Catholic educators who are fully participating in the Mass with lovely music and atmosphere.

Tuesday’s Mass

Wednesday’s Mass

Thursday’s Mass

4. The Expo Hall

Stocked up on some great books and even got a picture with Joe Paprocki from Loyola Press. 

3. The Food and the company at dinner.

2. Presenting 2 Sessions:

Bring the EdCamp (Unconference) Model to your School or Diocese with Marcie and me.

Creating a Personal Learning Network (PLN): Using Social Media to Proclaim Mission and Professionally Grow – Nancy, Ken, Me, Marcie, and Abbie (Leaning in to Support one another).

1.  The TweetUp!

It’s the people, always, and the relationships that make the NCEA convention the best! Hope to see you in St. Louis – April 18-20, 2017.

One bonus take away, how can you resist seeing a cute nun zoom around the convention in a cart?!

#8 Working with a great group of people. I’d like to thank Jim Homan, Sara Hood, Mike Mansour, Terri Preston, and Linda Sweeting You are all true professionals and always have what is best for our students at heart!

#7 Having the support of the EdCamp Foundation. Our edcamp qualified for the “Edcamp-in-a-Box” and we were grateful for the contents of the box and I was personally thankful for a phone call from Kristen Swanson who helped answer my questions and calmed my nerves. Plus a ‘high five’ to the new EdCamp Foundation Executive Director, Hadley Ferguson, for her support!

#6 The Support of the CatholicEdChat-ish and EdCampShare Voxer groups. You may know I love Twitter, but having a friendly voice of a Catholic school teacher  and an Edcamp veteran, over Voxer, has been priceless. Being able to ask a quick question and get several answers makes Voxer tops in my book.

#5 Sponsors! What can I say? They are awesome! When you are planning an edcamp, which is free for teachers and organized by teachers who don’t do this for a living, having someone contact you, to give you free SWAG, a product to raffle off, or donuts is amazing! You can see our sponsors here. http://edcamparchomaha.weebly.com/sponsors.html Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

#4 Google! Yes, I am a Google Fan Girl and I don’t believe our Edcamp would not have been as successful as it was without it. From making a survey with Google Forms, to hosting all the notes from the sessions, it really made our day run smoothly.

#3 People travel from far away to learn at #edcampArchOmaha. Who would have thought that 2 teachers from the Salt Lake City diocese would travel to learn with us?! They wanted to see an edcamp in action to bring it back to their teachers. This made me so happy!

#2 Prayer! Our Edcamp had an added feature. We began with a prayer and ended with prayer.

#1 You! The people who came today! I am so grateful for the great conversations that took place today. A special shout out to Josh Allen, one of the founders of EdCampOmaha, for coming today. It was so nice to see his friendly face!

After reading some of the answers from our survey, I believe the day was a huge success! I look forward to seeing you at a future edcamp, online, or in person. Thank you again for taking part of this new type of Professional Development.

This year our school purchased a cart filled with 32 iPads. I’m always on the look out for new ways to add tech to our classroom. This year I wanted to add tech to our hallways. Last year, during a #CatholicEdChat where we were sharing ideas for Lent, Kay Basailon, shared her principal’s idea. Here is her principal, Patricia’s blog.  So here is how I made our version of the QR Code Stations of the Cross.

Our 4th graders, every year, use Craft Foil to make these beautiful Stations of the Cross. One classroom uses the copper side and the other the silver side. They take their piece of foil and tape one simple scene, from the stations of the cross, to their work. They take a ball point pen and trace the outline. The tracing is embedded into the foil. Once they are done, they use a brown marker for the cross and a yellow highlighter for the halo. 

Our 3rd graders used the Stations of the Cross reflection from Loyola Press. I used my iPhone to record their voice using the app AudioBoo. Once I had a URL from AudioBoo, I used the Chrome extension goo.gl to make the QR code. Voila!

I think this activity made the Stations of the Cross more personal to my students. I know I have become more involved in this Catholic Lenten practice this year with listening to my students record the reflections and viewing the images made by the 4th graders.

I also know that this idea has spread onto at least 2 friends in my Twitter PLN. Tracy Edmisten did something similar with her 4th graders. Click HERE to see her student’s work.

This idea also went to a Michigan classroom where Mrs. Sack teaches 6th, 7th and 8th graders. They took it to whole other level! Besides QR Codes they used Augmented Reality. Click HERE and HERE to see the beginnings of their work.

You might know that I love the Saints of the Catholic church, so when I saw this bulletin board set, I just had to have it! Here are the Saints and the work of mercy they are matched up to. This is what is added to each picture.

• Feed the Hungry- St. Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity, Vincent de Paul (1580 to 1660), devoted his life to living the Works of Mercy. His work is still alive today all over the world in numerous Vincent de Paul societies as well as countless religious who trace the roots of their vocation to him.
• Give Drink to the Thirsty- Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Founder of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa (1910-1997) showed the world she was not afraid to practice the Works of Mercy. Working among the poorest of the poor, she recognized they were Christ in disguise. She won the Nobel Peace Prize and stood up to many world leaders.
• Clothe the Naked- Servant of God Dorothy Day, Dorothy Day (1897 to 1980) was an American journalist, activist and devout Catholic convert. As a young woman she led a sinful life, but was able to change her life based on the Works of Mercy. She stared the Catholic Worker Movement and believed in bringing about a revolution of the heart.
• Shelter the Homeless- St. John Bosco and he mother, Venerable Margaret Bosco, Founder of the Salesians, John Bosco (1815-1888) took homeless boys off the streets and taught them about God and to have a profession. His mother, Margaret, came to help him and became known as Mama Margaret. John believed that love was the most important gift he could give to those around him.
• Comfort the Sick- St. Damien of Molokai, Damian Joseph De Veuster (1840 to 1849) was sent to Hawaii as a missionary. He heard about the leper colony on Molokai and wanted to tend to their many spiritual and temporal needs. After a brief visit, he insisted he be assigned to the colony knowing he could contract and die from leprosy.
• Visit the Imprisoned- St. Leonard of Noblac, Leonard of Noblac (died 559) was a noble man who convinced the king to allow him to free prisoners he felt were wrongly accused. He gave parcels of his land to freed prisoners  so that they would have the means to live an honest life.
• Bury the Dead- St. Catherine of Siena, Catherine of Siena (1347 to 1389) is only one of the four women Doctors of the Catholic Church. Catherine dedicated much of her life to helping the ill and the poor. She took care of them in hospitals or homes and ensured all that died were given a proper Christian burial. She worked hard to bring peace to all around her.

Luckily, I don’t have to write an acceptance speech! But if I did, it would go something like this…

I’d like to thank my parents for passing on the Catholic faith to me. My love of the beauty of this faith makes it so easy to share with my students.

I’d like to thank my family for allowing me to work long hours correcting papers, working in my classroom, and driving me to edcamps to learn more about teaching.

I’d like to thank my co-workers, both past and present, who continually inspired me to bring my A game each day, as they are also doing in their classroom. They also don’t mind when I share the many new ideas I find, email after email!

I’d like to thank my principal who gives me the freedom to try new ideas in my classroom and the encouragement to continue sharing my ideas.

I’d like to thank my students for learning right along with me. I love how they keep the questions coming and have fun finding the answers with me.

I’d like to thank the parents of my students who have entrusted me with their most precious gift to help them grow from 8am to 3pm.

I’d like to thank my PLN on Twitter. This award truly stems from Twitter! Only Twitter would allow a 3rd grade teacher, in Omaha, Nebraska to start a world wide Catholic education chat with her Twitter friends, Nick Senger and Nancy Caramanico. Reaching across the world, making connections, and sharing ideas to make my teaching better for my precious charges.

So what’s next? More learning and sharing! This teacher will not be resting on her laurels!