Christa McAuliffe Conference 2018

For the second year in a row, I volunteered in the collaboratory makerspace at the annual Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference. Last year, my art journals were featured as one of the projects.

This year, I decided to try something a tiny bit more technology related. I have been reading the non-fiction book Zombie Makers with the 3rd grade classes, and we've been discussing scientific terms like host, parasite, mutate, spore, etc. The book is about real life 'zombies'; bugs that get infected by parasites, and stop acting naturally, because the parasite gains control over their nervous systems.

As a STEM tie in, they are going to create cardboard mazes for my 'zombie' hex bug. He was a special order from Amazon; he comes with his own coffin.

I named him Hector Salamanca!

Not only do I have a zombie hex bug, I made my own hex bug! I removed the head of a (new) toothbrush, bought a micro motor from Amazon, and attached a small battery to it. It's my first attempt with any kind of robotic, and it's very temperamental, but when it started moving I was like:

I also brought some art journals along, since so many people liked them last year.

The keynote speaker this year was great, and I attended his session on Digital Citizenship at every grade and got some great ideas and resources.

I also attended a session on Cyberbullying and Teaching Kindness, led by Carol Todd. Carol is the mother of Amanda Todd, whose video on YouTube went viral after she died by suicide in 2012. The story of how this teenage girl was targeted, sexploited, and bullied is pretty infamous now, and her mother uses the story to educate students, parents and teachers. If you're not familiar with Amanda's video, here's a link to a reputable copy of her original, sponsored by Suicide Prevention LLC. The video can be upsetting to some people, which is why I did not embed it into my post.

The makerspace had alot to offer, as well. Upcycling t-shirts, weaving with branches, using toilet paper tubes to make funny characters, and a Cricut machine were some highlights.

The best part about this year? My husband got to come, too!

His school had some tickets for the conference, and since there was a whole session on using digital history resources in AP classes, he decided to check it out.

It wasn't really a day 'off' but the change of scenery was great for letting me recharge my battery a little.