Summary Outline of Traveling-Wisconsin, New York, and Washington DC

Honestly, I didn't feel up to writing a full-length essay at 9:13 Eastern Standard Time at night, so I decided to make an informal outline--to prepare for a future essay--instead. Prewriting, right?

1. Wisconsin
a. Saw (driving by) Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack. I have never seen a
dog track. I'm not entirely sure these are humane, so I just wanted to
clarify that I'm not endorsing dog racing! I also saw the Keno Drive-in Theater--I've never seen a drive-in theater before, either.
b. I presented using a Promethean Activboard to teachers from the Kenosha Unified School District at Mahone Middle School in Kenosha. I'd like to thank the incredibly hard-working Mary Salani (KUSD) and the endlessly resourceful Dagmar Ladle (Promethean) for their help in making the keynote, and the following breakout session, a success. I presented on "A Kid's Eye View of an Activclassroom" and "Activideas for Activstudents," the latter about differentiating teaching in a gifted classroom.
c. My first brush with wild Wisconsin weather! There was a tornado in Kenosha; it missed us by a few miles (thankfully) but we saw wild winds and torrential rains--well, that was, before we got evacuated from our hotel rooms to the hallway. It was the first time I had seen a black-greenish sky, and it was truly the definition of ominous.

2. New York
a. We flew into LaGuardia and took the bus (hurrah public transportation) and the subway to our hotel.
b. I appeared on Fox News and Friends. I was part of the "Pint-Sized Prodigy Pundit Pit." The other "pundits" were Jonathan Krohn, who shouted and gesticulated wildly during the whole of the event, and the far less paroxysmal Moshe Kai Cavalin, an eleven-year-old college graduate.

3. Washington D.C.
a. We saw quite a few museums. My favorite by far was the Newseum, a museum about news--and a very new museum as well! I believe the museum was around for a while, but that it moved to a new building in DC quite recently. It features huge glass elevators, newspapers delivered daily to the entrance area, and many interesting exhibits about journalism including an excellent "4D" video.
b. We also saw the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. I most enjoyed an exhibit called "The Secret Life of Ants." To roughly quote one of the information tablets--"There have been million of ant deaths in turf wars in the suburbs of San Diego." It really makes looking at ants different! However, we did visit DC in high tourist season and as a result the museum was crowded and stuffy.
c. NECC! NECC! The very reason for my visit! The National Educational Computing Conference, or NECC as it's commonly called, is an annual conference taking place in locations across the country (it will be in Denver in 2010). I presented for Promethean, the renowned interactive whiteboard company. I spoke about using the Activboard in the classroom to excite kids. My audience included teachers, technology coordinators, and administrators from all corners of the globe. I really enjoyed working with the enthusiastic people at Promethean. GO BIG ORANGE!