CrossRoads started the moment I stepped out of the airport and into the hotel shuttle. I was already surrounded by amazing people from all over the country. I quickly realized that these potentially "awkward" moments were part of the magic of connecting at CrossRoads. It isn't often that I can tell you who I was seated by during a shuttle ride but I stepped into the shuttle with Gabby, her mom, her grandma, Kiki, and who I will refer to as Mr. CodeCrew (Meka). | |
| I was able to check in and explore. You don't need to ask me twice to go hike in the sun. Directly behind our hotel is a Butte. This Wisconsin girl has never been to the desert before so I was in awe of both the flora and fauna. I might even have stalked a roadrunner. That bird is a lot smaller than in my cartoons! |
CrossRoads officially started on Tuesday evening with a reception and keynote at the ASU Makerspace. Prior to leaving the hotel, I met Emily and Kristin who are educators in Tennessee. Emily I followed on twitter and wanted to connect because she is a Glowforge Ambassador. I look forward to visiting their 36 Makerspaces in Hamilton County and attending a future Fab Institute. | |
What I didn't expect was the connections I made on the bus to and from the event. Let me introduce you to Max. Max has mad skills as a conversationalist. He made a long bus ride into one of the most interesting conversations I have had with a complete stranger in a long time. Between sharing what we do today, we found that we both love Little Bits (he used to work for them) and are fascinated by creation. He works with two different companies who are approaching CS in very innovative ways. When the bus ride just kept going, we found out that we both have an interest in Brazil and Florianopolis. I think Max might know more about me than most of the people I work with. I am a serious introvert so to say that Max has mad conversation skills, I'm not joking. We watched videos of what Infento is doing with electric motors, talked about visiting Florianopolis, talked about Little Bits, and in the process became friends. |
Reception and Keynote
| The Keynote was Greg Behr who shared excerpts from his book. I had listened to half of the audiobook and loved hearing him share some of my favorite parts. |
While waiting in line to possibly snag an autographed copy of Greg's book, I just happened to be standing by another published author. Jason McKenna graciously shared about his journey to publish his new book and even offered to give me a copy the following day (which he actually found me and gave me a copy) which I immediately started reading. I was just so stunned at how approachable and humble Jason is. We talked about Vex Robotics and his publishing journey. I look forward to sharing more about his book. | |
The night would not be complete without my other bus ride partner. Who knew that I would sit next to John Pearce of CS is Elementary? We had such a fascinating conversation around K-5 Computer Science and Family Coding Night. I shared about how my middle school students are starting to mentor our neighboring elementary school students and the power of this mentoring for both groups. John made me feel like I was the most amazing educator and his passion for CS is evident in everything he says and does. He shared about the upcoming CS is Elementary Summit. We talked every day when we connected about different ideas. I look forward to being part of CS is Elementary and working for our state to have more opportunities for our younger learners. So this was Day 1... it just was the appetizer to the next few days of connection, learning, and collaboration. |