Thoughts After the 2 Day ITAG Conference

I spent the last two days in Coralville, IA for the ITAG conference to help learn more about the field of giftedness. I learned some really good pieces of information about brain development, gender differences, the levels of giftedness, Iowa Core, and problem based learning. I walked away with more questions than I had prior to attending so I guess that is a good thing. However, instead of boring the general person with information that they may not care about, I have decided to post my ADHD thoughts that ran through my head during breaks and lunch and at times during some sessions where I lost focus.

1. The one keynote speaker had the last name Gallagher. She was awesome with tons of research. All I could think about was the the comedian that looks identical to my dad who has the same name. (By the way he has some great comedy bits online, but not all are school appropriate. The one with the English Language is a classic)



2. I asked a question and was told very firmly, "I'm not going there!" My new mantra is from a Beastie Boys song. I was angry and really felt like expressing myself until I sang the song that had the line

"I got no time for the drama 'cause stress is for kids

'Cause when you're dead and buried well you got no biz" - Beastie Boys

3. Too much Starbucks leads to the my left eye twitching all afternoon.

4. My doodles kept reminding me that I am not an artist. I kept trying to draw like the guy who does the Daily Monster (great book and website by the way) and the results were not anywhere near as good.



5. I am nerd because I was so excited to come home to my computer and read and put on request the articles and books suggested to read from the keynotes. Learning never gets old for some reason.

6. I have created a title for my writing project that I blogged about a couple days ago - http://www.nanowrimo.org/ - and I am going with

The Adventures of the Bald and Beautiful

7. How much of a pet peeve I have about presenters who use PowerPoint incorrectly. It drives me insane beyond all comprehension.

8. The conflict of research as they tell us lecture is such a bad teaching and learning technique as they lecture for 60 minutes.

In closing, I need to get my Drake work done, I have a massive pile of books I need to read so I can finally enjoy Dan Brown's new novel, and my to do list for my job keeps getting longer and longer. But, I am reminding myself the quote from Oscar Wilde, "Life is too important to be taken seriously."

All this posting makes me that much more excited to buy a new battery charger for my Macbook Pro. This post would be awesome had it been in video. I have some vlogs in mind when I buy my charger this weekend, but if you have some Top 5 lists or topics that you think you want me to expand on, then please leave a comment. The more suggestions the better the blog.