My past week has been spent in Cullowee, NC at NCCAT with a great group of educators. This week has been filled with an innumerable amount of invaluable experiences from all the lecturers and presenters that filled my schedule this week.

The major highlight of the week for me would have to have been the rafting trip down the Natahala River. I love the idea of bringing the classroom outdoors more. What a great way to do that with the rafting trip. The best part was also having the biologist guy in the boat with my group. We stopped by the edge of the river and ate black raspberries while having great conversations about biology and students in the classroom. Not only were we talking classroom and teaching, but he was also pointing out all the plant fauna and different bird species by their calls. It was a very enjoyable afternoon down the river; COLD but enjoyable none the less.

Another highlight from the week at NCCATs Professional Development was meeting wonderful educators that are excited to be in the classroom and learn new technology to help engage the 21st child in learning. All of the presenters were great; I did not go to one presentation that I did not learn something new that I can potentially use in the classroom. It was also great to make new connections and hopefully maintain contact with educators to connect with.