By Carl Hooker

Every summer for the past several years, I, along with thousands of other educators, make the pilgrimage across the country to the mecca of education and technology. To the inexperienced attendee, the annual ISTE conference might seem like stepping into a Baskin Robbins that has 3100 flavors.

It can be overwhelming, and there is so much to do and learn.

Before attending, some of these questions rattle around in my head:

• Are you willing to go to sessions that might stretch your thinking?
• Will you attend sessions by both people that you’ve heard of and those that you haven’t?
• What is your networking strategy?
• How will you share what you’ve learned when you get back?

These questions may also be lurking in the back of your brain, along with many others. The truth is, much of what you get out of this event is what you put into it.

This year, I’ve decided to go all in – with a twist. I’ve decided to create my own learning experience for this year’s event.

A couple of years ago, following the recommendation of Lisa Johnson, I decided to try my first edtech poetry slam. I immediately fell in love with it and have since hosted or emceed a slam in many different venues and formats. One of my favorite parts of these slams isn’t me up on stage, but about convincing my peers to stretch themselves out of their comfort zone and give it a try. You hear from many education leaders at conferences about getting your kids to “take risks.” What better way to do that than by modeling risk-taking yourself?

One of the things I’ve enjoyed from hosting poetry slams with educators is the fact that honesty and passion are clearly evident on the stage. Even the most experienced educational speaker has nerves when trying something like this. You don’t have slides or videos to hide behind, just yourself and your words. Audience members will come away not only understanding the power of words, but also seeing risk-taking happening in real-time.

On June 25 during ISTE, we’ll be gathering some of the greatest and most diverse edtech minds from around the world to take the stage for three minutes with no slides – just a microphone and their words. I’m sharing this with you not to promote or brag about the event, even though I am excited. I share this with you to say that being a passive attendee at an event like ISTE does not put you in a “lean forward and learn” state of mind. Instead, it tells your brain to kick back and wait to see what knowledge approaches you.

Learning is an active sport. Learning at an event like this is akin to taking part in the Super Bowl. What happens when you take the field? Will you run out and dive in or just stay on the sidelines and observe?

The choice is ultimately yours.

Carl Hooker has worked in education since 1998, from classroom teacher to virtualization coordinator to director of instructional technology. As director of instructional technology in the Eanes Independent School district, he’s helped spearhead the launch of the LEAP Initiative (Learning and Engaging through Access and Personalization). Learn more about Carl’s new course, Mobile Learning Mindset. You can also connect with him on Twitter, @mrhooker.