Post conference withdrawal symptoms

 I want extend my appreciation to the entire Scratch team for this amazing gathering. This is the third time I’ve had the privilege of attending.  Each time my high expectations have been exceeded. Thank you all.

I am full of new ideas that will enhance my teaching and send my students in new directions.  Many of those new inspirations came from the presenters at the conference, but, true to the spirit of the Scratch community, many others came from conversations with my fellow participates. The congenial atmosphere that surrounds the conference does not just happen.  We are together because we share a vision of learning and sharing that fosters big dreams in each of us.

Each time I enter the Media Lab, my thoughts return to a night in the early 80s.  I was working on a Masters Degree at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, focusing on instructional applications of computers. One of my professors, Claus Schultz, drove a group of us to MIT to hear Seymour Papert speak.  We arrived a little late; the room was filled to capacity. (Mitch, I think I remember you being there, working with him in a way that reminds me of the way I see you and Karen working together.) Of course we had all read MINDSTORMS and were eagerly introducing Logo to children. I remember leaving that lecture with the same sense of wonder and opportunity that I felt throughout this conference.

I look forward to 2014