More Lost than a Blind Referee in a Triple Tag Team Iron Cage Match

Some of you have wondered to yourselves by asking "I wonder what ever happened to El Diablo Cocono?" "I have not seen a new entry on his enormously popular blog in longer than a month." "Is he alright?" "Has he abandoned us in our time of greatest need?" 'Did La Migra finally find where he was living?"

Well my faithful gabacho readers, I have heard your cries and I am proud to say that like a Phoenix arising from the ashes of a campfire of a late night fiesta on the levee, I have returned just in time to open my escuela and hopefully, guide you through the confusing world of campus administrators and educational technology for another año.

But first of all, please let me take a few moments to explain the reason for my absence:

As all of you know, I attended El EdubloggerCon 2011 in Philadelphia at is evidenced by my previous posts and photo evidence.

I also went down the hall and found ISTE and went there too. After deciding that there was not one decent Tamale in the entire city of Philadelphia, and after trying to find at least one other Lucha Libre dude in the entire place, I decided to head back home with my bags full of free Atomic Learning Coffee Mugs and Prentice Hall cheap-ass pens.

Then I got a call on my jailbroken iPhone from my campus Secretary Sra. Retirado that due to budget cutbacks, the plane ticket I got from my school district was a one way ticket and that I would have to make my own arrangements to return to my campus. Holy frijole! I was in the words of Robert Heinlien "un extranjero en una pista extraña!"

I had just maxed out my Banco- de SinValor-Mastercard in Philadelphia looking for a decent tamale and having to get Mr. Sprinkles some elective surgery (he thinks his eyelids are droopy..it is killing his self esteem). Like all administrators, I live paycheck to paycheck, especially after having to get my monthly pedicure and foot massage at Madame Woo's House of Relaxation, so, to make a long story short, I was todo sin dinero!

I had to walk back to the desert southwest. Using my trusty Google Map blue dot Map App, I began walking, and it took me this long to get back! Aye Caramba! You guys have a big-ass country! But along the way, I was able to do some meaningful thinking.

Like the whole idea of technology coaches.
The grupo ISTE came out with a set of standards for technology coaches during my encarcelamiento, er, I mean stay in El Philly. The standards, which are called NETS-C (pero National Education Technology Standards-Coaches..get it NETS?) are all about how technology COACHES should be used, what they should be doing, how they should do it, and why. And si, there are NETS for teachers, students and even you, Mr. I-Have-A-Walkie-Talkie-So-That-Makes-Me-Important Administrator.

You need to check out the coaches one, especially if you have technology coaches on your campus and have no idea if they are doing a good or bad job because they fix your printer once a year and you think that that is good enough for you.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the NETS-C and SEE what they should be doing vato.

Free Range Pollos and Edubloggercon 2011

Every year, when summer comes around, when the  hot winds are blowing,  when the fidello  trees are in bloom,  and when the local el Sam's Club runs an all-you-can-carry bathroom tissue blowout sale,  something miraculous happens in my adopted home town of San Juan de los Banos: The Annual Return of the Free Range Pollos. Every summer, no matter the weather, no matter the economic climate, no matter what drug cartel is running the city that year, all of the citizens line up along Avenida de Pollo Frito to witness the return of thousands of free range chickens that have spent the past few months wandering aimlessly in the Chihuahuan outback, grazing on tumbleweed seeds, making little pollos, and getting fat off the land. They waddle into town, walk up the calle, and after the last one arrives, are quickly captured and turned into sopa, arroz con pollo, pollo fritos, pollo enchiladas, and gorditas pollos. 

Damn those chickens are stupid. I mean, every year they do the exact same thing, and every year they end up on the mesas of the town's people. Maybe it is a power greater than man sending the chickens to us. Maybe it is a supernatural entity that drives the chickens to the platos of the people. All I know is, if I were a chicken, and I saw all of my chicken friends headed towards a large crowd with knives behind their back, I might head in an other direction. But I am not a chicken. I am a Luchador Administrator.

 I am, El Diablo Cocono! 

Speaking of yearly gatherings, perhaps you have been following along this year's ISTE event in los Philly PA, where I am happily to be reporting to you from. Today, I attended the yearly Sheldon Leonard Fan Club meeting, er, I mean education technology blogger gathering called "Edubloggercon 2011" which actually is probably more interesting than the whole rest of the ISTE conference combined.  It is sort of an unconference that has evolved into a mini-pre-conference conference for people that couldn't figure out how to use the calendar function on Expedia.com and arrived a day earlier than everyone else.  Today, I saw El David Warlick y El Steve Hardigon and a whole host of otra illunimaros of the ed tech world. They presented a whole day on stuff to a whole bunch of other people that mostly already knew what was going on, so it like preaching to the choir, just that the choir still has no other Lucha administrsators in it and can't sing. Just look at this picture! Do you see one other Lucha Administrator other than me? (I am waving at you right underneath Scott Floyd in the upper left part of the picture! Hola El Scott!)

El Edubloggercon 2011 

Anyway, if you were one of the unfortunates that had to stay at home and actually pay attention to your family this weekend, there is a way to catch up on what happened without having to leave the comfort of your casa. Just check out this site"Edubloggercon." And for more kicks, in the Blog area of the confernece, they are having ongoing presentations. All you have to do is link to this site. And if you are the twit type, just type in the hashtag #EBC11 to follow the conversation. 

Adios amigos, I am now on the town looking at the Liberty Bell and searching for Cheesesteak tamales.

El Diablo Cocono at ISTE 2011. Be there!

I know that many of you are wondering and asking to yourselves “Hey, who is that hombre de mascaras?” “Who is that magnet of machismo?” “Who is El Diablo Cocono?” and of course “What school district would hire him?”  Well, for some of you, a lucky few, you will have a chance to meet me, as I will be walking the hallways of ISTE, mingling with you,the common people, and on my quest  to be looking for other education technology Luchador administrators.  Each day, I will have a different mask, and will be in different sessions. Please do not ask for my autograph or try to shakemi manos. My hands are my life, and I need them to properly take care of my estudents at mi escuela. 

Each day, like the stealth god of the squared circle I am, I will be silently observing what goes on at ISTE. I will be using my keen sense of observation and stealthiness to report back to you, my dear readers, who, like so many of my people and students, are left behind. We know why you could not make it. You have no money. You are hit hard by the economic downturn. You are stuck behind your administrator desk because your bosses remember the last trip they sent you on. You wish you had not gone into education to begin with, but you are stuck with your lousy career choice. Fear not. I am here to report what you are missing.

So come back here starting on Sunday as I report from what I observed at EdubloggerCon 2011. 

I will let you know about the exhibition hall, the workshops, and of course, where the best cheesesteak tamales in town are located. 

Go to el church first ese.

Join me and Mr. Sprinkles starting Sunday.