Teacher Conferences- Forever a student!

Proverbs 16:16 - How much better [is it] to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

This past month and a half I have been to three conferences.  All education related and I took a lot away from each.  The first is the Connections Conference.  It is sponsored by Illinois State University.  It is over two days at Pheasant Run in St. Charles, IL.  It starts off with a keynote speaker.  I was not a big fan of the speaker and honestly couldn't remember much about his talk.  However its the workshops that rock this conference.  I went to some great workshops that ranged in a variety of topics from how to have a elective class fair to discussions on the teenage brain.  I also sat in on Illinois's Teacher of the Year Steven Elza and the strategies he uses in his classroom.  I was fascinated by the use of technology in his classroom.



My next conference was actually a student conference.  I took six students to the FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America) State Conference.  Students presented projects for medals and a chance to attend nationals.  We had one student qualify for nationals in July in Washington D.C.  She did a project in Early Childhood Education.  This is the sixth year I have had a student qualify for this event at nationals.  Throughout the weekend they had workshops for the students to attend while they were not in competitions.  The one workshop my students talked the most about was the one on sex.  However it was not a typical one.  The workshop talked a lot about safety and internet and who you meet online.  They talked about how there are predators and people who will not say who they really are but have fake identifications.  I did not attend any workshops I spend the day judging as a volunteer.  In the evening we had a group dinner and then we went to the evening events.  The girls didn't want to stay for entertainment so we went back to the hotel to enjoy the pool and pack.  The next morning we got our results and then headed home.  It was a great 3 days!

Lastly I attended the Delta Kappa Gamma Lambda State Convention.  I was not impressed.  I felt very left out of what seemed to be more tradition and a reunion then a conference for learning.  They messed up my meals that should have been gluten free.  Also they did not call me up as a first timer so I didn't bother going up.  Very few of the workshops were meant for PD hours which is why a young teacher like me would want to attend!  I don't think I would attend next year.