There are so many
things you hope to take away from conference, especially when you have taken
time out of your professional and personal life to miss time with your students
and with your family. The science department all attended the California Science
Teacher Association conference in San Jose this October. My expectations were
exceeded and I discovered a few things I never expected. First, it was a
stimulating and immersive 2 days for our department to get to know each other
and have shared experiences to talk about as we continue to develop our
curriculum. We fanned out to different workshops and brought back new ideas to
share. We often found that our interests overlapped as we met up in the same
sessions. This conference was exceptional in that every workshop was led by a
teacher who was passionate and really knew their stuff. I wanted to attend this
conference in particular because of it’s emphasis on learning how to navigate
more student-centered classrooms as we adopt the Next Gen Science Standards and
Practices (NGSS). Again, my expectations were exceeded as every session I
attended embraced the model and gave us practical experiences to bring back to
our classrooms.
things you hope to take away from conference, especially when you have taken
time out of your professional and personal life to miss time with your students
and with your family. The science department all attended the California Science
Teacher Association conference in San Jose this October. My expectations were
exceeded and I discovered a few things I never expected. First, it was a
stimulating and immersive 2 days for our department to get to know each other
and have shared experiences to talk about as we continue to develop our
curriculum. We fanned out to different workshops and brought back new ideas to
share. We often found that our interests overlapped as we met up in the same
sessions. This conference was exceptional in that every workshop was led by a
teacher who was passionate and really knew their stuff. I wanted to attend this
conference in particular because of it’s emphasis on learning how to navigate
more student-centered classrooms as we adopt the Next Gen Science Standards and
Practices (NGSS). Again, my expectations were exceeded as every session I
attended embraced the model and gave us practical experiences to bring back to
our classrooms.
The most unexpected and impactful take away for me was how I
felt becoming a student again. Over the 2 days of workshops, I was constantly
reminded about how my students must feel everyday as we ask them to move
through their daily routine and schedule. I arrived at “class” eager
to chat with my table-mates, and was quite put off when the session leader
wanted us to quiet down. Sometimes, I was completely enraptured by their lead
in video or photo and I couldn’t wait to do their “lesson” and other
times I kept looking at my empty coffee mug counting the minutes to when I
could go fill it up, conflicted because I really did want to hear about their
presentation. Sometimes I just wanted to write notes, look up a related idea on
the web and insert those ideas into my current lesson plans and again, was quite
put off when the workshop leader wanted me to talk to my table group. Even with
all these competing distractions, when I just let go and played along with the
workshop plan, I left the room excited about the new ideas the workshop leader
helped me discover. The workshop model was very successful for me and it was
surprising how quickly 90 minutes could pass. Now here’s my final takeaway, and
probably worthy of a full blog post–the length of “class”. The 90
minutes allowed all the participants to settle in, dig into the topic at hand,
share our understanding and have an authentic wrap up to the experience. We
weren’t rushed and everyone in the room had a chance to think about the
questions and authentically discover the concepts that the workshop leader
planned for us. What would the lives of our students be like if we had a
long-block schedule all the time?
felt becoming a student again. Over the 2 days of workshops, I was constantly
reminded about how my students must feel everyday as we ask them to move
through their daily routine and schedule. I arrived at “class” eager
to chat with my table-mates, and was quite put off when the session leader
wanted us to quiet down. Sometimes, I was completely enraptured by their lead
in video or photo and I couldn’t wait to do their “lesson” and other
times I kept looking at my empty coffee mug counting the minutes to when I
could go fill it up, conflicted because I really did want to hear about their
presentation. Sometimes I just wanted to write notes, look up a related idea on
the web and insert those ideas into my current lesson plans and again, was quite
put off when the workshop leader wanted me to talk to my table group. Even with
all these competing distractions, when I just let go and played along with the
workshop plan, I left the room excited about the new ideas the workshop leader
helped me discover. The workshop model was very successful for me and it was
surprising how quickly 90 minutes could pass. Now here’s my final takeaway, and
probably worthy of a full blog post–the length of “class”. The 90
minutes allowed all the participants to settle in, dig into the topic at hand,
share our understanding and have an authentic wrap up to the experience. We
weren’t rushed and everyone in the room had a chance to think about the
questions and authentically discover the concepts that the workshop leader
planned for us. What would the lives of our students be like if we had a
long-block schedule all the time?
yes on so much of this… putting me in conferences its typically a reminder of what it is like to be a student… and yes the blocks give time to really dig into something… not sure how we crack that nut… 🙁
It's important to become a student again every once in a while. The empathy and perspective from the experience can be a powerful one.
One of the things I find at conferences isn't necessarily new information, but things that I'm doing that are reinforced or things that I have put aside and am reminded that they work really well….and the possibility of networking is a great thing as well.
I agreed with so much of your post. I think it is a great thing to have to look back at what it is like to be a student. Then we can really empathize with our students and be able to understand where they are coming from. From our own experience we can pull our own ideas/thoughts which gives us a humanizing and relatable trait that students can then share with us. Sometimes even the students need to be reminded yes we have been in your shoes but here is a, b, and c of why being present is important. Having this will build more connection and be an advantage to be relatable with students and build a rapport.