Sunday, July 12, 2015

What I learned in Vegas isn't staying in Vegas!



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I recently spent 4 days at the Staff Development for Educators I Teach K! national conference in Las Vegas. I have attended this conference previously in 2007 and 2013, both times with my teaching teammate at the time, but this time I was flying solo. I was able to attend this year thanks to a special program offered by Donors Choose that allowed teachers to write proposals for professional development opportunities (you can see my proposal here) I have to begin this post by thanking those that made it possible for me to attend! Big thank yous to Donors Choose, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Johnathan and Rebecca Lundin (parents of one of my kinder students!) Rita Cox, Cindy Salyer, the Limestone Technology Academy PTO, and Nancy Boomershine (my mom!) for donating to my project. Without their financial support, I would not have been able to attend this national conference! My sweet husband and in-laws accepted the challenge of helping my 5 year old daughter get through a mommy-less week. Though it was tough at times, everyone survived thanks to lots of extra cuddles and a little FaceTime!

FYI: I encourage all teachers to utilize Donors Choose! They help projects, big and small, come to fruition, and it is FREE for educators! If you need help getting started, please contact me and I'll be happy to help you!


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Though I thought was the only one attending from my district, I was pleasantly surprised to run into two more Kinder teachers from Sand Springs at the airport! It was nice to have familiar faces to talk to and bounce ideas off of, and it helped us all get to know each other better! Even though we teach in the same district, our time together as a grade level is quite limited to scheduled meetings to discuss curriculum and the ever dreaded report card revisions. It was an absolute joy to spend time with Britta Hartman and Stephanie Dunn!






Of course, a conference trip wouldn't be complete without my Oklahoma Science Framework partner-in-crime, Megan Veldhuizen! We've experienced so much together in such a short time of knowing each other! She is a passionate educator with a heart for science! You should definitely check out her new science and technology classroom blog!




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One of the best things about attending a national conference is that you finally get to meet the people that you've been following on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or blogs! Sharing ideas through social media has been such a blessing, but there is nothing quite like talking face to face with some of the best early childhood teachers out there! When I attended I Teach K! in 2007, I was first introduced to HeidiSongs. I fell in love with her math songs and I've been using them in my classroom ever since! Heidi Butkus has developed fun, catchy, songs that teach academic concepts ranging from math, procedures, sight words, and more! My class LOVES Ms. Heidi and her sight word songs, and we sing them every day to practice and reinforce the sight words we are learning in class. We received the entire set through (you guessed it!) a Donors Choose project! When I attended I Teach K! in 2013 I was disappointed to find out that Heidi wasn't presenting that year. Then earlier this year, she announced that she was presenting in Las Vegas, but it wasn't a Kinder session because she's moving up to 1st! Thank goodness SDE is flexible! I attended Heidi's 1st grade session on using iPods and iPads in the classroom and was able to finally meet her! She was gracious enough to take a picture so I could prove to my kinders (and my daughter!) that I met THE Ms. Heidi!




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Another amazing SDE presenter (and former Sandite teacher!) I was able to learn from was Kathy Griffin (the teacher, not the comedian!) I was able to learn from Kathy early in my career and have been to many of her presentations, always leaving with several new ideas that I can implement right away. She emphasizes the importance of setting up procedures and expectations right away to ensure a smooth and successful school year!


Aside from hearing from presenters I follow on social media (such as Jack Hartmann, Kim Adsit, Kurt Schwengel, and Pat Pavelka to name a few) I was introduced to several new educators to follow; Julia Lee, DeeDee Wills, Lori Elliot, and Jessica Priem. Jessica's session on STEM and NGSS was absolutely amazing! I could feel her enthusiasm for science and it was contagious! I overheard several attendees having ah-ha moments, realizing that they really could do STEM with their kinders! I was inspired by Jessica's session, as I will be presenting on a similar topic in February at the SDE Regional Conference for Oklahoma Kindergarten Teachers. My session is "STEM and PBL in K? Yes!" I hope to show those that attend that science is easy to incorporate into lessons and units they are already doing in their kinder classrooms. If all goes well, maybe one July I can be sharing my love for kindergarten (and science) in Las Vegas with thousands of other kinder teachers! I'm officially putting that in my 5 year plan!

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It is difficult task to process four days (15 sessions!) worth of learning. I'm still downloading handouts, TPT freebies (yay!) and looking over my pages and pages of notes. I think it is important to prioritize ideas, because when I leave a conference, I'm so excited and I want to start using everything I learned the very next day! That has proven to be successful at times, but taking on too much change all at once has proven to be difficult for not only me, but my students as well (if we've already established procedures). I'm currently working on a list of things I want to implement immediately, and things that I want to try at some point this upcoming year. And yes, both lists are long!

I firmly believe that when teachers stop learning is when they should stop teaching. I'm a lifelong learner, so it looks like I'll be around for quite a while!