The conference

April 12, 2008

I attended a conference for the last day and a half. I was hoping to get new ideas and strategies to use with my students and maybe suggest to my co-workers. I did get a good suggestion from one of the presenters... while we were both at another presentation. I'll try it, and I am hopeful that it will help the student. Still, I felt like there was nothing really NEW! that I heard.

Most of what I got from the conference were realizations. Most of what I heard, I had read about before, or had heard one way or an other. It was kind of disappointing in a way, but then I realized that it meant that what I had been learning on my own was on the right track. I realized that I need to really be accountable, and measure results with this class I'm teaching. I mean I KNEW that but I REALIZED that it meant we really needed to put some means of measuring progress in place so that we can keep closer track of it, and really determine what the gains are for these students. If one thing isn't working, the next thing should be tried. That is what I will mostly talk to my principles about as a result of attending this conference.

Now, here is my pet peeve for something like this conference, and thankfully, I only had a moment of this feeling at the conference, although I have had a lot of this feeling at others. Presenters spend so much time setting up their situation and telling you who is having a problem, that they never get around to telling you HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM. I would rather we all take the problem as a given (I mean, here is the topic of the conference in some cases, I think we KNOW its a problem). Don't tell me how to figure out the problem, tell me what I can DO about it! That, to me, should be the point of the presentation.

Anyway, I came away wishing I had learned more, but feeling that I knew more than I thought I did in the first place.