When I first started teaching I knew I had one goal beyond the classroom. I wanted to get my Masters degree. Several years ago I achieved that goal by getting a degree in Instructional Design and Technology from Emporia State University. That was a great accomplishment that I’m very proud of, but then I was at a loss for what to do next. Unless I wanted to become an administrator (which I love administrators, but I could never do the HR responsibilities as well as they do), there wasn’t a clear path to further my career. So I decided the next step would be to move beyond my classroom and school, and develop as an educator on a larger scale (across districts and across the country).
Last week I had the opportunity to present at my first conference, the MACE conference in Manhattan, KS. This was my first foray into presenting what I do in the classroom to people outside of my district. Fortunately I didn’t have to present alone. Chris Buss, Amber Rowland, Ashford Collins-Johnson and I all presented on our research study we’ve been working on through KU. Our goal was less to present about the study and more to showcase practical strategies teachers could leave the conference with and implement right away.
I presented on the PSA projects my students created (as a variation on a traditional persuasive speech), various Flipped Learning strategies I’ve used this year, and how I’ve used Edmodo, Twitter, and my websites to communicate with parents. There was definitely room for me to improve, but it was an amazing experience to present at the same conference as other presenters who have been doing this for years. It was validation that what I have to say matters
I also learned a great deal from the other presenters. I have some ideas for some great apps to use, some app smashing and some new tools to use with Google slides. I also updated my Twitter profile and hopefully continue to gain Twitter followers. Overall, the conference was a huge success.
Now just a few short months until ISTE 2015.
If you would like to check out our presentation materials you can find them at our website:
http://resourcesteach.weebly.com
