Attending the KATE
conference this past week was a new experience for me. Many of the breakout
sessions that I attended were great learning experiences for me. I am grateful
for the experience to attend such a conference as a student.
One
of the best sessions that I attended was the session on Voice Threads as an
alternative to book reports. This free program allows students to record their
voices and place pictures to it instead of the standard book report. This gave
me a multitude of ideas to use for my future classroom. I could not only have
my students use this as a book report, but I could also adapt this technology
and use it for many other uses in my classroom. If I used this technology and
applied it to my semester plan, I could have my students “record” messages home
from Peeta and Katniss to their families instead of writing letters. The
students could also “record” commercials for their specific districts and apply
them to their group projects as well. Voice threads can allow students to use
technology in many ways for projects that used to be traditional. This is just
one of the many ways that teachers can update their “old school” projects to
something that the students may enjoy a bit better.
Out
of all the other sessions that I attended over the two days of the conference
that I learned the most from was the group of new teachers giving advice to the
future or new teachers. Some of the things that they pointed out in their
session were things that I never considered for my classroom. Of course, one of
the most obvious ideas that they shared with us was to “beg, borrow, and steal”
from out CTs as well as anyone who would be willing to allow us to take their
lesson plans, worksheets, ideas, etc. I have previously had a professor that
had told us that, but I did not truly believe him. I did not think that the
teachers that we would be working with would actually help us, but the farther
I go in my student teaching the more I know that other teachers want to see us
succeed. Hearing the “new” teachers advice gave me the understanding to know
that what I have been hearing in my classes for so long has been correct. The
little tips and strategies can be taken to heart because they do work, as long
as they are implemented properly.
I never believed that I could learn
so much from a conference in two days. Things that have taken years to learn in
other classes I learned in 45 minute sessions. From what I have learned in
those two days, I will be attending the KATE conference again. I believe that
learning from other people that are in the same profession is one of the best
ways to learn. I believe that it is true what they say, it does take a village
to raise a child. With that in mind, it will take many educators to educate
each other just so we can educate our students.
