National Teacher Conference 2017 I Teach 2nd - Las Vegas

I was able to attend the best professional development I have been to in a long time. Interacting and talking with teachers from across the country was amazing. It was interesting to hear teachers speak about their school policies and curriculum. I found some schools were very similar to mine and others were very different. Some teachers had to pay for the conference out of their own pocket. I am blessed to have a district that provides money for personal professional development. They provide each teacher with $600 each year. Since I am tenured, they allowed me to combine two years to cover registration, airfare, and hotel. It was well worth it. 

Photo of transition time between classes. Teachers everywhere to learn and grow as educators! 

So many amazing presenters...

Here are the presenters I saw and what they presented on. 

Dr. Jean Feidman-Let's Make some Happies!

Kayla Delzer-Helping students Demonstrate Understanding Technology

                    The Steps to Flexible Seating & Student-Centered Re-design

Mark Weakland- The Art & Science of Engaging Whole Group Instruction 

Dr. Jo Boaler-The Mindset Revolutions:Teaching Math for Growth Mindset

Marcy Bernethy- Fitting it all in

Cheryl Dick-Reading Strategies that Work or Struggling 2nd Graders  

12 Principles of a Brain-Friendly Classroom

                        Make Learning Stick for Increased Engagement & Achievement 

Donna Whyte-One Size Does Not Fit All (Creating an Inclusion Classroom)

Courtney Bartlett-The Wired Classroom: Ipads,Chromebooks, and More

                             Differentiated Instruction & Reading: Putting It All Together 

Wade & Hope King-Become the King of Creativity

         Fitting It All In

                                           Writing Strategies for Budding Authors

Pat Pavelka-Boosting the Achievement of Your Struggling Readers & Writers

Kyle Schwartz-I Wish My Teacher Knew  

This was an amazing book which focused on the unknown worries and needs of students. It touched my heart and rang true on many levels. I have many students who face things students should never face at their age. I will incorporate the writing prompt this year of "I wish my teacher knew" this in my classroom as well. A great suggestion she had was waiting 2-3 weeks before giving students the writing prompt so the teacher and student can build a little trust and begin a relationship where the student feels safe recording their thoughts down.

Professional Development is an opportunity for me to reflect and reevaluate what I am doing in the classroom. It is where I go in hopes of gaining new and relevant strategies, being inspired and motivated. Some of the best presenters in my opinion are fellow teachers who bring experience and strategies that are applicable for the classroom. Teachers that are in the classroom everyday and get it!  Honestly, I have been to different PDs which left me disappointed. Sad to say... sometimes the presenters are not engaging and it takes everything in me to stay alert. Passionate teachers are easy to spot.They draw other teachers towards them. This is what I found throughout this conference. Passionate Teachers! I took home numerous ideas and strategies that I am looking forward to implementing in my classroom. 

There are several teachers I follow on instagram, pinterest, and TPT.  I was lucky enough to see some of  these teachers present. Below are some photos of these fabulous presenters/teachers.

Hope & Wade King teach at RCA (Ron Clark Academy). Wade is a director of curriculum and teacher. Hope is a fifth grade teacher. Hope is also a creator of Teachers Pay Teachers products under the name Elementary Shenanigans. I witnessed her genuine love of all teachers. She hugged everyone that came up and met her. She intently listened and tried to answer questions. I was in awe of her! 

Wade & Hope King

These two individuals are so inspirational and motivating. I am SO BLESSED to have attended three classes with Hope and one with Wade. If you have never heard Wade's story you need to hear it. He gave us his personal story. You can find a video about him at this link: Wade King Story

One area I wanted to focus on during this PD was technology. Courtney Bartlett provided great material and instruction. She gave many resources and strategies, I will integrate in my classroom this year. She is also a teacher who creates products for TPT. She is also known under the name Swimming in Second Grade. 

Courtney Bartlett

This is Kayla Delzer. Some may know her by her site name Top Dog Teaching. She is the gooroo on flexible seating.  The link to her website is here:Topdogteaching.com I was fortunate to have two classes taught by her. Helping students Demonstrate Understanding Technology and The Steps to Flexible Seating & Student-Centered Re-design. She presented great content on technology. She gave great resources to incorporate into the classroom. I was intrigued by electronic portfolios for students. This was one highly recommended technology integration suggestions from the conference. She uses SEESAW to create electric student portfolios. The link for seesaw can be found here: Seesaw

Another suggestion included Audioboom. I loved this suggestion. She shared how she has students record themselves reading a book for the listening center. The audio is accessed through a QR code. Other students could access the audio during listening center. I thought this was fabulous on many levels. Great for the reading and the listener both. I will definitely incorporate these two technologies this coming year! 

Kayla Delzer

Mark Weakland presented on whole group instruction. He was also fun and engaging. He lead off with a quote "Most effective teachers are masters of both content and instruction". He gave 10 techniques to bring engagement in the whole group setting. 

1. Focus Attention
2. Set Goals
3. Us I Say, We Say, You Say
4. Be Direct and Explicit
5. Regularly use Think Time & Turn and Tell
6. Positive Reinforcement
7. Keep the pace brisk
8. Whole group physical response
9. Distribute practice over time
10. Cheers 

Mark website link is found here Mark Weakland Literacy

I did not get a photo of Marcy Bernethy. She presented on "fitting it all in". She is also a TPT teacher. She is the creator under Saddle Up for Second Grade. You can find her link here.Saddle up for Second Grade .  She provided great information as well. 

I would without a doubt recommend this conference to all teachers new and seasoned! The content was relevant to teaching today.  They already have the dates for next year July 9-13, at the same beautiful Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. I doubt I will go next year, but I would love to go back in the future. If you haven't went and you teach pre-K, kindergarten, 1st, or 2nd grade. This conference is for you! 

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