Suggestions for Professional Development Conferences
There are many national conferences from which to choose that offer outstanding professional development. Over the past eight years of our teacher scholarship program, we have learned about a number of conferences that we would readily recommend and have listed a few of them below. Also included are teacher quotes that give a good insight to the content and value of the conferences.
National Science Teachers Association: March 29 – April 1, 2012
http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ind/
The NSTA national conference offers literally hundreds of workshops and sessions on a vast array of topics related to science teaching. It is the best professional development opportunity that we have ever experienced. Among the many offerings, we were able to see new technology and try new equipment. We signed up for free trials and materials for our classrooms, which is always exciting when our students get to try new equipment. One of the benefits of colleagues attending the conference from the same school is that we will be able to smoothly team-teach and work together as a department. This conference is a notable educational experience for all science teachers.
High Schools That Work: July 11 – 14, 2012
http://www.sreb.org/page/1142/summer_conference.html
This conference is great for a team of teachers, including the school principal, to attend. Among the many school improvement discussions that were held, we learned new ideas on student motivation and well-being, how to get students involved in getting their assignments completed, being on time for class, and more. The sessions were exhilarating. This fall we held a mini-workshop with all the teachers who attended the conference sharing what they learned. Our 100-member staff rotated through each session. We are following up to see how the ideas that the staff learned are implemented in lesson plans and teaching methods.
International Reading Association: April 29 – May 2, 2012
http://www.reading.org/convention.aspx
We met with reading specialists from across the country and learned strategies on teaching reading and vocabulary. We got to bring home wonderful books, posters and ideas to use in the classroom. Meeting authors of children’s books and bringing back autographed books to share with my students was a special highlight. My students were thrilled that I got to meet and have my photo made with children’s author Skippy John Jones. My students love her rhyming books, which are a great help in teaching children how to read.
Dr. Jean’s Camp Kindergarten: June 21 – 22, 2012
http://drjean.org/html/workshop_calendarPg.html
This is an awesome program for teachers. Dr. Jean is very popular among early childhood educators. Her conferences are very active. Dr. Jean showed us how to use music and activities to teach basic concepts—new ways to teach old material. We received CDs and bound booklets from the training, all of which are hands-on activities that we can use to keep children’s attention.
Kagan Summer Institute: Several sessions in July 2012
http://www.kaganonline.com/workshops/summer_academy/
We had heard Kenneth Kagan at a one-day workshop in Oklahoma and knew we wanted to learn more about his teaching strategies. At his conference, we learned over 30 strategies—ways to get our students up and moving to build classroom cooperation and optimize achievement. His method teaches cooperative learning—how to work with others—which prepares students for success in the adult world. We are seeing our students motivated now and excited to be at school. The conference was everything and more than we had hoped it would be.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: April 25 – 28, 2012
http://www.nctm.org/conferences/content.aspx?id=29461
The conference offers an incredible amount of workshop choices, put on by the best teachers in the country. I attended a variety of sessions that dealt with technology integration in math class and returned to Oklahoma with a wealth of resources and lesson ideas. An added bonus was getting acquainted with some of the conference math experts, which will help me be a far more effective teacher. It was also great to get to network with colleagues from other states and school districts and gain fresh ideas from them—as well as share some of my own ideas with them.
International Conference on Positive Behavior Support: March 15 – 17, 2012
http://www.apbs.org/conference/atlanta/index.aspx
The conference was four full days packed with fantastic and informative information. We have already begun implementing several of the procedures both in our classrooms and in the building. We are using school-wide rewards to promote positive behavior. We have a new parent facilitator, a web page and several activities planned to reach out to parents and community. We have set up a student panel and have been working on activities for staff that will promote consistency and collegiality. This was one of the most useful and applicable conferences that I have ever attended. There was immediate impact on me and the school staff with whom I shared ideas.
Professional Learning Communities at Work Institute: July 18 – 20, 2012
http://blcconference.com/
The Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process is increasingly recognized as the most powerful strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement. This institute gives you and your team the knowledge and tools to implement this powerful process in your school or district. For three days, you will have the opportunity to network with some of the most insightful minds in education, including the architects of the PLC at Work™ process. Presenters are accessible to you throughout the event. The program includes time for questions during the breakout sessions, a panel of experts to address questions from the audience, and time for teams to reflect and seek the advice of the presenters. At the end of team time, you will focus on next action steps, with presenters on hand to guide you.
For those just beginning to explore PLCs, this is an excellent way to build your knowledge base. For those who are already involved in deep implementation, this institute is the perfect opportunity to revisit your mission, introduce new team members to the process, and get answers to new questions. As you delve deep into the three big ideas of a PLC—focus on learning, build a collaborative culture, and results orientation—you will gain specific, practical, and inspiring strategies for transforming your school or district into a place where all students learn at high levels.
AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination: Dec. 6 – 8, 2012
http://www.avid.org/
The AVID National Conference is a forum to discuss and share best practices on opening access to rigorous curriculum for all. In addition to teachers, participants include superintendents, school board members, district and site administrators, and other educational leaders. The conference helps teachers to understand how to improve expectations and outcomes for underserved students.
Marzano’s Annual Conference on Common Core and Assessments:
March 24 – 26, 2012
http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol6/612-video.aspx
This conference assists teachers and administrators with transition to Common Core State Standards and Assessments, a program Oklahoma is preparing to adopt.
STEM Forum & Expo: May 17 – 19, 2012
(Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)
http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012atl/
The conference provides tools for elementary and middle school educators to build foundational skills and inspire interest in STEM.
Columbia University Summer Institute of Writing:
June 25 – 29 & Aug. 13 – 17, 2012
http://tc.readingandwritingproject.com/institutes/tc-summer-institutes
Each night we had a writing assignment, and it challenged us to grow as writers. We quickly realized that in order to teach our students writing with the use of journals, we had to have our own journal and engage in weekly writing ourselves. This experience certainly gave us great insight to what it must feel like for our students as they approach the tasks we set for them. Over the course of the week, we learned teacher-friendly techniques for teaching writing successfully. We learned how to breathe new life into our writing lessons by creating writing experiences that are intense, intimate and rigorous for our students.
After attending a follow-up workshop in Tulsa presented by the above teachers after they returned home, the superintendent of their school district made the following comment, which was forwarded to us: If teacher enthusiasm can be translated into student achievement, you will have a bunch of little “Einsteins” at West Intermediate by the end of the school year. More important than your great enthusiasm is the fact that you have dissected writing into critical, digestible nuggets for your fellow teachers and their students. Your presentation yesterday made me (well, almost) want to go back to the sixth grade and learn writing all over again.