Conferences as Professional Development

We've just come off a whirlwind of professional conference opportunities these past few weeks. I'm very proud of you that you decided to take advantage of the sessions as much as your class schedules would allow. It's not that often that we have two state conferences in the Bis/Man communities, particularly within weeks of each other, but we certainly need to take advantage of having them local.

A few things I wanted to point out:

1. Conferences are opportunities for you to learn but, just as important, also a time to socialize. It's a great time to touch bases with friends in the profession, people from "back home", and a time to make new friends. You'll be surprised how small the education world is...in no time, you'll be recognizing familiar faces from previous conferences. This happens to Leah and I all the time - even on the national level. It's a good thing!
2. Once you are a licensed teacher and employed with a certain age of children, you will be able to focus your conference session topics more. For example, one year I decided I needed to learn more about Gifted & Talented so I attended sessions exclusive to that topic. Another time, I wanted to learn more about assessment. So, I attended sessions that were all about assessment. The point is that learning never ends. Your college education and degree are just the beginning!