KATE

I really had no idea what to expect going into it as I really have not ever been to something quite like this. Was I just going to be listening to talks and lectures? Would we be interacting with the speakers and other teachers during the breakout sessions? Will this even be worth my time, or will I just be hearing the same things that I have heard from my classes? Fortunately, I did find myself picking up a few tips and gaining a bit of knowledge as the conference went along. Due to my work schedule, I was unfortunately not able to attend as much of the KATE conference as I would have liked to. However, for the majority of the sessions that I was able to listen in on, I did gain a fair amount of knowledge and did feel like I got a lot out of it.

While I was a little less than riveted when the initial chair members spoke, I did get a lot out of Brent Crawford’s talk. You could tell that he was very sincere in how grateful he was towards the teachers he had while growing up. It was clear that he had come a long way from where he was back in school to where he is now, and that even he is somewhat surprised that it was writing that put him there. His humor kept the talk lively and through that he made it very easy to see which student he was while growing up. I unfortunately was not able to catch Rachel Hawkins, so if anybody wants to let me know how her talk was comparatively I would be very appreciative.

As for the breakout sessions, I think that the one I got the most out of was “How to Survive Your First Year.” The lady giving the presentation was a fairly young teacher herself, having only taught for three years, so it was clear that her experiences were still fresh in her mind and relevant to what we may experience ourselves. It was really the little things from her talk that struck me the most, the ones that would seem so obvious that we often forget them: Make sure you allow yourself to have a life; end confrontation thoroughly and immediately; take a step back. Essentially, they were the things that would allow you to remain sane during the school year.

While I felt like I was all over the place during the conference, I did have the fortune of doing at least some amount of networking. I received some email addresses from some of the other participants. I was very thankful to see that many of the presenters offered their addresses as well in case we have any questions down the road. Over all, I was very impressed at how open of an environment it was and how willing people were to jump into discussions and ask the presenters questions if there was something that they did not understand.

Again, due to work I was only able to make four of the breakout sessions and listen to one of the keynote speakers so I do feel as though there was a fair amount that I missed out on. However, what I did attend was as much, if not more informative than I expected it to be. Having gone to the conference once certainly gives me a better idea of what to expect if I ever attend this one, or anything similar in the future.