4 things to do when attending a conference with your Peeps!
I never know how it might go when I take a group of teachers to a conference. Our experience at ISTE 2014 was outstanding. Just like in a classroom, we differentiated the experience based on needs. We spent time together, but then respected our alone time. As a leader, I considered each member of our team to be experts. During our #braindump sessions, every teacher would share a compelling take-away and implementation ideas. There was so much enthusiasm and excitement. Although we put in a great deal of effort in the professional development we create for our teachers, I usually don’t get the same level of energy and enthusiasm I witnessed at the #ISTE2014 conference. I even learned that the original potato head was with a real potato!
So what do you need to attend a successful conference with your teachers:
Give each member a super-power - I assigned each member of our team a super-power. Of course I had the power of delegation. Some of the other powers included: agenda maker, time-keeper, restauranteur, fun-maker, task-master, transporter and even a water boy.
Online communication - Create a text group, Google Hangout or share a #hashtag (ours was #GBMSPeeps). It was easiest to be in the same group text message and talk about our super-powers.
Brain Dumps - It was important for us to get to together and share what we learned. We can share our notes, but nothing is better than hearing the excitement as teachers point out the highlights of the day.
Have Fun! - No matter what…just have fun. We often stress the importance of the content and forget of the importance of the relationships.
Thanks!
