I must be honest, when I was told that we would be attending the KATE Conference I was not jumping out of my seat with excitement. I was not for sure what to expect or if I would even come away with any beneficial information. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned.
Before Thursday, I knew nothing about the keynotes speakers for the day. I knew the titles of their books and that was about it. However, through the short time we spent together I learned a lot about them. I found it very easy to connect with Clare Vanderpool. She seemed very personable and down to earth. I love that she doesn’t take herself too seriously and I liked how she shared stories with the audience about how her family and friends keep her grounded. The one thing that I found inspiring about Clare is her ambition. She never gave up on her dream even though it took her over a decade to achieve it. She was told no repeatedly; yet, she didn’t let rejection stop her from doing what she loves. Instead, she kept pushing through the hard times and never gave up. It felt as though everyone had a connection with Clare. Whether it was because she is from Wichita or just her approachable personality, it is fair to say that it felt as though she was speaking directly to you.
Jay Asher was also inspiring. He experienced rejection just like Clare Vanderpool and he was also willing to share his struggles with the audience. I loved how he shared a few rejection letters to show his journey. He never gave up on his dream even though he was rejected 12 TIMES. Another thing I enjoyed about Jay Asher was how he explained his thought process for creating 13 Reasons. The audience was able to learn where he came up with the idea for the book as well as he reasons for writing it.
The first break out session I attended was how to survive the first five years of teaching. I thought this was a beneficial session to attend. The first few years of teaching have got to be extremely overwhelming so any type of advice is always a plus. Several different things were discussed from what supplies to have, to seating arrangements, and how to appropriately plan for a substitute. The session also provided several handouts and templates for lesson plans, letters to parents, how to conduct teacher-parent conferences and so forth.
The second session I found to be the most helpful was utilizing iPods and i-phones in the classroom. This session discussed how to use technology that kids are already using, within a class setting. She gave the positives as well as the negatives of using i-phones and iPods. Some of the positives included how it helps students stay focused, limits talking, and most importantly it allows for a different method of learning. The negatives that were discussed included cheating, students listening to inappropriate music, surfing the web, and texting. Yet, the positives seem to outweigh the negatives (and most of the negatives can be avoided with teacher supervision). During the session several different apps were shown that could be used in the classroom. Some of the apps that were discussed were Voice Memos, Dictionary.com, Google, iBooks, Flashcards, No Fear Shakespeare, B-Rhymes, Dragon Dictation, and Speller just to name a few.
Overall, I enjoyed the KATE Conference. I found it to be informative and I came away with several things I would like to incorporate into my classroom someday.
