I drove up to the conference on Sunday and went to one session about teaching “Curriculum for a crowded world.” The presenter, Elisabeth Young- Isebrand, took us through a few activities that we could use in the classroom when talking about population and natural resources. For me, I found it helpful to participate in the activities to see what modifications I can make depending on the classroom I’m in. The other sessions did not interest me as much so I waited for Monday.
The first session I attended was “How I Stopped Giving Homework and Taught My Students (To Hate Note-cards)” which provided a lot of resources and blog information to check out. It was helpful to have an idea of the variety of things I can do for classroom management that still allows students to be engaged. I will include the blog information later.
Next, I went to a session that most of us enjoyed: “Breaking into the Field: What the Pre-Service Teacher Should Know.” While we are able to practice interviews in the department, getting into education or study abroad opportunities, it is not entirely the same. For me, it is easier to go into an interview in the department because I know most of the professors who will be there. So it was helpful to talk about what is expected in a job interview outside of Gustavus and to see those similarities and differences.
“Religious Sensitivity in the Public Schools” was an interesting session. While the information was good for finding out what is and isn’t acceptable in the classroom, it wasn’t what I expected. The session went through and described scenarios that were obviously violating a students’ freedom of religion and then asked for a way to remedy the situation. I wish that more people had spoken up because I felt like we only got the opinions or examples from two or three different people. Overall though, it was a good presentation that put into perspective how we can address religion and holidays without offending others.
The final scheduled session that I attended was “Integrating Technology and Primary Sources into the Elementary Social Studies Classroom.” This was another session that had us involved in an activity. We were given a few websites that are helpful to either monitor student learning or to enhance it by including different forms of technology, like the QR codes or Edmoto (like Facebook).
I really enjoy the talk with Diane and Nancy. It was interesting to hear their stories about using the artifacts and interactive activities in their classroom to teach history. They had a lot of insights into how we can use more interactive materials and understand the benefits students get from it.
Overall, I loved this conference. I enjoyed listening to the different sessions and hearing ideas that I can use myself in the future. I also enjoyed talking to a few of the vendors who were eager to share their information. I have plenty of books and other resources if anyone is interested. 🙂