Ms. Hays' Adventures in Student Teaching: October 2013

I recently attended the KATE (Kansas Association of Teachers of English) Conference. These are my thoughts regarding one of the days I was able to attend.

The conference started at 9:00 AM sharp. I car pooled with a friend and we made it there a little after 8:30. We quickly jumped in line and loaded our plates with heaps of food and grabbed some tea. It was pretty good! At 9:00 A.M the first Key Note speaker, Kathleen Blake-Yancey began. Kathleen is an established author and instructor. She didn't begin by throwing around her title or try to persuade us to purchase her books. She instead, lead the lot of us (current and former English instructors) in new activities that would allow the reader to connect with the text better. THIS WAS AWESOME! Seriously. I learned about pop-up poetry, similar to the pop-up video that occasionally pops up on MTV. I cannot wait to use this in my classroom.

Next we were allowed to pick and choose 2 different 45 Minute sessions to attend before lunch.

The first session I chose to attend was one regarding LGBTQ in today's schools. I felt like the topic was really relevant in today's classroom, especially in Kansas. There was a lot of information in this session. I really enjoyed hearing about different teaching experiences regarding LGBTQ in the classroom. I thought cracking down on the phrases, "That's so gay" was important. I also enjoyed how the presenters did not specifically single out LGBTQ, they also crack down on things like, "That's retarded", and etc. I really enjoyed the message that this presentation offered. I also liked the book suggestions and the safe place signs. I felt that this is what we should be doing with our classrooms. We are so much more than subject instructors.

I decided to attend a session over alternative book reports. I am pretty familiar with ABRs because my instructor, Dr. Mason, has shown us things like this session. Unfortunately this session turned into the instructor bashing the Common Core State Standards. Her partner tried to real her in and refocus the session, but the primary instructor really just went off and that was how the entire class was spent. I was really disappointed in this session, I had hoped to learn a few things about ABRs or get a few new ideas for ABRs.

Lunch time!!
Lunch was an extra fee, and being the poor college student that I am, I opted for the cheaper route. A group of us went to a local sub shop and scurried back to catch the next Key Note featuring Alan Sitomer.

I expected Alan Sitomer to be inspiring and bring new ideas to the table, much like Kathleen Blake-Yancey. What I got was someone simply trying to sell me his books. I wasn't really happy being a part of a sales pitch, but I dealt with it. I lost my temper when he made the remark or joke (I am not really sure the truth behind it), about a child who had sent him an e-mail. To summarize this, the child sent him an e-mail saying that he really liked his book but he found his instructor annoying. The child misspelled annoying and Sitomer replied along the lines to find a dictionary. I was rather surprised, I thought this was in REALLY poor taste and I couldn't believe KATE participants laughed at this. I do not think this story was real, but despite that, why is this funny? Shouldn't you be happy the child is reading? After this remark I left. I was done.

I ran into a few other participants and presenters after I left that really did not care for Sitomer's presentation either. I felt a little better. I was worried I was the only one who questioned it. I do worry that I looked too much into this.

The last presentation I was able to attend (I had to go to work after it :( ) revolved around the development of the one room class room and how it developed eventually developed into the public classroom. There was a lot of information about Horace Mann and a lot of pictures of one room classrooms across the United States. This class was refreshing and the CCSS were not mentioned at all. I got to learn a little history, look at fascinating pictures, and learn from people who really embody teaching and what it stands for. It was a good note to end the conference on.

Unfortunately I had to go out of town the next day and was unable to attend the conference.

Overall, I thought the conference was cool. I enjoyed learning new teaching strategies and meeting people from across the state of KS that have the same interests that I do. I felt that many aspects were tainted by the CCSS rift among the attendees. I also did not appreciate trying to be sold stuff (books, schools to go for my masters, and etc). I hope to possibly attend the conference in a few years, after the CCSS issue has calmed down.

Ms. Hays' Adventures in Student Teaching

Monday, October 28, 2013

My thoughts regarding the KATE Conference.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013