Kate Conference

The KATE conference this past week was very informational and fun.  My favorite part had to be the keynote addresses from the YA authors Brent Crawford and Rachel Hawkins.  Both authors were very funny and inspiring.  I really enjoyed listening to Mr. Crawford read from his book and talk about what kind of student he was in school.  He really reminded me of a lot of boys in that same situation and I feel that his books will really resonate with young men, and he relates to them in such a humorous way that they will enjoy listening to his stories. 

 

Rachel Hawkins was someone I was very interested to hear speak.  I had read all three of her books, found them good and very fun.  I absolutely loved the main character in her trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed her sense of humor.  The character was very sarcastic and I really enjoyed that.  Listening to Mrs. Hawkins speak, you could definitely see where the character came from.  The author’s sense of humor and her interest in the paranormal shined through in her trilogy and I have recommended her books to other young girls looking for something fun to read.  I also really enjoyed the stories relating her experiences as a teacher.

 

There are also other aspects of the conference that were inspirational to me.  I attended a breakout session on co-teaching and that was very interesting for me.  This session discussed the ways to be effective with co-teaching and to recognize when it is not working, and that does not necessarily mean failure.  Communication between teachers is very important for this method and sometimes things cannot be forced. The second breakout session I attended was on first year teaching tips.  It was very interesting to hear someone talk about how we don’t have to be perfect.  It is nice to have someone acknowledge that we, as teachers, are learning as well and we will make mistakes.  We not always react perfectly the first time and we may have to adjust lesson plans or theories, but it will be alright to do so.  The samples she handed out are very helpful as well. In the afternoon I went to the Tier 3, MTSS session.  The reason I choose this was because these are the students I have been working with and I was curious how this teacher had changed her classroom to improve classroom management.  I have worked in this teacher’s classroom before and it was very interesting to see the changes she has implemented and the changes it has made for her with behavior and productivity. The last session I attended was the one on graphic novels and how we can use them in the classroom in multiple aspects.  I have been really intrigued lately with the use of graphic novels in the classroom.  I plan to use theses in my lesson plans and this session opened up even more possibilities.  I was very intrigued with the thought of validating these as reliable resources.