Just Can't Get Enough

I can't get enough school.  It's sad, but true.  Sure, I finished the school year on Friday, but in the upcoming weeks, I'm attending two (yes, TWO!) educational conferences.

The first starts a week from today at a hotel in Fountain Hills.  I've not really announced it, but I am pursuing my National Board Certification.

National Board Certification is a rigorous assessment process where I demonstrate and defend my teaching practice, proving to a group of trained assessors that I am an effective teacher.  National Board Certification requires me to videotape myself in the classroom, write arduously about my practice and take a massive test that requires me to explain my reactions to different teaching scenarios.  For example, comparing a text to a student's reading of it and using that reading to decide intervention strategies as well as analyzing a student's math test to see what mathematical misconceptions that student might have and explain what I would do to correct those misconceptions.  Notice how none of this process asks you to submit your class's test scores.  More thoughts on that later...

For the past two months, I've taken a pre-candidacy class at the AZK12 Center on Thursday evenings where I read, annotated and planned how to apply the professional teaching standards to my practice.  Now, I start creating my portfolio entries.  Thus, the Summer National Board Institute - also run by the AZK12 Center, which is amazing btw - where I will collaborate with other teachers in my certificate area (whoo hoo to Middle Childhood Generalists!) and start my journey on this year long process.

That's the first conference.

The second conference is at the fabulous Westward Look Resort in Tucson: Camp Plug and Play.

Westward Look in TucsonT

This hotel is fabulous!  Truly, I am lucky to be a teacher and attend a conference at the Westward Look.  At Camp Plug and Play,  I will be learning how to use digital storytelling to improve writing in my classroom.  I am super excited about this conference because I will get to play with technology and learn something that I can use to engage my students in learning and expressing themselves in a new art form. My hope is that digital storytelling will get them excited about writing as well.   Camp Plug and Play is also hosted by the AZK12 Center.  What can I say?  When I find a place I like, I stick with it.