I always have a system when I go to a conference…there’s only one problem right now. It hasn’t started yet. It’s a big problem when your avocation is your vocation. Finding the boundaries between work and family life is hard when you love what you do. I love learning things that make my students more successful. And at the same time, I enjoy becoming a better teacher myself, so the cycle continues.
Whenever I go to a conference, I always start off my printing out the master list of presentations and presenters. This is truly the hard part because there are always two or three things at the same time that I want to see. Most conferences are now moving to an app based experience. The only problem is…the Midwest one is not out yet. They have told me that it’s coming out right after Thanksgiving. Yes, you know where I will be on Black Friday and it’s not shopping… The conference apps are a great way to navigate the conference. It will allow you to create your own schedule; which is dangerous for me because I always double or triple book myself and then decide right down to the minute before they start. (Sometimes I split the difference and go to two in the same hour.) The apps also contain all of the conference handouts which I always download all of them (yes, and the IT guy at my school is always scolding me for my data usage…) and save them for later reference. This is really key because you can’t get to everything and I can upload them to Evernote for quick digital access later on all of my devices. People also add their contacts, so I contact people later when I need their expertise. The app also allows you to ‘hang your hat’ at the conference and let everyone know you are there. It’s a great way to meet people you know who are there that you didn’t know were coming or connect with someone you just met. You can also have background chats or live comments on a presenter while they are talking which can be interesting. I’m a part of a String Teacher group on Facebook that has 7,000 members and I was thinking of organizing a meeting to finally ‘meet’ the people that I talk to in the group. Stay tuned on that… Well, expect a post on Black Friday if the app pops up in the app store on my phone. I’m clearing out room on my devices as we speak! Look out Midwest. Here I come!
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All, I'll be blogging about my trip to Chicago here! I'll keep you all posted on this amazing opportunity! But for now....
Prepping, prepping, prepping and then eventually packing. Where to start? What to take? I'll keep you updated on some of the great clinics being presented at the Midwest Clinic. I've already printed out the schedule...now just have to choose what to go to! |
AuthorI am the proud Orchestra Director of the East High Orchestra program in Anchorage, Alaska. We are the most diverse high school in North America! Go T-birds! ArchivesCategories |