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How Do I Apply What I Learned at Tech Conferences as an Educator?

October 10, 2015 by  
Filed under Education, News, Opinion, Tech/Internet, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Teacher of the Year in Duval County Schools Venetia Elementary and Instructor at Edward Waters College in the Education and Urban Studies Department.

The availability of conferences allows educators to engage with educational peers, learn new strategies, how to apply differential instruction, how technologies are used to teach students of
all backgrounds and abilities. Tech conferences support the instructional and educational process.

As an educator my goal is to empower myself with knowledge and share that knowledge with my students and even my community. The field of education is not and cannot be a place for selfish individuals and opportunistic groups lurking to make money off of children, with that said the reality is, this happens every day across this nation in educational circles, but too many don’t have the political clout to correct or change this.

Even with that reality there are educators that are passionate, honest, self-sacrificing for their students, parents, and their communities that they live in and make their careers in education.
It is commonly known that a progressive and growing community has a strong educational community with engaging partnerships, solid mentoring programs, stakeholders in diverse areas of business, commerce, economics and even in political sectors. Education is seen as an investment in the future of its citizens that allows for global competition and commerce. Quality education has the promise of quality careers.

The majority of educators understand the demands and sacrifices of WilliamJackson-2015-Black-Technology-Educational-Blogbeing a professional educator, serious professionals are not waiting for summer breaks or extended holiday vacations. The majority of educators utilize and sacrifice their time, resources, talents and abilities to invest in their students. This can never be overlooked or taken for granted that some in political circles and lobbying groups seem to do.

I love my educational career even after 27 years and had a great role model and mentor in my mother, she taught over 30 years in Camden, New Jersey until passing in 2004. I’ve seen her advance from being a beginning teacher to a Master Educator. My mother excited me to attending conferences when she would take me, my brother and sister with her so we can learn and explore. I in turn did the same for my children, both are now in college and know how to “act” in public because of exposing them to these unique educational opportunities.

It cannot be overlooked how important it is for educators to attend conferences, workshops, seminars, and other events where there is sharing and the exchange of information. The quote, “The best professional development is when teachers meet and talk,” paraphrasing Arne Duncan shows that professional development does not have to take place in formal learning environments, it can happen anywhere educators meet, greet and speak.

Educational opportunities from conferences opens doors to collaboration between teachers that surpasses in some cases the mass trainings teachers are involved in because there is the chance to casually talk and connect.

Having attended Blogging While Brown the premier blogging conference for people of color (www.bloggingwhilebrown.com), Florida Blogging Conference (www.flblogcon) and WordPress conferences I was exposed to a great deal of information that I can share with my educational peers on the elementary and college level.

I encourage educators of all levels when the opportunity presents itself to attend as many conferences, workshops, trainings, and seminars, as your skill level grows take the chance to present and share what you know to help other educators grow in their skill level. Applying what you learn from conferences is not challenging, knowing your curriculum, understanding the learning objectives and the capabilities of students, teachers can apply new strategies, concepts and even applying skills related to differentiated instruction.

Conferences allow for teachers to experiment with concepts that encourage collaboration and peer cooperation when implementing different types of technology for different styles of learning. It is important for teachers to know their students in order to create progressive and transformative learning occurrences. “No other profession as education has individuals that have so much control of the learning of children over an extended amount of time than educators.”

William Jackson, M.Ed.

Conferences allow for the growth and development in a profession of continuous learning.

1. Make a list of strategies and concepts that are new to you from the conference. Plan how to implement them over time.
2. Be sure to cite online resources and even books to reference after conferences for later use. Make a resource list to share.
3. Obtain business cards and connect with that person or company right after the conference so memories do not go stale.
4. Create personal learning objectives so you remain on point when you attend conferences.
5. Learn how to apply standards to the learning objectives of conferences.
6. Find out if differentiated instruction has been addressed and how you can apply to your classroom.
7. Find out the operating systems compliance for new software’s you come across and like.
8. Find out if your district is supporting software and hardware before you purchase it.
9. Is software single or multiple user, does a site license need to be purchased and additional support?
10. Can students access the digital resources from home, and what is the learning curve?
11. Be sure to educate administration about your objectives and get their support.
12. Find out are there educational associations, groups, clubs and other conferences you can attend.
13. Be sure to answer emails in a timely manner to show professionalism when making connections.
14. Add to your Resume or Curriculum Vitae all the professional development opportunities you are / were involved in?
15. Make as many connections as possible so you can connect across multi-disciplinary and multi-curricular subjects.
16. Share – Share – Share with others.

Staff Writer; William D. Jackson

Find out more about this talented writer over at; OCS For Education.

 


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