Promising Practices Conference Experience

Prior to arriving at the Promising Practices Conference, I was kind of nervous because I had never attended anything like this before so I had no idea what was in store for me. As soon as I walked in the Don, I could tell that it was very organized and I knew right away where I was supposed to go and what to do. Our entire class found each other and we all sat at a few close tables in the back. After that, I felt comfortable because I was with people I knew and I wasn't the only one experiencing something new. 

My first workshop was on LGBT Harassment and, even though we've been discussing this topic in class already, I was still very interested and I loved it. My presenter was great. She definitely had my attention the entire time I was there and she couldn't have been any sweeter - not to mention, she brought a stuffed giraffe with her, which made my day ten times better from the start. The giraffe represented confidence in children; giraffes have long necks, so they stand up tall, just like people do when they stand up for themselves and for what they believe in. I thought that was great and really inspiring. 

While in this workshop, we watched parts of the videos "It's Elementary" and "It's Still Elementary", which I had already seen in FNED, but I enjoyed watching them again. It really reenforced how important it is to be able to teach children of any age about this type of diversity and the differences that appear in our world. 

I also found this great site that is actually directed towards parents about how to help their children deal with this type of harassment. One thing I learned is that nothing is more important to a child that is going through that kind of emotional abuse than a parent's help and support.

This workshop actually ties in extremely well with Dennis Carlson's "Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community" because he writes about how homosexuals are not accepted and are viewed as completely abnormal to many people. Reading part of his book and taking part in this workshop has made me realize that there is still so much hostility present in our world. As long as there are still people among us who refuse to accept any differences, issues such as LGBT harassment, which is often fatal, will never be fixed. 

I also thought it connected very well with "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" by Linda Christensen because homosexuals would not be seen as different and abnormal if there was never a set social norm in the first place. If all of these myths about "what makes you beautiful" and "what makes you 'perfect'" were never even invented and thrown into the minds of everyone through the media, everyone would be accepted equally. 

My second workshop was, unfortunately, not as rewarding as my first. It was on problem solving in mathematics and, honestly, I wasn't really impressed with the presentation. I didn't feel like I had learned anything new to walk away with. One thing I did like was that the presenters made it a point to give a few examples on how to incorporate diversity in different math problems to make sure that every student in the class would understand it and be able to connect with it. I found this interesting and very important because we never know who we might have in a classroom. As a math minor, though, I feel like I didn't get enough out of the workshop than I would have liked to.

I found this interesting math site that includes different problem solving strategies and some steps and clues on what to do next when it comes to math problems. It things like this that I would have liked to learn more about during the workshop. 

As for the keynote speaker, I have a ton of respect of Dr. Dennis Shirley seeing as he did come to RI all the way from Chile just to attend our conference. However, as much as I would have loved to, I felt it was nearly impossible for me, personally, to be able to pay full attention during the entire presentation. It was lengthy and it seemed as if it was only directed toward the teachers that were sitting right in front of the podium. I felt as if the students in the back were disconnected from the rest of the audience, which definitely made it harder to concentrate on what he was saying. 

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at my first teacher's conference and I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to go to many more and keep learning. I like that it was part of a class assignment because it was very rewarding and I'm glad I went.