Collaboration with the Like-Minded

I love summer. As a teacher, I just love, L-O-V-E, summer.

Most would think because I have "3 months off" every year, of COURSE I love summer. However, that is not why (nor is that statement is at all true for any teacher worth his salt, but I won't get into that).

No, summer for me, albeit a break from the traditional day-to-day grind of teaching, means learning. It's finally MY turn to learn something other than 160+ student names, learning styles, and temperaments. I get to talk to adults for hours on-end, discussing strategies, theories, practices, and even horror stories of our time in the trenches of public education. I get to learn about how different districts implement their policies and how other teachers devise ways of subversively breaking the rules to ensure their kids actually learn something, too. I learn tricks of the trade, my friends, and their is nothing more valuable in my teacher tool box than the ideas I get from other educators.

This week I attended the Baker University Summer Conference for Educators. It was two days of classes, a wonderful keynote speaker, and collaboration at its finest. The wonderful thing about Baker is their forward approach to education. They have instructors who also never quit learning, ensuring that they have the best research, the best theories, and the best practices to pass along. Not only that, but their instructors love to learn more from their students! At a conference like this one, it is likely that one would find more of a consortium of ideas rather than a lecture series.

I met some fabulous people, too. Stacy and Rachael from Baldwin High School are a dynamic duo. I have been a little jealous of Baldwin City's high school teachers for a long while. They have so many offerings for classes in their English department, and they have the benefit of being close to both Baker AND KU (and other forward thinkers). It puts our huge district to shame. Today I also met Joe, an administrator from Wellington. We shared common contacts (many of my cousins attended Wellington High) as well as great ideas regarding our practices in the classroom. He took some of my ideas to share with his staff, and I'm taking some of his to share with my department.

I am looking forward to the next conference in a month, and then the 4-day AP institute at the end of July. I have so much to sift through from the past two days, though, so I'll be plenty busy until then. It's my turn to be the student for a while, and I just love it!