PCTELA Conference

PCTELA  Conference

Nelly and I attended the PCTELA conference on Saturday. I must say that if anyone has the opportunity to attend one of these conferences in the future— or other conferences of similar nature—they should do so. Not quite knowing what to expect (I feel comfortable saying this for both of us) we were pleasantly surprised.

First of all, the PCTELA members who were there to check us in, and who ran “the show” throughout the day, were all very kind and welcoming. I felt that we were treated with great respect like that shown to the teachers even though we are students in training.

Secondly, the presenters for our sessions did a tremendous job. They introduced us to new information and taught us new ways of utilizing timeless “tricks” of the teaching trade. We were given sample worksheets and sample handouts for our use in our future classroom. Through the sessions we got to meet numerous teachers, one (a presenter) was kind enough to invite us to visit his classroom and observe his teaching methods in action.  To describe him, through participating in his session and interacting with his as a fellow attendee in another session, saying he is a dynamic teacher may not even do him justice. He was just one of the teachers we were fortunate to meet on Saturday. We certainly did make a number of connections.

Finally, we met some authors and purchased some new books that will be beneficial for use in our future classrooms. Almost forgot—after a wonderful lunch and another final session we left the conference with tote bags stuffed full of “freebies,” information and catalogs on teaching materials,  and more contact information!

Yes, it did seem like a drudgery getting out of bed super early on a Saturday to attend a conference. But, once we were there we had a fantastic time. We left feeling invigorated and excited to attend the next conference.