KATE Conference

Over the weekend I attended the Kansas Association of Teachers of English annual conference, KATE for short. I was able to attend some great sessions where I was able to network and mingle with teachers who were so willing to share advice for me as I prepare to student teach and graduate in May! 

On Friday I was able to see the first keynote speaker of the day, Erin Downey Howerton, MA, MSLIS, who came to the conference to talk about how to incorporate books that students are looking for into our classrooms. Her presentation was phenomenal; I felt like I left that presentation with so much knowledge and excitement! I already have some of the books she recommended on hold at the public library. I love that the books I will include in my classroom are books that I enjoy reading too! We were definitely blessed to have Erin at the conference; she is someone I look up to in terms of YA knowledge and passion for our students. The other keynote speaker for Friday was supposed to be Sarah Smarsh, but unfortunately, she was unable to make it due to a plane mechanical failure. Although she was unable to make it, we were still able to hear a few excerpts from her memoir read out loud during lunch, and I found this time, although improvised, to be some of the most enlightening moments of the day. Her book is well written, funny at points, poignant, and important to the conversation. I look forward to reading the book for myself. I felt as though Sarah and I are kindred spirits, and I very much wish I could have had the chance to meet her. Maybe I’ll have another chance someday.

Another excellent part of the day was breakout sessions. I was able to attend my first session on, “The Balance of Teaching and Living”. It was hosted by a local English teacher who discovered that she was needing to incorporate more of herself into her life. She could feel herself burning out, and these strategies she began to utilize helped her find refreshment and excitement again. She shared five different concepts to incorporate into your life; Connect, Select, Initiate, Reflect, and Permit. These five different strategies enabled her to say no to what did not belong in her life, say yes to the things she wanted, and they allowed herself permission to succeed and fail, among other things. I will definitely take these strategies into my teaching life and my personal life. 

The other most helpful session that I attended was connected to metacognition and the self-differentiated classroom. This session included tips on how to incorporate accommodations into the everyday classroom structure. This was extremely helpful and eye opening! I cannot wait to try these methods in my placement classroom, as well as in the future when I have my own classroom.

Throughout the whole day I was able to meet new people who were very friendly and helpful. I was introduced to veteran teachers and teachers who have been teaching for less than five years. All in all, the crowd of teachers were incredibly encouraging and uplifting, and they made me so excited to attend again next year! I was able to meet some teachers from Olathe, KS who told me that I would be a perfect fit in their school. This was very sweet and made me excited to engage in the interview process soon. It seems like my growing teaching philosophy matches to theirs, which is very exciting. 

Overall, I had a great day at the KATE conference. I can’t say if there is anything I wish I could re-do or do differently. I feel that my experience was everything I wanted and more! For any teachers looking for a push to attend next year, let me tell you, I had a blast and I cannot wait to go again. This experience made me even more excited for the future and I know that if you attend, it will be the breath of fresh air you need!