Reflections on Fall CUE from a Pirate Wannabe....

We have just returned from Fall CUE in Napa and I am in that fuzzy state of being glad to be home, being overwhelmed by what my week holds, and being euphoric about learning new things to try in my job as an Instructional Coach. 

I love going to learning conferences. I love traveling with my colleagues and laughing. But what I love most is the almost frenetic idea sharing and planning that happens during our breaks and during travel time. The group of educators that I travel with are dedicated, hard-working, and diverse. We can take a small nugget and turn it into something awesome to share in our district. We can brainstorm a difficult situation and find a solution. We can gain inspiration from speakers and then use that inspiration to bolster each other and the teachers we work with.  All of this was true of our time at Fall CUE.

The conference started with a rousing keynote by Dave Burgess. That man is exhausting!  But in such a good way.  I came away with this....engage kids, build relationships, tap into your fun side, take it to school with you.  I think my colleagues did too and we can use that to inspire ourselves, each other and those we work with daily. 

Every session I attended helped push me. Whether it was Meghan Ellis giving me ideas about getting kids reading, Ryan O'Donnell (my new hero) sharing his ideas to get kids creating with Chromebooks, or Acacia Warren giving us templates, advice, and work time to create PBL units, I am coming home with many new ideas to try in the classroom and in my work. 

But the biggest aha I came away from CUE with is this. I need to give myself more time to learn and create. I need to dedicate some of my time to searching out new knowledge and building lessons or presentations. I need to be present in that learning time and not worry about the other things that may be looming. For it is during this learning and creation time that I become a better, more energetic teacher and leader. 

We (and when I say "we" I mean "I") always challenge my co-conference goers to have a goal to bring back from a training. Something that we push ourselves to do to benefit our classrooms or district. I have two goals from my time at CUE: First, to offer some sort of short training at least once / twice a month to teachers in my district - on Chromebook creation, a new reading strategy, or Google basics. Second, to carve out 1 hour a week to really focus on my learning - some ideas include new assessment apps/software, creative activities / assignments with Chromebooks, a PBL unit for 6th grade, and creating a reading challenge for students. And, as I always strive to do, be supportive and helpful of my fellow coaches, the dedicated teachers that I work with, and the administrators who work hard to make positive changes in our district.

Looking forward to another CUE conference, or any learning conference!