Iced In at a National Conference in Dallas

I believe this to be the longest time period I have gone without blogging for 2 and a half years.  I had moments of shallow breathing and increased heart rate as I thought about the neglect of the blog.  However, the conference I was attending was so powerful that I decided a break for the sake of increased learning capacity was completely acceptable.  {insert a blog stat check–“do they still love me?”, breathing into a bag, and prayer}

It all began on Friday evening after school.  I packed up the family and we headed off to Grapevine Texas. {Dallas Area} The conference was held at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center which is a magnificent place.  Just across from this amazing hotel is another amazing complex called the Great Wolf Lodge.  I decided to be super mom and book a vacation for hubs and the kids across the street from my conference. 

As most of the nation, we were experiencing a teeny tiny little Arctic blast here in Texas and I had heard that there were ice issues in Dallas.  Being from south texas, I was picturing a little frost on the bushes ya’ll.  I thought that sounded like FUN!

When we reached the Dallas Ft. Worth area, we began to notice ice on the shoulders and on cars next to us and we got pretty excited at the idea of a winter wonderland.  I admit my knuckles whitened around the steering wheel, but surely this was going to be the extent of the ice and we would be just fine. 

I soon began getting texts and phone calls from the other people in our group saying to exit and get a hotel, everything is gridlocked in Dallas, no empty rooms in any hotels, impending Armageddon and so forth.

 and this

 and then this happened.    See that exit up there?  After 30 minutes of sitting we decided to risk it and take that exit into icy backroads that we did not know.  And you better believe Siri was NOT a part of this adventure. 

 Hubs and I white knuckled it through back roads to arrive at midnight at the Great Wolf Lodge

 Tanner {genius boy} was almost as excited as I was to be at our destination.  The hotel doors were locked but they opened them for us.  Maybe they saw the level of desperation in our eyes…

In the morning I woke early to go across the street to my conference.  {view from our window} 

I slid across the street to my convention center for my conference.  I should not have even driven at all but love for professional development conferences just took over my sanity. It was so scary because I was stopped at the one intersection and the back of my car slid round to the left since I was on a slight incline.  I was talking myself through it out loud the entire 4 minute slide/drive.

The 6 day conference was incredible!  Not only were the speakers and presenters knowledgeable, the classes were made up of school leaders and teachers from around the globe.  During one of my sessions, I was the only American at my table and we discussed issues that face our schools.  Hearing about school leadership throughout the world was so unforgettable.  I gained perspective as we stepped back from our own school’s culture and looked at what is facing the global school community. 

It made what I face in my classroom feel like one tiny piece of a trillion piece jigsaw puzzle.  I now feel like I can see beyond my day to day and even year to year classroom and school community.  I attended 10 sessions as well as 2 keynote speakers. The food was delicious and I felt so blessed to be a part of this community of learners. 

Some books I picked up…

 

 I can’t count how many times my kids were saying THIS IS AWESOME!  I was so thankful for timing of  the icy wonderland!  I know the general consensus was not in favor of the ice issues.  We were thankful and fortunate to have a place to stay and the ability to enjoy what the weather had created.

 The following pictures show my kids in an 8 degree ice exhibit.  For example, that panda is made of chiseled ice! 

 These slides are also ice!

 They had a jumbo tron and we couldn’t resist.

 The colored ice is beautiful in person!

Now back to the conference…  I mean to tell you I felt like teacherella….

 Now, I  am even more inspired to share as many high quality, effective, student centered instructional practices as I possibly can. This conference has given me new perspective on what we are facing nationally as teachers and leaders of learning!

The first day of the conference, I was exposed to the challenge of being “present” in my classroom.  By present,  meaning, relaxed, breathing deeply, flexible, and open-hearted.  I took a long hard look at myself and realized that I am not “present”  when I am putting content before student connection.  It’s hard for me to stop and connect when I am jazzed about our content and the art of instruction.  I realized the art of instruction needs to be prioritized after the relationship and connection to the needs of the learners in the room.  It’s nothing I haven’t heard before {possibly in a different way}, but this year more than ever we are being hit with curriculum and instructional changes and I have been less focused on those little learners and more focused on being perfect in my instruction and new requirements.  It was very eye opening.  I share because I hope it might help someone else remember to stop breathe and connect.