90s01 Conferences and Conventions

I was 41 years old when I took the job as Curriculum Director for the Mediapolis and WACO school districts. I had been a teacher for 18 years so there were a lot of adjustments. Over the years as a teacher I attended a lot of conferences. I attended the Iowa Social Studies convention and presented. I regularly attended the Iowa Council of Teachers of English, served on their board and presented at several conferences. I also attended and presented at the annual fall conference of the Iowa Writing Project.

I always regarded them as highly professional experiences. I loved the stimulation and networking with colleagues who shared the same values about student learning and professional growth. I attended every session I could and I always came away from them recharged and inspired.

The first administrators’ convention I attended was something different! The first thing I noticed was that the sessions weren’t well attended. There were a lot of people at the conference but they weren’t going to the sessions. I soon discovered why that was happening. The sessions were terrible. The presenters weren’t well prepared and often seemed to be years behind the times. They didn’t reference research and when they did it often inferior stuff.

I guess I was disappointed because I had expected so much more! These were the leaders of our schools. These were people who were supposed to have a vision for education and strong knowledge and skills. I am sure some of them did but many perceived this conference as more of a vacation before school started.

I soon discovered that many of the conference attendees were off to the golf tournament. Others were shopping, hanging out at the venders’ booths or having a drink in a nearby bar and watching the baseball game. I am not opposed to any of those things but didn’t think the convention was the place to do those things. I was just used to a much higher standard. When I went to a conference I felt obligated to attend the sessions and engage in professional development. After all, why were we there if not for that?

Some of the venders had elaborate hospitality rooms at the conference. Free food and drink were abundant! I was amazed at what was available. I had heard of things like this in the business world but never imagined it in education. It was probably a violation of the gift law but I am sure no one even thought about it.

The free stuff (pencils, notepads and etc.) handed out at the venders’ booths was amazing. Several people, including me, went around filling our bags with all the goodies and taking the business cards of the sales people.

I still attend these conferences but don’t expect much more than to renew some old friendships. So I have become, to some extent, one of them. I still go thinking I am going to be challenged or inspired, but come home disappointed. I missed the stimulus and authenticity of the teachers’ conventions so I kept attending them even though I had crossed over to the other side, so to speak.

You are nothing if not a story. It’s up to you how good that story is.