How 3 Educators Learn at Conferences

Before you head off to education conferences, check out the strategies that two principals and a teacher use to learn. 
 

Discuss what you're learning on Twitter

If you're on Twitter, find out the conference hashtag beforehand and use it. With the hashtag, you can share what you're learning, connect with educators you don't know and see what other educators are learning in different sessions.

On Twitter, Principal George Couros shares quotes and ideas from sessions through a hashtag. That way, he can look at them easily. He also blogs about what he's learned. 

Along with passing on what you've learned, social studies teacher Beth Still follows what other educators learn from different sessions.

"I'm not just learning necessarily from the session I'm in at that moment, but maybe from some other sessions that are going on at the same time as well," said Still, who works for Educational Service Unit 13 in Nebraska. 

And educators who can't attend the conference can also learn by following along on Twitter, as Principal Patrick Larkin did one year.
 

Go with educators from your school

In a time when budgets are tight, it's tough to find money to send educators to conferences. But Couros would rather pay extra money for two educators to go instead of one.

"Whenever you go to these conferences, you should never go alone," Couros said. "You should always go with someone."

If you've just learned about something and want to figure out how to apply it at your school, you need someone from your building to discuss it with while you're excited. Those conversations will bring something meaningful back to school.

Even though you're going to the conference together, split up and go to the sessions you're interested in. Then share what you've learned with the rest of your team.

Focus on one topic strand

This year, Still plans to go to the keynotes, but spend most of her time in sessions about online learning. With hundreds of sessions to choose from, picking one topic will help sharpen your focus.

"You can't hit everything, even in three days," Still said. "It's just too much information to take in."
 

Get together with administrators in other states, countries

When you have the chance to go to a national or international conference, find out what other schools are doing and move outside your normal circle of educators, said Larkin, the principal of Burlington High School in Massachusetts.

"When you're going to conferences, don't just hang out with principals from your area or state," Larkin said. "Get out and make sure you spend some time with administrators from other parts of the country or the world."
 

Start conversations with educators who have similar goals and mindsets

As you watch the tweets come in from different sessions, see which ones educators are learning the most from. If you weren't in those sessions, try to meet up with the presenters at lunch or on a coffee break.

"Those informal conversations are equally as valuable to hearing the people put on the presentations, in my mind," Larkin said. 

Along with talking to presenters, talk with like-minded people who have similar goals for their schools as you do.
 

Share what you learn with educators at home

Over the last few years, Larkin has stayed away from the Summer Institute, a professional development conference that the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators' Association puts on. Instead, he's gone to national conferences and hasn't shared what he's learned with principals back home. He's trying to change that this year.

"I'm fortunate to get so many great ideas at conferences, and instead of saying 'we're not doing this around here' and being negative about it, I'm trying to get people more engaged and seeing it as a great resource," Larkin said.

This year, he is excited about presenting and sharing at the local conference. And he invited Massachusetts principals to edcamp sessions at Burlington High in July and August. At these informal sessions, the participants decide what to talk about and lead the discussions.

Throughout the school year, Still suggests that teachers who go to conferences create a wiki to share what they're learning. That way, teachers can check out the resources they link to when they have time.

When Couros goes to a conference, the staff members who stay home learn with him in real time. They see what he's posting on Twitter and talk about what he's learning.

"You're not just leading by example, but learning by example."