Okay. I am officially running out of steam; but if I don't get this post written right now, I will never get back to it. My flight leaves tomorrow at 6AM, which means I need to be at the airport at 4, which means I'm rising between 3 and 3:30AM.
I have bagged the closing session because I am on overload right now. AASL2019 was not the most memorable or successful one for me - partly my fault but also AASL's.
Three cancelled programs with no signage on the rooms to let folks know. Really? Was it that hard?
I ended with a totally incoherent session, which might color the tone of the rest of this post. I turned to a row-mate and asked, "Is it me or is this totally incoherent?" She agreed it was. Folks were leaving throughout. I was too darn tired to leave and, like the 26 disc disaster I am reading with my ears at present, I kept hoping that I could walk away with something to take back. Reader, I did not.
Exhibits seemed pretty small compared to other years. Perhaps the proximity in date to NCTE? I didn't grab as many arcs as in the past either. That's fine, my tbr pile is enormous. Just noticing.
The morning kicked off beautifully with Jarrett Krosoczka's keynote. He's funny. He's humble and he writes and illustrates books that are damn good.
My first session was "Inclusive LGBTQIA+ Education: why it's important and how to be an advocate." Interesting. Lots of preaching to the choir. I took pictures of all her slides and will review them. I am happy that I have always tried to be inclusive in my collection. I am happy that I am now backed up by state law in NJ to have an inclusive collection and that LGBTQIA+ history and existence should be taught across the curriculum. Lots of notes, but one that pops out as a mantra: be prepared, not scared.
I chose to attend "Best Websites for Teaching and Learning" even though I had the sneaking suspicion that I attended it at ALA Annual in DC. Once it got underway, I realized that I did. No matter. School was already out and I didn't review my conference notes once school started. My bad. Lots here to share with my colleagues. Good reminder.
The next session was another NO SHOW!
So I jumped into another session, which I will not name because... see above. Incoherent.
I suppose I should've done my due diligence and attended the closing session. I assume that's where feedback was requested, but I am conferenced-out and didn't want to finish in the dark for the third day in a row.
All-in-all, glad I came. The next conference is in Salt Lake City in 2021. It's in October next time. Perhaps I will go once more. I do realize that an incredible amount of volunteer work goes into these conferences, but they are incredibly expensive. My district does not pay. I get the days as PD but use personal days if I have more than two conferences to attend in a school year. (And I always do!) I used to be able to deduct them, but no longer. So I guess I'm becoming a bit more demanding and less forgiving.
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