Overall, the STEM conference ("Bridging Research and Practices) was a great experience. I definitely underestimated how exhausted I would be this morning. I left campus Wednesday afternoon right after my last class and drove to Austin, presented Thursday at 1:30 (90 minute workshop), and left Austin Thursday night at 5. I lost about twenty minutes on some back country roads after I missed a turn, but I managed to arrive in Tyler about 10:30.
Here, in the foggy aftermath, is what I have learned.
1. If you can upgrade from the economy rental to the compact, do it. I didn't. I know now how much I appreciate my truck's cruise control.
2. Always, always, always opt for the GPS rental... at least if you are me. I have a horrible sense of direction. If I had not had my GPS, I would probably still be driving around in some tiny farm town outside of Buffalo.
3. Hotel desserts are never as yummy as they look.
4. When in doubt, take a nap. They are awesome.
5. One word: Audiobooks. If I had planned better, I would have stopped at the public library before I left town and picked up Keith Richard's biography (narrated by Johnny Depp). As it happened, I ended up buying David Sedaris' "Squirrel seeks Chipmunk" for the drive home.
6. Plan your presentation, practice like crazy, and take all evaluations with a grain of salt. One person said I did a great job answering questions, another said I did poorly; one person said I went too fast and covered too much, one person said I didn't cover enough, and another said I went "just the right pace" (this person also wrote that I "made [her] feel comfortable to make mistakes". Yay!)
Working with K-12 educators was a surreal experience. I was glad to have the opportunity to see what kind of strategies real teachers employed in the classroom, and to discuss some of the unique concerns which inevitably pop up when you are working with kids. It was definitely a departure from my normal milieu.
On that note, I'm headed back to the grind...
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