Top Ten Reasons for Going to Conferences

This blog is a little late, but thanks to Todd's coupon, I still was eligible for the lovely house plant. I send thanks to the horticulture students here at Yavapai College! So here is my excuse  . . . no, the dog didn't eat my blog.  I went to a conference, and I have been playing catch up ever since, but when I post this blog, I think I will have done so . . . caught up, that is.

So why would an English teacher go to TYCA-West in Mesa, Arizona, right in the middle of October when so much work needs to be done on campus? Well, here are the top ten reasons for attending professional conferences that I could come up with after attending this one.

1) Promoting growth in our profession is a must, and what better way to gather than at a conference where we can bring our best ideas and present them to others, gather feedback, and polish them.

2) It is essential to protect the integrity of our profession from state and federal lawmakers who want to regulate and make laws to serve taxpayers and voters. Often these lawmakers do so without understanding the potential impact or the implications of these regulations and laws, and it is our responsibility to stand in the gap for our students.

3) Keeping abreast of new research and development in our profession is another great benefit we receive from keynote speakers and other sessions. Also, at conferences, we gain insight into professional journals and articles that will help us keep up with the latest.

4) Networking with fellow faculty helps us to sharpen one another.

5) Sharing tips on how to engage students in the classroom is another benefit.  Breakout sessions and meal time give us opportunity to do so.

6) Discovering new ways to teach curriculum is always a blessing. No one faculty member, nor no single college has ALL of the good ideas.

7) Meeting lifetime friends with fellow faculty members who have similar interests is so likely.

8) Textbook publishers bring textbooks, catalogs, software demonstrations, and offer suggestions to help bridge areas missing in curriculum.

9) Other vendors bring free book samples, guides, pens, and more. 

10) The conference itself usually gives you a cool bag to carry all of your handouts, flyers, and the guide to sessions.

Okay, besides all of these reasons for attending conferences, one must agree that a change of place, good food, a nice room, and a little out of town shopping is good for the soul.

So I mentioned keynote speakers can be a bonus. At this particular conference, the speaker took me back to college days. He got up and read a report on Paulo Freire, banking vs. praxis, and a lot of other professional jargon not spoken in the community college classroom, but indeed practiced on a regular basis.

So, he reminded us, is the teacher a sage on the stage? Or a guide on the side? According to Strauss, we should always assume there is one silent student in the classroom who is smarter than we are. For me personally, believing this student is there helps me to keep myself sharp and prepared for class. Believing this student is there helps me to call upon students in the classroom with expectation that they will have something essential to share, and often they do, and then we learn from more than Mrs. Luffman. We learn from the best ideas we have in common as a classroom, and that is what education is all about. Maybe I am overstating slightly, but not by much.

Then the keynote speaker encouraged us to check out They Say, I Say, a book that presents templates to help students write various types of prose for different purposes. Students gain help discovering how to write cognitive or narrative, investigative or reflective. And then students insert self into these templates to create meaning inside correct format. Okay, so that last part is all my own interpretation of what was being said on stage.

By the way, did I mention that at this conference the sage on the stage was actually reading his paper. Yikes, I would never do that in the classroom, but apparently this gentleman felt the precision of his prose was worth the risk of losing the audience. Apparently he didn't lose me since I did take voracious notes just in case I could write something about it in my blog.

Anyway, if anyone out there actually reads this blog, please consider going to a professional conference, participating, even presenting. It goes a long way in developing who we are and preserving our profession for posterity.

Sincerely submitted.
Tina Luffman

To Dream Again

First, I had gone to school to be a medical secretary. Yes, we still used the word "secretary" in 1976. My parents thought that was the perfect career for a young woman who wanted children. I took Medical Transcription and Medical Office Procedures at Pima College.

After working a few years doing accounting, secretarial work, and other odd jobs working for the government and private industry, we got a break financially, so I went to college and earned a one year Certificate of Accounting. I really liked the whole way numbers worked together and came out even, if I didn't make any mistakes. So I worked in accounting for a number of years, and my husband went to college to pursue his dream: becoming an Elementary School Teacher.

A few years later our family of two grew to three, then four, then five, and then six as our children were born. My dream of being a stay-at-home mom had become a reality. When the baby went to kindergarten, I decided I no longer wanted to work with numbers, but with words. My dream to be a writer was born. Yes, I even published a poem and a cover story in a magazine.

With all of this sudden success, I panicked. I didn't want to be a good writer, I wanted to be a great writer. I started taking English classes and other general studies classes right here on the Verde Valley Campus. My instructors were folks you know: Ginny Chanda, Terrence Pratt, Di Dwan, Paul Ewing, and Jon Frericks. I felt like someone had given me the world. And eventually I was asked to apply for the All USA Scholarship and received it. The whole family said, "Go, get your education." I couldn't tell if they were encouraging me or trying to get Mom out of the house. Either way, I went. Four years later I returned to Yavapai College asking for work, and I was rewarded.

First I worked for Terrence Pratt as an English adjunct faculty member as well as for Northern Arizona University. Next, Barbie Duncan hired me to run the Learning Center half time. Then I was hired as the Verde Campus GED Coordinator and had a great time working with the students. Finally, Connie Gilmore hired me to be English faculty. What a ride! I was so excited, and I still love my job.

But it is time to dream again. No, I am not saying I want to stop teaching. Heaven forbid! I am saying I still want to write. Writing these blogs has been great fuel for the fire. I have also been working with a woman in Prescott Valley editing her children's book. Seeing her go through the process has been a delight. And reading about Karly's book and having another gentleman I know give me a copy of his second novel last week, well I think there is a message in here.

If any of you have a hidden dream, start polishing the metal in your spirit and go for it. I don't care if it is hiking the Grand Canyon, flying a helicopter, getting a degree. Whatever your dream is, pursue it with all of your heart. Who knows what great things lay ahead for those of us who dive in and believe. Wishing you all the best as you too, dream again.