San Antonio or Bust

Since this conference will not occur until April, I shouldn’t write anything yet.  However, I can’t help myself.  My family hears more than they desire about education, FB friends really aren’t interested in future conferences, and my husband is traveling.  Therefore, I will enter here with the most enthusiasm sans all cap letters or exclamation points that I have registered, not just for the NSTA National Conference being held in San Antonio, BUT (okay a few caps) for a Professional Development Institute.  This means I leave a day early, as projects are looming for the semester, for an extra day to participate in a professional series “The Literacy and Inquiry Connection: Instruction that Scaffolds and and Enhances Scientific Thinking and Understanding.”  The title alone makes me feel like a child at eye level with the pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner, a trace of cinnamon – traipsing, teasing; yet it’s only 8 in the morning.  I am even more excited about this conference than I was the fall math conference (NCTM regional Dallas).  I’ve had April’s conference bookmarked for an entire year.  Now one can understand why I had to write about an experience I’ve not yet fulfilled.  Math conference, Kagan workshop, Science and Literacy – now I require a full literacy workshop to round out my early training.  I’ve attended a couple of TAIR conferences, with another arriving in February, but I’m wishing for the Stephanie Harvey of workshops.  She holds a summer session every year in  Colorado.  It’s in my future.  I did attend Harvey Daniel’s workshop at the TAIR conference at Baylor University.  He’s pretty amazing as well – I have his collaborative book with Stephanie Harvey.  It’s not been used so that really doesn’t say anything.  Since we went to Disney for Christmas, we won’t travel for Spring Break.  I’ll use this time to work ahead of schedule (hopefully) in order to not lose sanity from work hours lost due to this conference.  Science, Literacy, Teacher Lingo, and a hotel room to myself (this factor is equivalent to all others as a mom of four) = Visions of sugarplums dance in my head.