Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/250321
CTA &You Conferences What did you learn at CTA's Good Teaching Conference? The CTA Good Teaching Conferences are designed to support excellent teaching and learning practices for classroom teachers. Here's what members learned at the conference held last month in San Jose. P H O T O S A N D C O M P I L AT I O N B Y S H E R R Y P O S N I C K - G O O D W I N COMPREHENSION T E R RY CA R L FE L DT Tracy Educators Association, seventh-grade social studies teacher I learned that every 20 minutes I need to break up the lesson a bit and use some different approaches to get kids to comprehend the idea. I learned from Grace Dearborne in the "50 Ways to Leave Your Lecture" workshop that research shows kids need to get out of their seats about every 20 minutes to stay engaged. That's what research shows about the brain and learning. I can hardly wait to go back to school and use the great stuff I learned! S T R AT E G I C P L A N I SA M A R VA ZQ U E Z Student CTA, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo I attended the session on CTA's Strategic Plan. I didn't know that such a plan existed. I was very interested in the things that CTA is trying to achieve, especially when it comes to increasing diversity. People in the audience brought up the fact that minorities are not as involved in the profession as we want them to be. I'm glad CTA has a plan to guide us in the future. COMMON CORE L I SA H OW E Amador County Teachers Association, fourth-grade teacher In the session about drawing to bring out the best in the Common Core, I learned that children use their imagination to process information and that by using imagination in our teaching, children can grasp the concepts that we teach. Drawing is something that everyone can do. Yes, everyone. It's a way that everyone can remember concepts. Through pictures, we remember things more than just reciting lists of words. I'm very excited about what I learned. I'm going to try it all. C LAS S R O O M M A N AG E M E N T M A I X I O N G Weaver Teachers Association, kindergarten teacher I learned lots of new techniques for classroom management. It was very engaging. One thing I'm going to try is having students put clothespins in a bin when they are finished with their work. That way I'll know who's done with their work and which students are still working. I LOVE this conference! TECHNOLOGY M A R I A M AC K Lodi Education Association, computer teacher The technology workshop was very good. I learned about some teaching tools and apps that I will take back. One is voki.com, where a virtual teacher gives instructions. I think my students will really get a kick out of it Monday when they walk into class and get their instructions via an avatar. I always enjoy coming here, because I can get so much information and use it the very next day in my classroom. 54 Educator 02 Feb 2014 v2.1 int.indd 54 FE B RUARY 20 14 1/27/14 3:52 PM