Excitement. Trepidation. Anxiety.
I have survived my first Kansas Association of Teachers of
English conference, a.k.a. my first KATE conference! It most definitely will
not be my last. It was informative and an experience that I am happy to have
had, and will be happy to relive. Having said that there was a bit of the experience
that was slightly off putting.
It is understandable that there are
only so many places that such a large conference can be hosted, but this was a
conference for teachers. I have met very few teachers in my education career
that don’t take notes and I found myself in multiple sessions WITHOUT tables! The
rooms, not often large enough to hold tables, were slightly cramped at times,
and the lack of space and places to write took away from the experience. In
just the first day of the conference, my brain went into overload with the
information filling every inch, and I cannot imagine not having had my notebook.
Though I elbowed, bumped, and accidentally scratched multiple people in the
process of my note taking, I know that it was worth it. I just wish it wouldn’t
have been necessary for me to adopt the habit of apologizing for any potential
harm that would come to my seat mates during the sessions.
 |
| "Please excuse any invasion of space and accidental harm that may come to you during my note taking of this session." |
There was one session of the many I attended where the seats
were comfortable, and tables at the ready for the obsessive note takers attending
the conference. Not to mention, 15 plus people fit in the room comfortably!
The seating also posed an uncomfortable
situation come time for lunch. I realize that this conference is an opportunity
to socialize and to meet people that I would possibly not have otherwise had a
chance to meet, but I am also a person, a future teacher, that is bursting at
the seams when I learn a surplus of new information. A surplus of new
information that I want to share with my colleagues that I know well and that I
know will be just as interested and excited as me. We sit in the sessions with
new people, and learn new names and ideas at that point, but come lunch, it
would be nice to be able to sit with people I know. I say this because, come
lunch, a few of my colleagues and I sat awkwardly at the front table, one of us
accidentally taking a seat and beginning to eat the food in a spot that someone
else had been planning to sit, watching as the rest of our group spread out and
sat silently at tables where the others seated chatted among themselves. Though
it would be difficult with people coming in and out of the conference for the
duration of the day, it would be a far more pleasant opportunity if, those of
us who knew we would be staying all day, could have marked our seats so as to
converse with each other over what we were experiencing in the sessions we
attended.
This is
not to say my experience was ruined because the content was far more valuable
than these minor complaints. The many ideas encountered, such as changing an
argumentative into a narrative, using multi modal literacy, or using sports YAL
to teach LGBTQ in a classroom, were immeasurable compared to the discomfort in the
arrangement. I just believe that comfort is a key aspect in attendees’ attention in any situation whether it be in a classroom or in a conference full of teachers
and future teachers alike.
I would still recommend the KATE conference to all teachers
and student teachers looking to fill that role of being a forever learner and
wanting to change and improve as each new year comes their way!
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