Attending a Conference for Teachers Helped Me Energize and Reconnect
Stacey Carter-Lane, Spanish Teacher
Most summers, I am fried by July — and not from the summer heat. I’m just “done.” I play the lottery. I draft the first chapter of a best-selling novel. I dream of my escape from the stresses of teaching.
This summer feels different, however.
I’m sure the new attitude I developed during virtual teaching eased the pain a bit. In my efforts to cope with changes and be more empathetic to the students, I decided to “dial it down.” I lightened up.
I focused on making sure students learned something new each day. I worried less about whether I would get everything done. As a result, I ended the year feeling a lot less stressed.
But I also believe a recent conference has helped me feel more positive. In fact, I’m pumped!
Reconnecting after Virtual Teaching
I attended the annual conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) from July 8–11. It was held in Atlanta this year, and the theme was Celebrando la Diversidad: El español y el portugués (Celebrating Diversity: Spanish and Portuguese).
In my 16 years of teaching, I have traveled to an educators’ conference only once before, when I attended the National Network of State Teachers of the Year conference in Salt Lake City in 2015. (No, I have never been named state teacher of the year, but I sure felt honored to learn alongside those who were!)
I’ve been a member of AATSP for several years now, but I have not been active. My membership has allowed me to sponsor a chapter of the national Spanish Honor Society at my school. And it looks good on LinkedIn, I suspect. The AATSP conferences — and their awesome locations — have consistently looked appealing, but I would always talk myself out of attending. My biggest excuse: “I can’t afford it.”
When I saw that this year’s conference was in Atlanta — in person — I got excited. For the past year, I’d been telling myself that when the world opens up again, I was not going to miss out. I was going to replace “I can’t” with “how can I?” An added bonus was that my father, who I had not seen in more than a year, lives outside of Atlanta.
Yet there was still the question of financing the trip. With college tuition and things falling apart around my house (or so it seems), this could easily have been another year to postpone. So, I figured if I bought the plane tickets, it would be harder for me to talk myself out of attending. I purchased those first, then booked a hotel room. After waiting until the last day for the early registration rate, I signed up for the conference. I was officially going!
The Power of Community
I mention all that to point out an additional benefit from the conference — the anticipation of attending. In the months prior, I found myself getting excited about it. Those final weeks of school felt a tad lighter, as I had a trip to look forward to. I read student evaluations with the confidence of knowing I would soon learn strategies that might help me make improvements. I signed up for the Summer Tech Team confident that I might have some new info to share with colleagues.
After a delightful visit with dad, I made it to the conference. At the registration desk, I reluctantly affixed the “First-time attendee” sticker to my name badge, suspicious that it would make me a target for awkward exchanges and requests to join committees. To my surprise, the sticker prompted others to be welcoming and cordial, embracing me as a new member of the community.
Sessions were held in English and Spanish, with a few in Portuguese. Most of the sessions I attended were conducted in Spanish. I found myself engaged and challenged and thrilled to be in an environment devoted to the language and how to teach it. The energy and enthusiasm for language learning was palpable!
Socially, I connected with teachers from around the world. We ate, laughed and socialized. We exchanged social media handles and contact information and promised to stay in touch. I jokingly shared with a new friend that I had found “my people” and was able to “nerd out” without judgement. It was energizing!
I’ve decided to set a new goal for myself: to travel to at least one professional conference per year. I intend to view this not as a luxury, but as a necessary professional practice. Attending during the summer eliminates the stress of leaving sub plans and having work piling up, freeing me to focus and enjoy.
Next year’s AATSP conference is in Puerto Rico, and I’m already hatching up a plan to get there.
Stacey Carter-Lane teaches Spanish at Hammond High School in Columbia, MD. She is the mother of two daughters — a sophomore at the University of Maryland (Go, Terps!) and a junior at Hammond (Go, Bears!). Follow her on Twitter at: @LaneTeacher. She blogs at: www.nerdyteachermom.com.
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