Top Five Lessons from the Teachers-pay-Teachers Conference!

Who says you can't take kids to Vegas? It worked out for us that my family lives within driving distance. My husband and I were a little unsure about how the kids would handle the drive, they are three, and nine months. We left at 5 am Wednesday morning so they would sleep through some of it.  Our three year old is still potty training, so we had three stops within the first hour.

We wanted to make the trip a memorable family event, so we planned some activities online ahead of time. First stop - Hoover Dam. We arrived around lunch time, and after taking the 1/2 hour tour my son said, "This place doesn't have hotdogs?! Are you kidding me?" So we left, unimpressed.

Thanks to so many hotels incorporating zoo-like exhibits, we had lots to keep ourselves busy before the conference - shark tank at the Golden Nugget, tigers and dolphins at the Mirage, and the bird house at the Bellagio. The Gondola rides at the Venetian was one of our favorites though. Our gondolier was actually Sicilian and sang some authentic Italian arias.

Professionally, the Teachers-pay-Teachers conference was an amazingly informative professional experience! What did I learn???  Below are some highlights.

Top Five Most Helpful Things...

1. Teachers are by nature collaborative people, so work together! Get feedback about what you're doing, what people need, and share each other's good ideas.

2. Product quality is tops! Someone may like your ideas at first glance, but if they dig deeper and end up disappointed, you're hurting your credibility in the long run.

3. Be specific and clear! There are so many tacking ideas out there, and people want to find them quickly. Describing and explaining your work well will catch more attention.

4. Rachel Lynnette from Minds in Bloom said, "If CONTENT is KING, then IMAGES are QUEEN." Things need to be presented well.

5. Stay Organized! Just as in the classroom we try to track student progress, so in life we need to track our progress in order to reach our goals.