My reflections on The Calgary City Teachers' Convention 2014

Yesterday, the CCTCA 2014 concluded with a stellar keynote, Chris Hadfield. I had a wonderful experience this year at all levels, with my presentation on "iPads for Bilingual Education" and also with all the workshops that I went to. 

I got to meet people that were my colleagues online and see partner teachers that I hadn't seen for a long time. I had a great time diving into the books at the exhibitors place. I found some interesting books for Spanish bilingual program( there were not many though). 

But I have to say that this was an emotional conference , there were tears, hugs , laughter....I feel overwhelmed by the response of the teachers to my presentation. I hope they did not ended up saturated with apps and projects. The presentation and agenda of the session are shared in the CCTCA webpage for future reference. I would love to hear from them if they put into practice some of the ideas or come up with new ones. I had a great audience and I am thankful for the response and respect shown.

I went to Steve Clark and Amber Manzur workshop on iPads ( I never have enough) and learnt a lot of the legalities about the implementation of iPads in the school. 

After another workshop on Calming techniques for the classroom, calm and exhausted, off we went for the Reception at the Hyatt. DJ's good food , good wine,and good conversations with fellow teachers to release tension from the previous days and catch up with my previous team partner Patty. 

A highlight of the second day was when I went to the Stage design workshop at the Epcor Center with Dianne Goodman, Producer of ATP. I enjoyed the walk through Martha Cohen Theatre and all the ideas and advice that Dianne gave us. We got some presents too! 

Martha Cohen Theatre

During this  double workshop I met interesting teachers that share the love for Drama and Arts with me and maybe there is a chance for a collaboration in the future, and also a surprise for my Drama Club students....ssshhhhhh

Finally , Chris Hadfield Keynote was much more than I expected. Chris is a great speaker and has the ability to tell wonderful stories in a funny way. He told us his journey to Space, all the beautifulness he saw and also some of the struggles he had to go through. He told us about the positive and important role of social media in his journey and how his pictures went viral. The pictures of the Earth that he showed in the conference were just unbelievable. He is an inspiration , a true young modern hero. He spoke in Russian, he sang a song.....what else can we ask for?  The energy in the room was just amazing. 

After all the excitement there was a last experience still. We had a free entrance to the Calgary Tower, and I still had not been there. It was clear day in Calgary and the views were fantastic. This is a goofy pic of the moment.It was an epic closure for a wonderful , and who knows if maybe last, Calgary City Teachers Conference. 

I am already looking forward to the next year's Convention.