Extraordinary Educators National Conference 2013

I am having a blast and getting so many great ideas!  I was so fortunate to attend presentations by Abby Mullins of The Inspired Apple and Cara Carroll of The First Grade Parade!  They were fabulous and so down to earth.  I enjoyed their energy and honesty!   Cara shared her awesome ideas for running math tubs in her classroom.  Abby's presentation walked us through how she plans an ELA lesson.  Loved them both!

And this is WHY teachers need to attend conferences!  We attend excellent sessions, learn new ideas, are reminded of our own great ideas, meet new teachers with different ideas and COLLABORATE with other teachers.  I'm so thankful that my friend and grade level buddy, Renee of Fantastic Froggies, wanted to attend this conference.

We have taken in the sites when we are not in sessions.  We have taken an open air bus tour of this beautiful city, we've shopped way too much, we walked the magnificent mile, went to the top of the John Hancock Tower, toured the city again in the rain (we did jump off early :)  ), ate Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, yummy cupcakes and the best part is...it's only Monday!  We have two more days in this awesome place!

Check out my pictures on Instagram in the right column!

The famous "bean" in Millennium Park!

I can't wait to start getting ready for my new school year and using some of these great new ideas!