Let’s be honest: teachers LOVE summer.
I like to think of summer as when my “real life” begins. I get to enjoy my home and my hobbies, travel, have fun with my kids, spend a lot of time outdoors, and even take naps with my pets. I get to sit for large amounts of time, drinking coffee and thinking about nothing. (Oh wait, I do that during the school year too.) I get to work on all those fun projects that I can’t seem to find the time for during the school year.
And yet, right around this time – late July – the little itch begins. First it’s just gathering a few materials that I think I’ll need in my classroom, charging up the iPads, deleting last years pics and videos and a few useless apps. Then it’s cleaning out my inbox and tidying up my Google Drive, which then finds me doing a few internet searches on things that have popped into my mind like new apps, or an idea for a project, and before I know it, I’m creating a unit plan, or designing resources for my kids, or in this case, dusting off my edublog and trying to write something halfway intelligent.
So last week while I was relaxing in the Outer Banks with my family, I received a shocking email. Here’s what it said:
Dear Kim,
On behalf of the CUE Fall Conference Speaker Selection Committee, I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to present at the CUE 2015 Fall Conference in Napa Valley, CA. Presentations will be held on October 22-24, at American Canyon High School (3000 Newell Drive, American Canyon, CA).
Seriously?!?
Back in May when I submitted presentation proposals to three different technology conferences around the country, I truly did NOT expect to be selected for this one.
So I thought about it, and I talked it over with my husband, and I thought about it some more, and I came to a very sad conclusion: I can’t accept this invitation. The timing is just terrible, for a lot of reasons (money not the least of them), and so I sent this in reply:
Thank you for selecting my presentation, “Teaching with TED Talks in the Digital Classroom” for the Fall CUE 2015 Conference. It is with regret that I must decline this invitation. Due to my current teaching obligations, I am unable to travel to California on October 22-24. I appreciate the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience.
But then I added one more little paragraph (wink, wink) because… you know, California and all.
I am interested in the CUE 2016 National Conference on March 17-19 and will submit a presentation proposal for the same topic.
Again, thank you,
Kim
And that’s what I ended up doing tonight. Except I didn’t just submit the presentation proposal for the same topic. I sent in two submissions. I decided it would be way too much fun to present a hands-on session called “MaKey MaKey 101: Creative Challenges for the STEAM Classroom.”
Fingers crossed! (and by the way, within the next three weeks I should hear something from the other two conferences…)
The itch has been scratched and scratched and scratched. And now I think it would be best if I smooth on some cream and take it easy for just a little while longer.