KATE conference

So I will be the first person to tell you that I was not looking forward to giving up two days of my life to go sit in a room full of English teachers... (including my high school English teacher)

But I was very pleased that I went and got to talk to several teachers that had a unique look on the teaching world. I now have a new insight on literature within classrooms: considering ways of creating a classroom library with the hope of giving every student a chance to read about someone just like them.

Thursday, both keynote speakers blew my mind. Hearing Bill Konigsberg's story about a man who struggled with coming out and moved around to figure out who he was. Knowing that there are students within my classroom that are also struggling with their sexuality and struggling with coming out to their families, friends and other classmates. Although I would like to this that my district is an accepting district and we support all students and situations, I know that we also struggle with this idea. The idea of coming out to classmates and other people within the community seems like it could be a struggle for them.

Also Thursday, I got to listen to Stacy Whitman talk about creating classroom curriculums and libraries that incorporate people other than the typical white narrator. Although I know that we are stuck into literature that other people provide for us, I do think that we as teachers need to get together and make sure that our students are learning about important issues such as LGBTQIA, other religions and cultures around the worlds.

After breaking into break out sessions, I got to listen to two teachers that our in their first teaching and how different it has been for both of them. They also gave us helpful hints to get their own first year of teaching.

Next I went to a breakout session that was talking about homosexuality and sports in the high school world today. How difficult it is for students that are involved in sports but also the struggles that homosexual students that play sports have. Sometimes teachers forget what is going on outside of their classroom.

Finally on Thursday, the last breakout session that I went to was how to survive my first-three year of teaching. Here the presenter talked about a website that would help you and your students learn how to write papers and gives you as the teacher a chance to teach your students how to revise papers. We discussed a website call paperrater.com which helped students figure out how to revise their papers to get a better grade. Although, not a perfect website, the presenters did say that she has had a lot of success with it.

Thursday night, we gathered at a local bar and had the chance to socialize more with the people that we had spent the day with. Here I got to know several of my classmates better than I have in the last year and a half. I finally feel like I am starting to bond with my classmates and am starting to make friends with people I've been with. It was a great night.

Friday started with a wonderful breakfast and breakout session. I spend all three Friday sessions talking about diversity and how to deal with students that challenge you for being "the white, privileged teacher". Coming from a small town with nothing but white students (seriously think we had 3 families of different cultures in the 8 years that I lived there). I never understood the idea of "gangs" or "poverty". It was not until I moved here, that this understanding became clear. Starting work with the district, I learned that most students are not white and a lot speak a different languages other than English.

Still the world seemed okay. It was not until last year that I learned just how different my world was from that of my students. I started working with students that were involved in the "gang life", students that were bad into drugs and students who had no positive role model within their life. Some of my students broke my heart, the stories that they were things that I could not have even imagined in my life. I was just a "stereotypical" white girl who worked, played sports and had more privileged than I could truly understand.

This conference made me remember that I have things that in my life and privileged that most of my students will never have. Now it is up to me to help make the lives of my students better but changing my curriculum and helping students be able to read stories about other kids like them. I cannot wait to help my students get more involved in literature by getting them to read more.

That's all for now
Ms Perret