Bright Ideas Conference Write-Up

I had so much fun attending the Bright Ideas conference! It was a great experience to be able to ride there with such great colleagues, talking all the way there about what kind of teachers we want to be and about English Education in general.

The first workshop we went to was very helpful, and I am so glad I went to it. In that session was a panel of MSU Student Teachers who were just about done with their internships. Basically they gave us advice on our internships, what to do and what not to do. They had many helpful hints and facts a bout what to expect in our internship year.

They put a lot of our fears or concerns at ease - or at least were honest about what to expect. The best chunk of advice I received was that you can't control everything but you can control yourself. They all agreed that to be successful in your internship and teaching in general is to know yourself and know yourself well.

They said that it is very important to establish strict rules and boundaries on the first couple days, and also that you can't lead a double life. They said that when your personal life or own interests and personality traits comes through into the classroom students really enjoy it. They also talked a lot about how you won't be the same during your internship, and that even though you may still be a college student you can't exactly act like one anymore.

All in all I took away a lot of great advice from this panel, and I felt really relieved after talking with them.

The second panel was about scaffolding and helping the students through a big assignment through taking it little by little. I took away some great resources from that workshop. I see a lot of scaffolding would be needed in order for some classes to do a Multi-Genre project.

I am so glad I went to this conference, and after two great conference experiences I will be sure to go to any other conferences such as these that come my way.