PD: Summer Conferences

By Rosan Cable, VP Communications

Summer is soon approaching and school may be over for you or soon will be.  Just as teachers are continually thinking about lessons and how to better help students learn, Teacher Librarians and Paraprofessionals do the same.  Whether it be by reading new books, learning about new tech gadgets or apps, or by attending professional development seminars; when summer comes, the opportunities to keep learning abound.  ALA and ISTE are two great choices to attend to help you learn and grow in the library and tech fields. 

There is still time to register for either ISTE or ALA. If the costs seem prohibitive, ask administrators for funding out of this or next year's budget, find other people to room with via Twitter, Facebook, or your own network of friends, and  registering early helps defray costs as well as being a member of the associations.

If these conferences are of interest to you but you cannot attend this year, you can apply for first-timer grants; however, this must be done ahead of time, usually starting in the fall.  Funding help ideas for ISTE seem to change annually while ALA’s grants remain consistent.  There are many to choose from at the ALA Grant page.  Start planning NOW for next year’s conference.  Meanwhile, listen to the Twitter chatter, Facebook posts, and Snapchat stories.  Even not being there, you can learn a great deal from those who share ideas on social media.