WSCSS Conference thoughts

            I really very much enjoyed the Washington State Council of Social Studies conference we attended on Saturday. I was glad to see so many teachers there who were willing to share their thought on social studies and I really do think I learned quite a bit. Also there was a bountiful supply of free stuff which I was sure to exploit, honestly I think that conference came close to paying for itself, I even got a whole unit of Japanese American soldiers in WWII for free, and it was well thought out and everything, a real score.

            I think the conference had more material benefits than most of what we do in class. Apart from the material things I received, the knowledge that I received from the booths was of a very concrete sort, which is good since that will end up being more imminently useful than all the theory we have been doing in class. I especially enjoyed my lunch period wherein I chose to eat with a few teachers who had absolutely no authority over me. They were acquaintances in the profession I have gathered over the years, and unlike my time spent in the presentations, there was no overarching goal to our conversation and we approached each other more like equals, although they were certainly the senior and more honored party in the conversation.

            I think that this is the real power of free collaboration and perhaps the highest end of the conference. While the speaker may have had some good stories and interesting ideas, there was little practical in her speech for me, although that is not to say I did not value it. Two of my presentations left me with useful resources and techniques, one of them less so and did not do what was advertised, which I will admit left me a bit cross. I would certainly go again if given the chance for the measurable material and practical benefits rendered unto me mainly by the booths at the conference and normal conversation with common people.