This past June I went on the MOST AMAZING professional development in my 12 years of teaching thanks to Teach Your Heart Out Con.
We departed for a 3 day cruise with about 600 teachers in tow! Most of us were fresh from the school year ending and ready to relax. I connected with a lot of friends I know from the teachergrammer world, and I made so many new friends!
The first night at sea we went to a huge teacher party where we danced, did the electric slide and watched a band perform. It was fun to cut loose and it truly felt like summer! The theme was Luau and we all had themed clothing and accessories which we all know teachers love a good theme.
Day 2 started the professional development sessions! I was so impressed with how friendly all the presenters were. They were approachable and talked with anyone and everyone.
The sessions were so useful! I went to as many as I could. My favorite was the Target Teachers one with Michelle Griffo. She had us all get into groups and plan different classroom activities using a variety of goodies from the Target Dollar Spot.
I loved how the sessions really serviced teachers from TK- High School as well as for SPED and Principals.
Other sessions included STEM, Music in the Classroom, Building Classroom Communities, Anchor Charts… the list goes on and on!
The energy of the presenters, the participation of the teachers that attended as well as the level of connection and communication during these sessions was AMAZING!
Beyond the session, we had an amazing opportunity to visit a local school that one of the presenters had a close connection with! Casey Bethel’s aunt is the principal at the school. We got a tour of the classrooms, had an amazing pep talk from the principal and the school received gifts from many of the teachers who went on the cruise.
We were also gifted a bracelet from the school to remind us of how connected our mission is as educators.
This was by far my favorite part of the trip!
The last night Principal Gerry gave us an amazing send off presentation. We laughed a lot and it left me ready to meet my next set of students!
I cannot WAIT until the next cruise June 2021! IT will be a 4 day cruise which will allow even more amazing opportunities to connect, learn, laugh, relax and you should come to!
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