The teaching as a career class took a trip to the Kansas Association of Teachers of English (KATE) conference; the class presented a panel discussion to teachers.
The five students in the class prepared for the presentation before they traveled to the Drury Plaza Hotel in Wichita for the KATE conference. The preparation included a mock presentation with the counselors and head custodian Chelle Pennycuff.
“We created questions, and we practiced,” teaching as a career teacher Megan Springs said. “We had some people come in from the school and observed as an audience to give them real-life practice.”
The type of presentation made the preparation difficult.
“There really wasn’t much to prepare since we were part of a panel discussion, so you never know what questions you’re going to get,” junior Sophe Rhodes said.
Students in the class were able to learn at different types of presentations about future lessons for their classes.
In addition to presenting the panel, students had the opportunity to attend different educational sessions along with teachers currently in the profession.
“We got to go into individual groups; I went to an AI group,” junior Stacia Pennycuff said. “I don’t think my kindergarteners are going to be really using AI, but it was a cool experience to be around those people.”
High school students experienced the conference for the first time. Springs’ former college professor provided the resources for her and the five students to attend.
“I had a previous connection through the Kansas Association of Teachers of English,” Springs said. “When I contacted her to see if we could attend, she had some amazing ideas on presenting, and that led to getting in for free.”
Some students in the class did not find the panel beneficial to their future careers in education.
“I’m really not sure how beneficial it was for me because I want to be a kindergarten teacher, so I’m not sure how learning about English would be beneficial for me,” Pennycuff said.
The KATE conference took place Nov. 3 and 4. At the conference, teachers came together to learn new teaching strategies.
“The Kansas Association of Teachers of English has two conferences per year,” Springs said. “One is called an unconference, that is open to everybody, it’s where teachers informally share their ideas and teaching strategies. The formal conference is in November, and that is where people make a proposal to present specifically related to English.”
