I have been to many educational conferences. This time, however, I was on the other side: the planning side. As Dr. Patricia Scheffler's student assistant, I had the opportunity to help her and the Midwestern Early Childhood Council plan and put on a Conscious Discipline training.
One per month, I attended the council's meetings and took the minutes. Prior to this, I had never taken meeting minutes, and honestly did not even know that meeting minutes existed. After attending many meetings this year, I feel confident in my minute taking abilities. I really enjoyed the time that I spent in these meetings as well. The educators on the council are extremely impactful, caring, and wonderful people. We shared many laughs, as well as lots of great ideas. During these meetings, I could really see the power of a bunch of powerful educators joining together. Alone, planning this symposium was overwhelming and truly impossible. Going into the meetings, I would think that we had thought of everything. As soon as we began talking, however, the council members thought of so many things I never would have. If it had not been for everyone's hard work, this symposium never would have occurred. Planning this symposium also helped me to fine-tune my organizational skills. There were so many moving parts in this event, between 135 participants, 13 volunteers, a speaker, council members, and maintenance, it was hard to keep track of everything that needed done. Our team ended up discovering the magic of a whiteboard and we had multiple whiteboards covered in to-do lists. On the day of the event, it was almost magical to see everything come together. Everything slid into place, and we were able to quickly answer and resolve any unexpected questions or problems. For example, we ordered an equal amount of ham and turkey sandwiches for lunch. What we did not expect, was the proportionate amount of turkey orders. Thankfully, all of the early childhood educators in the room were gracious and some were willing to switch their orders to ham. Next time, however, we will take lunch orders BEFORE we order the lunches! I learned a ton from listening to Conscious Discipline trainer Amy Speidel, but I think that planning this event had an even bigger impact on my learning. I think my biggest takeaway from this opportunity was the value of teamwork. In the past, I struggled to open myself up to allow other people to help me. During this process, however, I was able to work alongside an amazing friend, a wise professor, and some incredible educators. We were all able to support and lift each other up, so that nobody felt as though they were alone or doing all the work. And the results were pretty awesome.
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AuthorHello! My name is Kylee McLafferty and I am a pre-service elementary and special education teacher at Grove City College, near Pittsburgh, PA. Archives
January 2020
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