AOE Conference...Totally Relevant and then some...

I have to give kudos to Jessica Balsley and all the fantastic presenters from Saturday's  Art of Education Online Conference!  I learned so much from the first AOE online conference last June, so signing up to attend another was a no-brainer for me. I already felt like I knew some of the presenters because I read their blogs and Facebook posts, but it's always fun to see them in action and hear the enthusiasm in their voices as they talk about their experiences in the classrooms and studios they manage in so many creative ways.
                                                                   

                                                                             

And it doesn't hurt to be able to attend a conference in sweats or pjs, coffee cup and knitting needles in hand...especially in southwestern Ohio with snow falling, wind blowing, and temperatures in the single digits! After the sun came out and the thermometer registered in the upper teens, I even took a short break to drive up to school to begin selecting student work for an exhibit at a local art gallery, but I was able to continue with the conference on my classroom computer. That's some serious multi-tasking that I wouldn't have been able to do with any other conference format! And I can even go back now to listen in on the conference segments I missed, as well as the ones I want to hear again, something else that can't be done at any other kind of conference either. 

It's easy to feel snowed under (sorry...I couldn't resist!) at the mid-point of a school year, so this conference came at just the right time for me. I'll be heading back to my classroom on Monday with some fresh ideas and a renewed sense of the creative possibilities for the next few months!