Planning Your Conference Experience

Thinking back to my first NAESP conference I wish I had prepared better. You can never be too prepared. You can, however, change plans.

First, download the App. As I mentioned in my first post, it is amazing! You can plan and follow the entire conference in the palm of your hand.

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you get organized and choose sessions:

1. What are my school/district's initiatives this year?

You might be going through a behavior/discipline initiative. Maybe you are going 1:1 with technology. Or you might need new ideas for a current initiative. Choose sessions related to those topics. 

2. Do you have new personal professional goals this year?

Last year, I worked really hard on parent engagement. I hope to find sessions on that or start a conversation in the Innovations Lab. Is your goal to be more organized so you can spend more time building relationships and being visible? I might know just the session for you!

3. What are the needs of my school population?

If you come from a high poverty school/district there are sessions for you. Instructional practices in your building might need attention. The topic of bullying comes up a lot for our students. These are always popular topics for sessions. 

4. Finally, what gets you excited about your job?

Don't forget to pick sessions for YOU. This is your chance to hear from principals like you about things only we know about. If curriculum really gets you fired up, then sign up for all things curriculum!

—Melinda Miller

Melinda Miller serves as the official blogger for the 2015 Annual Conference. Visit NAESP’s Conference News page to find the latest updates from Long Beach.