It truly is a wonderful time of year.  As we look around and see all the holiday decorations, hear the sounds of giggles discussing what the elf has done to each house, and cheerful music fills the air, it’s so easy to become overwhelmed with the lack of time and our lists that are pages long.

Just before Thanksgiving, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity, along with about nine other colleagues, to take part in a regional NCTM conference for teachers of mathematics.  While the timing seemed anything but perfect as we were about to be out of school for a week, I knew this was something that I wanted to be a part of.

As soon as we heard the opening session, I knew I had made the right decision to take part in this conference.  Each session I attended gave me new and exciting ideas that I could use in my classroom.  What I loved was it was easy to come back and apply the knowledge I took away immediately and not just say, “I’ll try that sometime” and file it away never to be seen again!

I say this to simply encourage others to take the time to really look into professional development opportunities.  The timing may not always seem ideal and it may take a bit of planning and creativity with life in general.  However, I can say without any doubt, if I had let this chance slip by I would have deeply regretted it.  Not only did I come away with some wonderful ideas for my teacher tool belt, but this also gave me a chance to collaborate with colleagues that I might not be able to on a regular basis.  It grew friendships, trust, and camaraderie with people whom I see and interact with everyday.  It grew confidence in each one of us to come back and share with our teams how these ideas can easily be applied to our teaching.

Learner, Thinker, Writer:  Erin Collini (@BusyGirlCollini) serves the Trinity School community as a PreK Teacher.