They picked me up around 10 and we headed out to Fort Worth. It was a nice trip. No real responsibility for me. When we arrived, I got my registration materials and had some nice down time to relax before dinner. We went to Bird Cafe. Unfortunately I had a headache and was nauseated, so I took most of it home and had it for breakfast. It was a Taso corn salad with proccutto and chicken, and some ricotta/mozzarella fried balls with pesto. The balls were totally delicious for breakfast the next morning.
I woke up early and went down to the fitness center. My knee protested every time I tried to ramp up to a run, so I walked a mile. We went across the street to the convention center so the rest of the group could get their registration stuff. The exhibits were open and a continental breakfast was available, so we wandered around a bit. One of the booths was a free trade vendor that I bought a little pouch purse from and some copper A&M heart earrings.
The first session was a general meeting with the key note speaker. He had started a charity called promise for pencils that built schools for children in other countries. Now that it is established and run by others, he is going after college debt and prep, which is interesting. He had some good things to say. ( His step by step blueprint to change the world). I was able to sit and dream a bit about things. Like instead of doing Classcraft next year, making my own Pokeballs and letting kids buy things. I’m going to work on that.
The first real session I went to was one on how not to start a business. I went to get tips for my t-shirt quilt business. I was good. I learned some things, but mostly things I already know or had heard.
Lunch was at a little cafe where I had a pesto, chicken pizza. Delicious!
The second one I went to was on Breakout edu - a puzzle box game that teaches kids problem solving, etc. I had heard of it before and found out that there are some strictly online, where you don’t have to buy the box materials. I will explore those and then put in for a grant for the materials.
The third one was DESSERTS spelled backwards - he had desserts to share and an activity that explores stress response. It was ok. The fourth one that day was on cancer curriculum - it looks like the case study site but with a little different angle. It has cancer, infectious diseases and some other useful things for anatomy. Biology too, but not for me next year.
That was the last one. After that, one of our group members’ sister lived in town, so she took us around. We went down to the stockyards and had dinner at the Cattleman. It was nice. I knew I couldn’t eat a lot, so I had a shrimp appetizer, but the ones who had steak said it was wonderful. We walked around awhile then went back to the hotel. Then went on an expedition. We found a nice little neighborhood with the hamburger restaurant one of us wanted to go to for the next night. We ended the night in the hot tub until they kicked us out at 10.
The next morning they had breakfast burritos available. The first session I went to was called Dead Teachers Tell No Tales about pathophysiology. It didn’t end up being what it advertised, but I got a lot out of it because she shared a lot of information and activities. There was one on the urinary system at the same time and one of my group members went for me. It was neat too. The second one I went to was on Problem-Based Learning. It was ok. I got a few planning sheet. It was mostly information I already knew. The last one was on forensic science and it was a game changer for me. It got me thinking about teaching it and starting a club and competing for SkillsUSA. We’ll see. I did the research and I can teach it with my current certification. I’ve emailed the curriculum superintendent, so we’ll see. We will see.
After lunch at Riskey’s for BBQ, we just chilled the rest of the day. We went to that neighborhood and had a drink at the Dirty Crow so we could park there. We had great hamburgers at Fred’s, then went for another walk when we got back to the hotel. Downtown Fort Worth was such a nice place to walk around. Lots of little shops and galleries to wander into and out of.
Thursday was our last day, so we went to the first session but skipped the closing session to go see the “cattle drive” at the stockyards. My session was a bust, but we all got off in good time to just hang out at the stockyards and wait. We didn’t end up eating there, but got on the road.
It was such a good trip. I enjoyed the people I was with and the things I learned.
