I just finished registering with TFA’s 20th Anniversary Summit in Washington, D.C on Feb 11-13, 2011. I am super excited I will get to meet new, current, and former Corp Members as well as staff and posisbly the founder, Wendy Kopp. I will arrive on Thursday Feb 10 in the late afternoon after a flight from Ft. Lauderdale. The next day I have my hat in the ring for a ticket to the White House for a self guided tour. If I don’t get the ticket, I’m sure I will be able to find something to occupy me for a day in my nation’s capital, don’tcha think? Any suggestions?

On Friday, there is an evening reception for the different regions. I look forward to meeting with the different current and alumini CM from the RGV as well as the staff that makes it possible!

On Saturday, I will be at the conference center from 7-8ish in sessions all day! It starts with a networking breakfast (what is that? I have no clue) and ends with an evening receoption. I’ve signed up for the following sessions

• Reflecting on the Past, PResent and Future: What will it take to achieve educational equity?
• Achieving Equity in Rural Regions (PS- the staff from the RGV will be here in this one, I look forward to introducing mysef to them!!)
• Turning Around Schools on the Front LInes
• Paving the Way to Political Office (ok- so this is the only one that doesn’t directly relate to teaching, but hey- y’all know me- I want to enter politics, so why not ask the people who have been there and done that?
• Realizing “One Day”: What role will each of us play?

On Sunday, I am signed up for teaching workshops. I had the option of skipping out and flying home to prepare for my Spring Break cruie to the Bahamas, but since the whole is learning to teach and that is something that I want to do, I knew I had to stay- despite others suggestions to the contrary. I will be in two workshops: “Tapping into the National Network to Accelerate Reading and Writing Proficiency” and “Teaching as Leadership.” While I haven’t recieved the book that TFA will be sending in Feb/March, Teaching As Leadership is a eduational principle that have been developed by TFA to help their teachers. They include 6 principles:
 Set big goals that are ambitious, measurable, and meaningful for their students

• Invest students and their families through a variety of strategies to work hard to reach those ambitious goals
• Plan purposefully by focusing on where students are headed, how success will be defined, and what path to students’ growth is most efficient
• Execute effectively by monitoring progress and adjusting course to ensure that every action contributes to student learning
• Continually increase effectiveness by reflecting critically on their progress, identifying root causes of problems, and implementing solutions
• Work relentlessly in light of their conviction that they have the power to work past obstacles for student learning