2023 Teach Rhymes With Beach is in the books, and the conference evaluations are glowing! Thank you to all who attended the conference; to my friends who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help me host this; to the Port Aransas community who offered up venues and door prizes, food and drinks, and kindness; to presenters who traveled many miles to share wisdom, knowledge, and experience just because you know how much it matters. I am so grateful.
Here are some of the comments on this year’s evaluation forms:
“My team and I absolutely enjoyed every second of this conference. We came back to our school refreshed and ready to get back into teaching! We all left feeling like we CAN do this job and WANT to do this job. The cherry on top was how the community of Port A supported and treated us while we were out shopping and dining. You can tell that teachers are highly respected and valued in Port A. We all want to pack up and move and teach in the district!”
“Thank you for sharing the Port Aransas experience with us. The local merchants were just so friendly and inviting.”
“Amazing conference! Time well spent learning new strategies that can be utilized in reading and other content areas as well. What a beautiful and relaxing location! Thank you for the many door prizes, positive climate, and wealth of strategies that we can use right away. We will return with more of our teachers next year!”
“I love the fact that it was not a giant conference. The amount of people in each session was perfect. I have been to CScope and AVID. They are huge! I enjoyed the town. Everyone was very welcoming! Everyone knows you! I really enjoyed your stories and advice on real world teaching. Thank you!”
Not only did I learn some good things I can use immediately in my own class, but [this conference] helped refresh my soul as well.
This conference was the best one that I have ever attended.
It was like a women's retreat mixed with teaching conference. My cup was filled with your messages, Melanie! I appreciate the validation I felt with every session: I am doing something right!! I not only learned from the presenters, but also from the teachers around me. I also loved that each session had something specific for everyone. I cannot wait for next year!
Hands down the best conference I have been to in several years!
This is always a great get away that comes at the perfect time of the year. I always leave with the encouragement I need to get back to my classroom and work with my students. I walk away with great ideas that I can implement right away and things that I can begin planning to implement in the second semester.
Wonderful conference! We absolutely loved it!
This conference has helped me inside the classroom and out! To be great educators, we also have to take care of ourselves, and I tend to forget that as the year goes on. I have left each of your conferences refreshed and excited to take the engaging activities and insightful lessons I learn about back home to introduce them to my kids. People (teachers and admin) have noticed things you presented in my classroom and asked and/or complimented them! I love that we leave with things we can implement immediately.
This was my 4th year and every year I have been able to take something back to share with my team! Thank you for offering this wonderful opportunity.
I love this conference so much! It's such a happy place to be and everyone is genuinely excited to be there. It's not just "another PD" that we are required to go to…Thank you so much for putting on such an amazing conference, bringing in phenomenal presenters that are willing to help us even after we leave the conference, and speaking life into our souls and our classrooms.
I am already using the strategies I learned. Thank you for another amazing conference!
Thank you for sharing the Port Aransas experience with us. The local merchants were just so friendly and inviting.
Top Notch! Well organized!! First one and already looking forward to next year!!!
This was an amazing conference! I learned so much that is relevant and applicable to the classroom now. I was able to come back with tools to use and new ideas to help my students grow. It's a time of learning, but also a time of renewing and refreshing and remembering why we teach and how much of a difference teachers make. It's a reminder that is not always about the curriculum, but about the connections we make with our students. I will definitely be back.
I loved it! I gained new knowledge. I just wish sessions could be a bit longer. I think we missed some good extensions of activities.
Loved the venue for registration and check in. The presenters were very strong, and I had even more take away this year. It seems like each year is better than the last. I look forward to this each year! Thank you for making it so special!
I love the experience and how it motivates you to become a better teacher. Everything is so practical and easy to implement into the classroom the next day. I left truly inspired and came back read to teach.
This conference is so rejuvenating and refreshing! Each one of the presenters was amazing and gave us practical information that we can take right into the classroom. I am already incorporating "Devil Cards" and other techniques from the general session into my lessons. I cannot wait to use poetry to enhance writing instruction. Thank you so much for everything!
This experience was motivating, inspiring, and breathtaking! I had a great experience, and the best part was being able to come back to provide my teachers with so many things they can use.
What I truly appreciate about this conference is that it is all directed around materials and ideas that I can take back to my school and teachers. I love to read about theory and I would love to lead the charge on all social issues, but that is just not something I can bring back and use as a strategy to support STAAR scores. We all want to create great communicators. Students need to be able to read, write, speak, and be ready for what awaits them on the outside of the classroom, but the truth is, we also have to teach them the skills to pass the test. What I gained from this conference was a wealth of sound teaching strategies and ideas that I can take back to my teachers to implement directly into our lessons. Thank you for keeping that a priority.
I truly loved this conference as I felt like I walked away with ideas that I could immediately implement in my classroom. The atmosphere was fantastic as presenters and attendees were excited to be there and share their knowledge!
I was moved by the show of support from the Port Aransas community. It wasn't just the door prizes, although those were awesome! In every restaurant and shop our group visited, we were met with gracious and encouraging words. What a blessing! As an instructional coach, I came home with multiple strategies that I was able to share right away in PLCs on our campus. I appreciated that the approach to reading/writing instruction was aligned with research while also prioritizing students as whole people and promoting an overall love for learning…On a personal note, I appreciate Melanie's willingness to share her faith---especially the story about her parents. That had a major impact on me and was a good reminder that my job is about so much more than test scores.
Amazing conference, it always feels nice to be surrounded by passionate, like-minded educators. This conference was awesome because of all of the useful strategies I was able to bring back to my classroom.
Great conference! I came back refreshed and ready to go! I have already used some of the information I learned in my classroom. I love that Melanie told us to not sweat the small stuff, and that what we are doing is making a difference!
“The conference was great and a much-needed refresher to remind me why I am in education. You are truly inspiring and I love listening to your words! Thank you for your conference. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your vulnerability. Know that you and your awesome crew are creating a legend.”
This is one conference I push for each year with my district. I am able to walk away with tools I can turn around the next day and put into action in my own classroom. This year, I was able to share 3-4 strategies with my department who has already put them into action. This is a REAL, FAST, HONEST conference that you can put into play the next day in your own room or into instructional coaching.
“Thank you so much. Everything was very well organized. The sessions were very informative and the presenters were fabulous. I could sit and listen to you all day! :) The door prizes were phenomenal! I really enjoyed the welcome session at the Aransas Princess. Great job!”
“This is by far the best ELA conference I've ever attended. I found something in EVERY session that I could use the next time I walked into my classroom. I also love that fact that every presenter is a dyed it the wool teacher! They get it! They can feel what we are all feeling and can meet us where we are in our experience and help all of us be better at what we do! I have and will continue to recommend this conference to EVERY ELA teacher I know! Of course, it doesn't hurt that we can sneak off the beach and spend time in the sand and water.”