TSPRA 2020 Recap
TSPRA is always a great conference. The keynote (Anne Grady) this year was amazing. For those who weren’t able to attend or want a reminder of what they may have learned, here is a recap of items I took away from the conference as well as what others shared as their highlights.
Keynote
Anne Grady was the keynote and spoke on wellness. I can’t get into everything she went into, she has a book for that here: Strong Enough. I will go over points that connected with the audience:
- We are good at prioritizing our schedules and NOT good at scheduling our priorities.
- People with a Growth Mindset don’t waste their time comparing themselves to others, they focus on getting better.
- Stress isn’t always bad, but it’s how we view stress. If we view stress as a negative, we die younger, if we view it as a motivator, it has no correlation to our life expectancy.
- Give everyone the benefit of the doubt that they are doing the best they can.
- When others do something wrong, we assign it to their character; when we do something wrong, we assign it to our intent. Everyone is doing the best they can.
- The things we tell ourselves, drive our behavior.
- Happiness is not a destination. Take time to savour the moments. Be where we are when we are there.
- Your resume and your eulogy should not be the same document.
If those highlights hit home with you, watch this session she gave to Harlandale ISD:
Sessions
These will be quick and fast with resources when available. Links are underlined and if you click on names it will take you to their twitter handles.
- Using the Census 2020 ROAM Map to find undercounted areas of your district. (Veronica Yunes, Veronica Castillon and Matthew Leblanc)
- Google captioning on presentations from the Tech Slam automatically gives you captions live as you speak. Great for a live presentation, it doesn’t save your captions, but still a great accessibility hack. (Jake Sturgis)
- How to make your social media more impactful using data and research. One of the highest attended and most talked about sessions. They even shared their presentation with us. Link here: Has Your Social Media Become Antisocial. (Justin Elbert and Jasmine Nguyen)
- Disruptive Communication communications as a fun way to tell your story and share who your leadership is. Youtube videos here: Challenge Accepted Videos. (Kelsey Purcell and Dayna Mowen)
- Another session on wellness where learned physical signs our bodies are telling us to focus on our wellness and what I found most insightful was learning from SchoolPR pros what cause them stress and what they are committed to do in order to be better. Here is a link to those insights: Wellness Takeaways in SchoolPR Pros Words. (Kristin Magette and Shawn McKillop)
Vendors
Blackboard, Alumni Nations, MarketVolt, Thoughtexchange, Voly.org, Swagit, WRA Architects, TeacherList, Captivate Media, Broadnet, Rhodes Branding, FOTPS, TEV, Go Public, Forecast5, Sprint, Community Impact, School Revenue Partners, Alboum, Walraven, Blue Jarvis Media, Intrado SchoolMessenger, Gift Solutions, HCDS, Graham Media, Texas School Safety Center, TASB, FlashVote, My VRSpot, Know Out Specialties, K12 Insight, Peachjar, SchoolMaps Online, Celebrate Media Group, Monsido, Gabbert Communications, Edlio, Smore, Teripix, Finalsite, Archive Social, Relatrix, Huckabee, Daktonics, Parent Square, TCU CPC, Apptegy, Class Intercom
Those who took the time to engage in conversations with vendors not only walked away with some great swag (did you get one of those adorable Smorinios) but also a better understanding of how EdTech companies are helping to solve real-world #schoolPR challenges. There were some new faces who offered specialized SchoolPR consulting services that might be just the thing your district needs to allow for a focus on your more strategic initiatives
Finally, I lost my wallet while I was giving a roundtable discussion, but TSPRA came through and someone turned it in and I can report I still have a full bank account. So thank you good samaritan. Look forward to meeting with everyone via twitter on #k12prchat until TSPRA 2021.
