So every year we go, someone always raves about Mark McLeod. This year I gave two blocks of time to his presentations. I was not disappointed. I felt affirmed in some of my classroom practices and challenged to do better in other areas through is presentation on classroom management and student motivation. I highly recommend his sessions if you get an opportunity in the future.

Tonight was the traditional Friday Debrief dinner where we get together with other schools in Michigan and talk about our favorite sessions from the conference. It should count as a MAMSE Mini-Conference. So many ideas shared by everyone around the table.

Sadly we weren’t able to Skype in Troy to the dinner. The signal was weak and after trying to get it to work for 20 minutes, one of the waiters mentioned it hadn’t been working all night. Huge disappointment at the table. We had dinner with Mr. Jeff LaRoux, President-Elect of AMLE and while we were there a pantheon of Middle School Greats stopped in at our table. Dr. Monte Selby stopped by, two past presidents of AMLE, Rick Wormeli, Jack Berckemeyer, and David Puckett also made appearances. Lots of laughter, shared ideas, and collegiality. This dinner is one of my favorite “sessions” of the conference.