The day starts early with one student taking at test at 7:45 a.m. Yup in bed after 1:30 a.m. and up bright and early the next day. I sure hope I get to sleep when I get home, cause during this conference I run short on bed rest.
Then the day is planned around final presentation for E-Business. Not much to change for presentation but just confidence and poise. I go and watch other final presentations for this event and it is good because it cause me to think differently for next year's students. My student does let me watch her presentation and I am glad because I like to see the effort student put in. Following her presentation I go and watch other finals to get ideas to bring back to Seymour and students for next year's Nationals.
The afternoon today is reserved for some down time and then a Chapter dinner. I picked out Joe's Crab Shack as a location and following that it is some Mini-golf. We take a taxi instead of he i-trolley that is available based on other adviser's statements about wait time and other struggles. It is so good to have other advisers that are so willing to help on these trips!
Following our activity kids to go the pool for the bonfire and then it is curfew at midnight. Thankfully I get to go to bed right around that same time to. I need the sleep. So day 5 of conference 16 hour day.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
NLC - Day 4
Ok, today is a day of juggling schedules. Upon arriving at the conference I texted students that were giving presentations the times and locations of their presentations. Today all three are presenting. I did not talk about this in my previous post (well it was getting long), but I also sit down with each group/person presenting and go over what to do. This is also a chance for me to give them really hard questions that judges might give them. I like to do this so they feel very prepared to knock the socks of the judges. So on Day 2 of the conference I watched/listened to two of my three presentation for Nationals. Boy have they been working hard on their presentations. I don't ask them to change any content but vocals, pausing and confidence is the only thing to work on now.
On top of getting students ready I am also helping to administer a presentation. I was helping to facilitate the event Business Financial Plan. I enjoy doing this task because it gets me more aware of different events I have not had student participate in. The only down side is that I am stuck in one location and my students do not get my undivided attention prior to their presentations.
So up and out of the room by 8 a.m. at the convention and working right away. I am working the event until noon and then a quick lunch and then a walk around the exhibit hall where the campaign booths are located. Upon completion of that, I coordinate with presenting students to go over any last minute questions and then it is wait until it is over. I had two presentations that felt very confident and one group struggled with a technology issue and felt that knocked them out of the running. We will keep our fingers crossed.
In the afternoon we have the NorthCentral meeting. Which is a region of FBLA states that compete in some chapter/state events and network based on location. There is also some campaign speeches given here for vice president. Over all the meeting last about an hour, but Seymour does get recognized for being a Gold Seal Chapter! Way to Go!
After this meeting is it wait until final are posted. So we went to an Arabian Nights Dinner Theater show. It was a nice show and a good opportunity for the entire group to be together in a fun atmosphere. Then we get back to the hotel and wait, wait, wait. They get back to their hotel rooms prior to the midnight curfew and thanks to the addition of social networking we can just hit refresh and wait for the posts.
Midnight passes and we are still waiting for one presentation to post the final round. So far E-business is the only presentation to make it to finals. We were up until 1:30 waiting for posts and so it was, Seymour has one presentation going on Thursday. The other students who didn't make finals now plan and strategize to watch other event finals to get ready for NEXT year (I love planning ahead!)
So up at at the conference by 8 a.m. and done working with students at 1:30 a.m. 17.5 hour day.
Wheww! I am getting tired
On top of getting students ready I am also helping to administer a presentation. I was helping to facilitate the event Business Financial Plan. I enjoy doing this task because it gets me more aware of different events I have not had student participate in. The only down side is that I am stuck in one location and my students do not get my undivided attention prior to their presentations.
So up and out of the room by 8 a.m. at the convention and working right away. I am working the event until noon and then a quick lunch and then a walk around the exhibit hall where the campaign booths are located. Upon completion of that, I coordinate with presenting students to go over any last minute questions and then it is wait until it is over. I had two presentations that felt very confident and one group struggled with a technology issue and felt that knocked them out of the running. We will keep our fingers crossed.
In the afternoon we have the NorthCentral meeting. Which is a region of FBLA states that compete in some chapter/state events and network based on location. There is also some campaign speeches given here for vice president. Over all the meeting last about an hour, but Seymour does get recognized for being a Gold Seal Chapter! Way to Go!
After this meeting is it wait until final are posted. So we went to an Arabian Nights Dinner Theater show. It was a nice show and a good opportunity for the entire group to be together in a fun atmosphere. Then we get back to the hotel and wait, wait, wait. They get back to their hotel rooms prior to the midnight curfew and thanks to the addition of social networking we can just hit refresh and wait for the posts.
Midnight passes and we are still waiting for one presentation to post the final round. So far E-business is the only presentation to make it to finals. We were up until 1:30 waiting for posts and so it was, Seymour has one presentation going on Thursday. The other students who didn't make finals now plan and strategize to watch other event finals to get ready for NEXT year (I love planning ahead!)
So up at at the conference by 8 a.m. and done working with students at 1:30 a.m. 17.5 hour day.
Wheww! I am getting tired
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
NLC - Day 3
This morning starts of just as the same as Monday (Day 2 of trip). One student in Leadership Training, two others going with parents for a morning trip, and I am off to DisneyWorld (Animal Kingdom) with the rest.
Meet in the lobby by 8:20 a.m. and we have eaten breakfast already. Hop in a taxi and drive to the park. Much easier to do this on day two, already knowing something of what to expect. We have less time in the park today as we have two meetings to attend to start the official conference. We arrive and met with our other student and Mom at the park and off we went on our Safari ride. What great advice the Mom gave us on doing that ride first, as the animals are out more in the earlier part of day before the heat gets to much. The rest of day at the park we went to shows and rides. I will say be sure to schedule in your day there the Lion King show. The performers do an excellent job and it was amazing.
The return from Animal kingdom was different as my two students went with the other student who was staying on Disney property to help them navigate back to our hotel for the conference. So only three back on the taxi (increases the cost per person slightly).
Back at the hotel I am finally able to get to conference registration and pick up all required materials and then I can go to the mandatory adviser meeting. This hour long meeting they discuss procedures and changes that have been made to the convention program as well as safety tips and reminders about the facilities. This is also a good time to network with other advisers from across the country.
I am constantly coordinating with my state officer via text on times/locations to meet to be sure she is fully prepared for her responsibilities at the conference. It is so wonderful to work with students who take on the role of officer, they are so responsible and it makes me proud to be a teacher!
Then I coordinate the rest of my students to get them in their business attire and then it is off to the state meeting. I arrive early to help facilitate any part of the meeting, but our state adviser and state officers really did a great job of running the show. This meeting gets all participants from Wisconsin coordinated on what to expect and what to do for Wisconsin. Cheers are reviewed, upcoming training's are discussed and students get excited for the upcoming events. Seymour's state officer had to give a couple of speeches that we had worked on and brought with prior to flying out for Florida and she did a great job!
After the state meeting some down time and then it is off to the opening session. The opening session at this conference is what really gets students pumped up. There is music, pictures and of course the trading of the pins. Students purchase for $1 a Wisconsin pin and then go and trade with other states. This encourages meeting new people and networking. There is a keynote speaker as well as campaign speeches given for National Officers. This year Wisconsin was lucky enough to have a candidate running for National office, so the entire state was yelling and supporting our candidate.
This opening session meeting lasts just over 2 hours and students are done sitting still by that time. It is difficult to keep them (ok, even myself, off the electronic devices during the session).
Students then had time to hangout and meet people until curfew. I have at several time state to students the expectations of being in the room before midnight for curfew. Many students went down to the pool for the bonfire and enjoyed meeting new people.
So this day is from 8:20 to Midnight. Yup 16 hours again.
Meet in the lobby by 8:20 a.m. and we have eaten breakfast already. Hop in a taxi and drive to the park. Much easier to do this on day two, already knowing something of what to expect. We have less time in the park today as we have two meetings to attend to start the official conference. We arrive and met with our other student and Mom at the park and off we went on our Safari ride. What great advice the Mom gave us on doing that ride first, as the animals are out more in the earlier part of day before the heat gets to much. The rest of day at the park we went to shows and rides. I will say be sure to schedule in your day there the Lion King show. The performers do an excellent job and it was amazing.
The return from Animal kingdom was different as my two students went with the other student who was staying on Disney property to help them navigate back to our hotel for the conference. So only three back on the taxi (increases the cost per person slightly).
Back at the hotel I am finally able to get to conference registration and pick up all required materials and then I can go to the mandatory adviser meeting. This hour long meeting they discuss procedures and changes that have been made to the convention program as well as safety tips and reminders about the facilities. This is also a good time to network with other advisers from across the country.
I am constantly coordinating with my state officer via text on times/locations to meet to be sure she is fully prepared for her responsibilities at the conference. It is so wonderful to work with students who take on the role of officer, they are so responsible and it makes me proud to be a teacher!
Then I coordinate the rest of my students to get them in their business attire and then it is off to the state meeting. I arrive early to help facilitate any part of the meeting, but our state adviser and state officers really did a great job of running the show. This meeting gets all participants from Wisconsin coordinated on what to expect and what to do for Wisconsin. Cheers are reviewed, upcoming training's are discussed and students get excited for the upcoming events. Seymour's state officer had to give a couple of speeches that we had worked on and brought with prior to flying out for Florida and she did a great job!
 |
| Opening session with trading pins on name badge. |
This opening session meeting lasts just over 2 hours and students are done sitting still by that time. It is difficult to keep them (ok, even myself, off the electronic devices during the session).
Students then had time to hangout and meet people until curfew. I have at several time state to students the expectations of being in the room before midnight for curfew. Many students went down to the pool for the bonfire and enjoyed meeting new people.
So this day is from 8:20 to Midnight. Yup 16 hours again.
Monday, June 27, 2011
NLC - Day 2
All went well we were in the hotel. I had one student who was spending the day in leadership training at the convention center with all the other Wisconsin State Officers, two students traveling with parents to the beach (I had arranged permission slips to make sure that I knew everyone knew it was ok for them to travel without me for the day) and that left me with three students for a day of adventure at DisneyWorld.
I know that some people may read this and say ok you are at DisneyWorld how is that work. Well because I am the adviser on the trip I am really just doing what the students want to do and I hold back my opinion on rides and locations. Students worked hard on earning their trip to Nationals, so I just make sure they are safe and following reasonable expectations.
The day starts with figuring out transportation from the hotel to Disney. I had two students with me at the hotel and I was meeting another at Disney with her Mom. I also had my six year old and my mother. So a taxi for five was the most economical. First taxi ride for the students and they were excited to go. A delay on getting into Magic Kingdom due to a Tram shut down, but 30 minutes later we were in and looking for our meeting spot with my other student.
It was a great day. We went on rides and my students Mom was really a Disney expert. She knew how to use the Disney fastpass feature to make the most of our time there. We walked a ton. We left the park after 11 p.m. So up at 7 a.m. in the taxi by 8:30 a.m. and return by midnight. The other students and I communicated during the day on where they were and who they were with. A curfew check at midnight and the day is through. A wonderful day of advising students for 16 straight hours.
I know that some people may read this and say ok you are at DisneyWorld how is that work. Well because I am the adviser on the trip I am really just doing what the students want to do and I hold back my opinion on rides and locations. Students worked hard on earning their trip to Nationals, so I just make sure they are safe and following reasonable expectations.
The day starts with figuring out transportation from the hotel to Disney. I had two students with me at the hotel and I was meeting another at Disney with her Mom. I also had my six year old and my mother. So a taxi for five was the most economical. First taxi ride for the students and they were excited to go. A delay on getting into Magic Kingdom due to a Tram shut down, but 30 minutes later we were in and looking for our meeting spot with my other student.It was a great day. We went on rides and my students Mom was really a Disney expert. She knew how to use the Disney fastpass feature to make the most of our time there. We walked a ton. We left the park after 11 p.m. So up at 7 a.m. in the taxi by 8:30 a.m. and return by midnight. The other students and I communicated during the day on where they were and who they were with. A curfew check at midnight and the day is through. A wonderful day of advising students for 16 straight hours.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
NLC -Day 1
So we are flying out today for Nationals. I am taking 6 students to Orlando so they can compete against the rest of the Nation. They are ready to show off their business talents. I have been arranging transportation, equipment, housing, registration since April, and now we are meeting and traveling.
The work day is starting by meeting at the Appleton airport at 3 p.m. Since the airport is close all students had to arrange their own transportation to and from the airport. We all made it on time. Prior to the trip I sent the students a text with their flight confirmation number and asked them to register online and pay for check luggage (if they were taking some). They all were able to take care of that prior to meeting at the airport. This made check-in much easier.
Our flight left Appleton around 4:30, we had a connecting flight in Detroit. Thank goodness no problems with the connection and we arrived in Orlando at 10:15 p.m. (eastern time). Once we got our luggage (again no problems there either :) ) we arrange for round trip transportation to/from the hotel. I held onto the receipts so when we travel back I don't have to worry about someone losing it and having to purchase another ticket.
We arrived at our Hotel around 11:45 p.m. and got checked into our hotel room. Let me tell you that when you travel with students and have to check into a hotel, there are always problems with one person being responsible for 4 rooms. So far the Hilton has been doing a great job. I did make sure that I brought along another copy of our state tax exempt status, try to save our students some money.
Once checked in finally got to bed around 1 a.m. because we had not eaten any dinner because of timing of flights. So ordered a pizza and shared with the students and then rest time.
Day 1 worked 9 hours (not counting the packing prior to the trip).
The work day is starting by meeting at the Appleton airport at 3 p.m. Since the airport is close all students had to arrange their own transportation to and from the airport. We all made it on time. Prior to the trip I sent the students a text with their flight confirmation number and asked them to register online and pay for check luggage (if they were taking some). They all were able to take care of that prior to meeting at the airport. This made check-in much easier.
Our flight left Appleton around 4:30, we had a connecting flight in Detroit. Thank goodness no problems with the connection and we arrived in Orlando at 10:15 p.m. (eastern time). Once we got our luggage (again no problems there either :) ) we arrange for round trip transportation to/from the hotel. I held onto the receipts so when we travel back I don't have to worry about someone losing it and having to purchase another ticket.
We arrived at our Hotel around 11:45 p.m. and got checked into our hotel room. Let me tell you that when you travel with students and have to check into a hotel, there are always problems with one person being responsible for 4 rooms. So far the Hilton has been doing a great job. I did make sure that I brought along another copy of our state tax exempt status, try to save our students some money.
Once checked in finally got to bed around 1 a.m. because we had not eaten any dinner because of timing of flights. So ordered a pizza and shared with the students and then rest time.
Day 1 worked 9 hours (not counting the packing prior to the trip).
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Gearing Up for Trip
On Sunday I leave with some wondeful students to attend the FBLA National Leadership Conference in Orlando. Traveling with students is such an eye opening experience. Students often times have not traveled without their parents or even out of the state before. Trying to please a group of individuals who have different tastes in food and entertainment can be trying on anyone nerves, but the rewards and memories students have is what makes it worth while.
As an overview of my upcoming trip I arranged airline and hotel reservations for my 6 students, as well as making arrangements to share a hotel room with students to defray costs. All of this work was done months ago, but the arrangements for entertainment are always in flux. This year due to the size of my group (this is the largest group I have taken - I am no Portage FBLA Chapter) I wanted to arrange all of it ahead time so everyone was sure of the agenda and admissions were paid for prior to leaving (so no unexpected costs).
I have been worried about transportation costs to and from the airport. We are not renting a car so working with a shuttle service or taxi. The taxi is one flat fee no matter how many individuals are traveling, but then students have to figure out the shared cost of travel and plus I can't have students in a taxi without me. These are all arrangements and thoughts I go through prior to leaving.
I have also already confirmed that students don't need any medications, but I also want to be sure I have extra's of stuff they may need since we are in Orlando 6 nights.
The past couple of days I was traveling with my family to celebrate our Tenth Anniversary, but still on vacation I answered several text messages about the upcoming trip and several emails about school work. I would estimate over that last 3 days I have spend at least 1.5 hours with emails/texts confirming data for the trip.
I also started packing today so does that count for work? I am going to guess not, but still it is me prepping for taking students on the trip.
Here is my trip information:
Fly out Sunday, meeting at airport at 3 p.m. (I will count that as the start of work time)
Fly back on Saturday arriving at home airport at 4 p.m.(I will count that as the end of the trip).
I will try to do some updates during the trip, but I know it will be super busy crazy, but still fun
As an overview of my upcoming trip I arranged airline and hotel reservations for my 6 students, as well as making arrangements to share a hotel room with students to defray costs. All of this work was done months ago, but the arrangements for entertainment are always in flux. This year due to the size of my group (this is the largest group I have taken - I am no Portage FBLA Chapter) I wanted to arrange all of it ahead time so everyone was sure of the agenda and admissions were paid for prior to leaving (so no unexpected costs).
I have been worried about transportation costs to and from the airport. We are not renting a car so working with a shuttle service or taxi. The taxi is one flat fee no matter how many individuals are traveling, but then students have to figure out the shared cost of travel and plus I can't have students in a taxi without me. These are all arrangements and thoughts I go through prior to leaving.
I have also already confirmed that students don't need any medications, but I also want to be sure I have extra's of stuff they may need since we are in Orlando 6 nights.
The past couple of days I was traveling with my family to celebrate our Tenth Anniversary, but still on vacation I answered several text messages about the upcoming trip and several emails about school work. I would estimate over that last 3 days I have spend at least 1.5 hours with emails/texts confirming data for the trip.I also started packing today so does that count for work? I am going to guess not, but still it is me prepping for taking students on the trip.
Here is my trip information:
Fly out Sunday, meeting at airport at 3 p.m. (I will count that as the start of work time)
Fly back on Saturday arriving at home airport at 4 p.m.(I will count that as the end of the trip).
I will try to do some updates during the trip, but I know it will be super busy crazy, but still fun
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Nationals Trip - Orlando
I have written about having a state officer for Wisconsin FBLA for this upcoming school year, but I also have five other students who have qualified for the National Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL on June 28-July 1.
So I have been arranging transportation, housing, entertainment, and competitive event schedules since the state leadership conference in the middle of April. Several meetings were held before school got out, so I will not count those hours but since school has been out. I have help do fundraising (see older posts) as well as coordinate equipment pick-up for events as well as confirm travel arrangements. So since school has been out for over a week there has been 2 hours of work put into this upcoming trip.
A trip to Orlando, FL sounds like a wonderful vacation! I would agree and I will be doing some fun activities while I am there but I will still be working the entire time and will need to supervise the students on an out-of-state field trip. I will do some separate blog posts about this trip.
So today 2 hours of planning to get ready to go on the trip. Flying out on June 26!
So I have been arranging transportation, housing, entertainment, and competitive event schedules since the state leadership conference in the middle of April. Several meetings were held before school got out, so I will not count those hours but since school has been out. I have help do fundraising (see older posts) as well as coordinate equipment pick-up for events as well as confirm travel arrangements. So since school has been out for over a week there has been 2 hours of work put into this upcoming trip.
A trip to Orlando, FL sounds like a wonderful vacation! I would agree and I will be doing some fun activities while I am there but I will still be working the entire time and will need to supervise the students on an out-of-state field trip. I will do some separate blog posts about this trip.
So today 2 hours of planning to get ready to go on the trip. Flying out on June 26!
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