[Carolyn_Grace]

I’m looking to have my district approve attending the FIRST World Championship as professional development in the future. This year I am required to use my personal time to do so (and I only get three of those a year: not a sustainable amount to attend and volunteer annually). I will not unethically use my sick days or call in sick to attend this event, so I believe that my best course of action is to attempt to show that this event is a professional development opportunity. In fact, the reason I became a teacher in the first place is because my passion for education was developed during my time as a FIRST mentor.

I have a few questions for educators and those leading conferences this year. Please keep in mind that I’m looking for solid suggestions and answers. So I’d appreciate if you have no area of experience here, that you not speculate.

Educators:
Are any of you attending the FIRST World Championship, without your team or students, as professional development for your school?
If yes, what did you have to do in order to have this approved by your employer?
What tips do you have for me, to start this process with my own employer?
If you do not have experience here, but also are an educator looking for this opportunity in the future, please let me know. I believe having more than one person work on this can be useful.

Conference leaders:
What materials / topics are you covering that may be applicable to a middle school or high school educator?
Will you have any resources / hand-outs that I could take home with me from this year’s championships, to use as educational development evidence in my district?
I’m an English teacher, looking to earn my Masters in Educational Technology. Conferences related to robot build/strategy probably are not useful in making my case, but what other skills / topics do you believe your conference covers that may be useful?

Thanks for your help.