Conferencing in Montreal

June 17, 2024 – Loved Congress 2024

Traveled to Montréal on the red-eye on June 12, 2024 to attend the Canadian Studies for the Study of Education (CSSE) Congress 2024. Lots had happened up until this event, which pivoted from McGill Campus to multiple locations in Montréal. Some sessions went online or others may have been cancelled. Last minute changes and planning occurred due to the labour dispute with the Lawyer Association at McGill and Palestinian encampment. The situation escalated. As a result, I changed my hotel from McGill to the Holiday Inn & Suites downtown.

I am not complaining. As it turned out, the location of my new hotel is only meters away from the Metro. My new presentation locations were either online, at the Université de Montréal, or Campus de Longueuil at the Université de Sherbrooke. I was able to access my in-person presentations via the Metro and hosted my online presentation from my hotel room. It’s been a great stay at this hotel and I would recommend it to others. Anyway, at CSSE Congress 2024, I presented 5 times. I’m not sure how that evolved over time, but I was really happy that I did.

I’ve added images of the PowerPoint presentations (see below) and of the CATE roundtable session that ended my conference experience in Montréal (see above). I presented for the following associations: (1) CATE (Canadian Association for Teacher Education); (2) CAARE (Canadian Association for Action Research in Education); and (3) OTESSA (Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association). The conference experience was AMAZING. I just loved seeing familiar faces, meeting new people, and getting feedback on my work. Moreover, I love the learning. I feel so inspired for next steps and what’s next.

My mindset is different this term. I attribute it to a non-teaching term. Although I have some asynchronous work to complete, having the time to reflect, synthesize, and create has been absolutely wonderful and I am grateful for this time this year. So, having 5 sessions this year has been very manageable in addition to attending other workshops within the buildings I was presenting in (aka., the limitation). Also, I was scheduled to present once a day (with exception to the first day) during the conference which also made the work manageable, doable, and enjoyable.