The best session that I went to at VAST was a session on Differentiation of Instruction by Jennifer Maeng at UVA. The session focused on how to distinguish what types of differentiation were being implemented in different lessons as well as a time to brainstorm with teachers in my content area (Earth Science) about lessons we have differentated. My favorite thing I brought back from that session was the idea to do a "Rock Cycle Menu" where the students get to choose the way they present their "Appetizer," "Soup & Salad," and "Dessert" while they all do the same "Main Course." This allowed for students to be creative, analytical, etc.
I attended a few other sessions relating to Earth Science - a Share-A-Thon where I got some ideas for creative ways to demonstrate the Rock Cycle, Plate Tectonics, and Relative Dating. There was an amazing session on "So You Got the Job, Now What?" by Mrs. Nuckolls and Ms. Parris from Galax High School. They were a teacher/mentor pair and just gave some excellent advice for pre-service and new in-service teachers. I came back and photocopied her handout for all the new in-service teachers that I know! I went to a session about NASA S'Cool Cloud Identification where they encourage students to put their "real life" cloud identification data to be compared to satellite data. I would really like to include more "real time" data into my class and this would be a great idea!
I really enjoyed spending time with people that I have met from the profession - a woman who also teaches AP Environmental Science in Hampton, Virginia and some professionals from the Math Science Innovation Center and Nancy Alexander, the new VISTA Curriculum Coach & my fairy godmother.
I'll second your comment about the presentation by Mrs. Nuckolls and Ms. Parris. I wasn't sure how much I'd get out of it; I imagined it would be about how to arrange the desks and how to collect papers. There was a lot of information there that I had never considered. I also loved their non-linear powerpoint.
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