Our recent NSTA conference on science education in Long Beach, CA, was held in collaboration with the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA). How fitting that one of the largest area conferences we’ve ever had was the result of amazing collaboration, because it all really does comes down people—and last week we gathered with an incredibly enthusiastic, smart group. The ideas bubbled up, networks were forged or enforced, and teachers found themselves re-invigorated. For a visual snapshot of the conference, check out our Storify curation of #NSTA14 Long Beach.

The conference kicked off with featured speaker Julie Scardina (of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens: San Diego, CA), who used animal ambassadors to demonstrate that it takes a more sophisticated understanding of ecology, biology, and environmental science to save our planet’s biodiversity. NSTA President Juliana Texley echoed the conference theme (“catch the wave”) as she introduced Scardini, telling the crowd that “A tsunami begins with hidden energy. As it travels across the ocean, it is barely noticeable (only a centimeter or two of wave). But when it hits the shore, it explodes with energy. An analogy for the wave of science education reform that is rumbling through our profession and will create explosive change in student achievement and empowerment.” CSTA President Laura Henriques set the tone for the conference as she met Piper the tarantula—although the penguins ended up being the crowd’s favorite animals, Henriques embraced the idea of fearlessly learning and facing the future!

STEM classrooms, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) implementation, and science as the gateway to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were the focus of the conference strands, but sessions focused on everything from forensic science to analyzing live ocean data to reading strategies. We loved hearing from attendees about how much they learned and what they’ll take back to the classroom! We’re not the only ones who were feeling the science teacher love…  and we’re going to hold Ariel Zych to her promise to bring a cardboard Ira next time.

If you were there and have more to tell us, we encourage you to evaluate your sessions and track your professional development certification (based on clock hours). To evaluate a session, attendees should follow these steps:

• Visit the conference session browser and search for part of the session title or presenter’s name using the Find Keyword search option.
• Once you find the session you wish to evaluate, simply click the Evaluation Session button.
• Enter badge number (if you don’t remember your badge number, click “help me find my badge number”).
• When finished evaluating the session, click the “Submit Evaluation” button.
• Repeat this process for each session attended.

But it was not all work and no play. One of the funner aspects of the conference was the photo booth in the NSTA membership area in the exhibit hall. Browse the images here. Throughout the entire conference, NSTA fans (NSTA Groupies) shared their photos with us as well, and you can check them out at the #NSTAGroupie Storify.

The conference was so packed that many attendees told us they couldn’t get to all sessions they wanted to, so we closed out the week with a special round of encore sessions on Saturday. Many thanks to the gracious presenters who stayed to make those happen.

And now we can’t wait to do it again in Chicago in March! Strands at the 2015 NSTA National Conference on Science Education will focus on Natural Resources, Natural Partnerships;Teaching Every Child by Embracing Diversity;The Science of Design: Structure and Function; and Student Learning—How Do We Know What They Know? Please join us in Chicago, March 12–15, 2015!

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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