NCTE - Part 2

Ok, I forgot to tell you 2 more very special parts about the session I attended on book choice Friday. First, Donalyn Miller, of The Book Whisperer fame, was there, twittering about how excited she was to hear this particular group of women present. There is actually a group photo that I am in with Donalyn after the presentation. I will forward it as soon as my friend, Lisa, who managed to be the only one with a camera ready, sends it my way. Second, my friends (some new and some old) from Choice Literacy joined the session as well. Like I said in my first post, LOTS of smart people in one room -- it was incredibly invigorating!

Moving on to Saturday -- I was thinking about technology and literacy together all morning.

I started by listening to a panel of which Kevin Hodgson was a part. They talked about assigning and assessing multimedia writing. Kevin shared how he, working in tandem with his students' art teacher, science teacher, and librarian, helped his students make digital picture books on a scientific concept (cell mitosis) complete with animation and video. He used the Magic School Bus series as his mentor text. Another presenter, Dawn Reed (a high school teacher from Michigan) had her speech students compose very moving essays / podcasts titled "I believe...". I found myself making all sorts of connections to possibilities in my own classroom.

Then, I went to hear Bud Hunt and Troy Hicks (author of the Digital Writing Workshop) speak about Newer Literacies and Technologies. These two men are brilliant! I can't wait to read Troy's book! These men were twittering and answering questions in real time with the audience. Their mental agility was phenomenal! And they had pretty wicked senses of humor, as well. The thing they said that stuck with me is that the technology needs to be part of a writing workshop process where students have choice and time to write. See what I mean about them being brilliant?!!

Stopped by the exhibit hall after all this technological information, and picked up even more books. I was especially excited to get Patrick Karman's latest series, Skeleton Creek, and have him autograph them. I also got to meet Lisa Yee.

After that, I got to hear Kelly Gallagher and Jeff Anderson speak about Rethinking Literacy Instruction. Kelly Gallagher is the author of Readicide, Jeff Anderson is the author of both Mechanically Inclined and Everyday Editing. Many great points were made. Even though their target audience was probably more middle and high school, I was able to take away many good ideas.

I ended my day listening to an authors' panel about blogging. My blog and author friend, Barbara O'Connor, was part of the panel, so I really wanted to hear what these authors had to say. It was interesting to listen to them talk about how much the time they spend blogging means to them. Fascinating insights into each one of them, but especially good to see Barbara again.

Out to dinner for Italian food with Dublin friends Saturday evening. I found myself in disbelief that the weekend was drawing to an end.

If you've ever been to the NCTE convention, you know what I mean when I talk about the rush I felt being surrounded by not only smart people, but people who share similar beliefs as me when it comes to literacy, and more recently, 21st century literacy. I left the convention feeling so energized!!! It was an amazing weekend.

Fabulous Times at NCTE

I'm currently in Philadelphia for the NCTE convention. I am a first-timer to the convention, and all I can wonder is why I haven't made it here before! Since the moment the convention began on Thursday, I have met and listened to a multitude of very smart people.

My first session on Thursday was headed by Ralph Fletcher and was titled The Pleasures of Language. The entire session was about how we, as teachers, need to make words and language more fun for students. Ralph shared a multitude of ways that we can have children play with language. He was joined by two other presenters -- Kate Norem-Morris from Washington and Gresham Brown from South Carolina. Kate talked a lot about having students gather wonderful words for themselves and then "releasing" the words into their writing -- great idea! I can't believe I've never heard about Gresham or his blog (stoneacademyroom241.blogspot.com) before. Gresham encouraged teachers to create a playful room, full of jokes, songs, chants, tongue twisters, and poetry. I could have listened to him tell stories about his classroom forever.

This session was followed by the Elementary Section Meeting. What great fun! I sat at a table hosted by Franki Sibberson. The table also included Sharon Taberski, Pat Johnson, Ann Marie Corgill, Nancy Johnson, Mary Lee Hahn, Karen Szymuziak, and Katie DiCesare. Can I tell you how fun it was to be surrounded by all those smart people?!!

My first session on Friday was actually a presentation put together by Mary Lee Hahn, Katie DiCesare, and myself on how writing a book, making a video, and blogging have all made us better reading and writing teachers because of how much we have had to reflect on our own reading and writing processes. And all these things - writing, being on camera, blogging - forced us to take risks we might not have otherwise done. Don't we ask our students to do that each and every day at school? We had spent time planning together and that process really helped us grow as well. We were delighted with the turnout and the reception of our message!

Then, I got to go to a session where someone else was doing the work -- a group of teachers from California talked about the power of using blogs, podcasts, voicethreads, and digital videos with 4th graders. I came away energized to get back to my own class of 5th graders and to start diving into technology with them. More importantly, to find the best way to embed technology into everything they do, especially writing workshop.

Lunch was at this fabulous market across the street from us -- best turkey reuben I've ever had -- very yummy!

Then, Friday afternoon, I attended another session titled "Book Choice Matters", and the presenters were Ann Marie Corgill, Debbie Miller, Franki Sibberson, and Karen Szymuziak. They made me think a lot about what "just right" actually means, and if a child needs to always be in a just right book -- there are times it is appropriate for readers to read easy books and challenging books.

My second session was supposed to be The Significance of Teacher Talk by Peter Johnston, but by the time I got to the room, there was a crowd already outside. There was no way to pack even one more person in that room. I was disappointed, but recouped my good mood by doing some retail therapy. I went to the Exhibit Hall, and found many free ARCs, but I also paid for other books I was dying to have for certain students.

That night, dinner at a local pub where I was the oldest person in the place. Tons of fun and good times with my fellow Dublin NCTE participants.

Tune in tomorrow for the second half of my exciting weekend at NCTE.