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After the Conference

10/27/2015

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 Donald Graves tells us, “We can never underestimate the energy contained in learning.” Over the three days of the 48th Annual KSRA Annual Conference last week, the energy was high. So I think it is safe to say that it was a wonderful conference with a great deal of learning going on.
 
A few highlights:
  • Overall, there were close to 600 attendees with Thursday being the largest attendance day.
  • ​The line-up of breakouts included 22 first time presenters – teachers willing to take a risk and share their ideas.
  • We learned from general session speakers Jen Serravallo, Kate Messner, Kathy Bumgardner, Dr. Ernest Morrell, Linda Hoyt, and Julie Coiro. As I sat with these speakers, it was so gratifying to look out on the sea of faces, all hungry for learning.
  • Attendees were invited to join a mini EdCamp during lunch on Thursday. Although many teachers were unfamiliar with the format, somehow it seemed to work. Teachers grouped themselves to discuss such varied topics as literacy coaching, vocabulary, struggling middle school readers, conferencing in the workshop format, and argumentation. Ideas were shared and contacts were made in a relaxed setting.
  • Sara Holbrook, Michael Salinger, Janet Wong, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, and Barry Lane led a rollicking evening of poetry fun.
  • Some early risers started their day having breakfast with Barry Lane, A.S.King, and Peter Catalanotto.
  • Over 20 authors were on hand to talk with individuals and small groups during the author Round Table on Friday.
  • 45 exhibitors shared classroom resources as well as children’s and professional books.
  • Many, many preservice teachers attended as student ambassadors or simply as participants. They were professional, helpful, engaged, and energizing. This is the future of education, and I’m glad they were there to learn from the best.
 
Those are just some of the things that made the conference a special experience. But I have to say, the highlight of every day for me was meeting teachers who stopped me in the hall and said how much they were enjoying the conference, or shared with me how much they were learning. I took on the role of conference chair partly because I know how invigorating it is to be around like minded people at a conference and share new learning.
 
Planning and participating in the 48th Annual KSRA Conference is an experience I will never forget. Now it’s time to catch up on some rest!

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Before the Conference

10/20/2015

9 Comments

 
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Tomorrow I will be heading out to Lancaster, PA for the Keystone State Reading Association Annual Conference. As chair of the conference, this event has been part of my life for at least two years. Soon, the many hours of planning, emailing, negotiating, worrying, stressing, decision-making, and celebrating will be tangible. I can feel the excitement!
 
The theme of the conference is “Reimagine Explore And Discover” and I have done all of those things! This journey has stretched me in ways I could only have imagined a few years ago. I have developed a business sense, grown in confidence, redefined my place in the educational world, and discovered hidden talents within myself that I didn’t know existed. Although I don't think I would want to repeat the experience, I am so glad I took on the challenge.
 
I have many, many friends who served on my committee and have helped and supported me along the way. This has given me a renewed understanding of the value of friendship and how much people are willing to give of themselves.If you are one of them – thank you.
 
We are ready! If you want to know more about the conference, go to www.ksrapa.org.
I hesitate to start naming people for fear of leaving someone out, but I am looking forward to seeing and learning from Linda Hoyt, Kate Messner, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan, Michael Salinger and Sara Holbrook, Janet Wong, Jen Bryant, Kevin Flanigan, Jane Feber, and many more!
 
Stayed tuned for Part 2 next week – After the Conference.

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Smelling Memories

10/6/2015

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​And the air is what I’ll remember.
Even once we move to New York.
It always smelled like this, my mother says.
Wet grass and pine.
Like memory.
                                    -from Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
 
I love reading the comic section of the morning newspaper over coffee in the morning – that and completing the Jumble are part of my daily routine. A few weeks ago after reading “Family Circus,” I immediately cut out the cartoon and pasted it in my notebook. The single frame showed Dolly with a coloring book and crayons explaining to her mom, “Smell that, Mommy? It’s my favorite. A just-opened box of                                                    fresh crayons.”
 
I knew that smell immediately, and suddenly I was six years old again with my nose in a just-opened crayon box. That started me thinking about the importance of smells to evoke memories. We all probably have memories associated with smells, either pleasant or not so pleasant. The smell of mothballs always reminds me of a toy rocking horse named Redboy I had as a child. A whiff of cherry pipe tobacco and my head is filled with memories of a guy I dated in college. The scent of apple or cherry pie fresh from the oven brings my grandmother close once again. In today's Nerdy Book Club post, author Philip Stead was talking about the art room in his high school and how the smell was his favorite part – “…a mixture of oil paints and solvents and photo chemicals and graphite dust and wet clay.”
 
There are lots of smells I love to experience. Although they may not be associated with a specific memory, they always have some kind of effect on me. I love the smell of:
 
a freshly opened can of coffee
laundry hanging on the line, warmed by summer sunshine
morning dew
a wreath of newly cut pine boughs
hazelnut coffee
breaking the seal on a new jar of peanut butter (my husband knows to seek me out when this happens)
smoke from a wood stove on a crisp autumn day
roses
lavender
cinnamon
 
I’m sure there are some smells that would bring back unpleasant memories for me as well, but for the most part, smells are a positive force for me. I guess I’m lucky in that respect.

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