Dublin Literacy Conference: February 25, 2012

Dublin Literacy Conference 1995

From Left: Karen Szymusiak, Louise Borden, Franki Sibberson, Georgia Heard, Ralph Fletcher

The Dublin Literacy Conference has been a constant in my life as a teacher.  It is one of my favorite times of year.  The conference is run by a committee of teachers.  Mary Lee and I have somehow been involved in the planning of this for a very long time.  (The photo above is one from the 1995 Dublin Literacy Conference--it looks more like the 80s with my hair, but whatever...). The Dublin Literacy Conference is a highlight for many of us.  I love it every year and each year I look at the list of upcoming speakers and think, "WOW! This is the best conference yet." We are so lucky to get amazing speakers each year, great book sales, and lunch. It is always a great day of literacy and learning. The conference is a deal--a one day Saturday conference for only $100 ($75 for Dublin Teachers).

There are two keynote sessions and 3 other sessions during the day-an A, B, and C session. The A and B sessions offer 20+ choices for participants. Some are given by features speakers and others by classroom teachers, technology specialists, authors, etc.  The C session is an opportunity to hear a Featured Author of your choice.  Everyone leaves the conference with new energy (and usually a few new books).

This year, we have a great slate of Professional Authors:

Donalyn Miller author of The Book Whisperer will present the morning keynote entitled,

One Book, One Child, One Teacher. She will also present a session later in the day called, Bring on the Books!.

Ruth Ayres, author of Day By Day and blog, Two Writing Teachers is presenting 2 sessions for teachers.  Celebrating Writers and Meaningful Minilessons.

Bill Bass author of the upcoming book From Inspiration to Red Carpet: Hosting a Student Film Festival will offer two sessions,  Developing Student Filmmakers and Authentic Learning through a Digital Lens.

Bill Kist author of New Literacies in Action and The Socially Networked Classroom will present sessions on  The Socially Networked Classroom and The World is a Village: Implications for Global Education in a Web 2.0 World

We also have a great group of Children's Authors speaking at this year's conference:

Eric Litwin and James Dean, author/illustrator team of PETE THE CAT will open the conference with a song and present two sessions on Interactive Literacy for teachers.

Our afternoon keynote speaker will be Sharon Draper. Sharon is the author of Out of My Mind, Sassy, Tears of a Tiger and other books for teachers and children. The title of her keynote will be, Literacy, Laughter and Learning. She will also present a a session called Making Books Come Alive for Adolescent Readers.

Bob Shea, author of Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime, New Socks and Big Plans will present sessions entitled,  Super Fun Time with Bob Shea and Super SECRET Fun Time with Bob Shea.

James Preller, author of the Jigsaw Jones series, Bystander, Justin Fisher Declares War and others will present sessions on Meet James Preller and Meet James Preller: The Long Version.

There are also many great Dublin teachers and Central Ohio bloggers presenting at the conference. Some Central Ohio bloggers you may know include:

Mandy Robek from Enjoy and Embrace Learning who will be presenting Helping Emergent Writers Develop.

Tony Keefer from Atychiphobia will present You Can Build Community with Writing.

Bill Prosser and Karen Terlecky from Literate Lives have a session that is becoming an popular tradition at the conference: So Many Books, So Little Time.

Mary Lee Hahn will be presenting on one of her favorite topics, Make Read Aloud a Must, Not a Maybe.

I will be presenting Comprehension in the Digital Reading Workshop.

Deb Frazier (Primary Perspective) and Nicole Kessler (Nicole's Book Nook) will present VoiceThread: Breaking Down the Walls.

Scott Sibberson (Scott Sibberson) will share Free Web Tools and Applications for Literacy Learning

Maria Caplin (Teaching in the 21st Century) will present with colleague,  Mark Saelzler on Digital Literacy in the Everyday Classroom

It looks to be an amazing day of learning and hanging out with colleagues.  There are lots of other great sessions. You can visit the Dublin Literacy Conference website and access a program and registration form.  Hope to see you there!