Becoming a Better Teacher

Each year at this time I attend the National Reading Recovery Conference held in Columbus, Ohio with my Title I team.  The weather always poses a problem and this year was no different.  We woke up Sunday morning with over 8" of snow over hard packed ice.  With a 3 hour drive in front of us, we planned on leaving at 6:30 am to arrive in time for the 10:30 keynote speaker. However, erring on the side of caution, we waited until snow plows had a chance to clear some of the roads. The drive was treacherous for the first 40 miles but after that, roads were just wet. We missed the keynote speaker and our first seminar, but made it to hear our last seminar of the day.  Most importantly, we made it back to our room to watch the Super Bowl game with time to spare.  Unfortunately, our Broncos didn't fair well.

 Waking up to 8" of snow

 Columbus Convention Center

Classroom teachers, principals, Title I interventionists, literacy coaches, and Reading Recovery teachers from all over the United States and Canada gather each year in Columbus. We come together to learn new strategies to implement in the classroom.

Our goal is to create lifelong readers starting with our youngest students.

Oral language is a key in reading success

World renown literacy specialist, Sharon Tabinski, the keynote speaker talks about the importance of oral language in the development of our children.

The importance of early literacy intervention

Heated walk-way from conference to our hotel. It was wonderful not having to wear a coat!

Brian Pinkney, author and illustrator was our last keynote speaker.  He is an acclaimed artist whose illustrations have won him Caldecott Honors along with multiple other awards.

Demonstrating his skill as a drummer.  Throughout his youth he played the drums in the marching band, which then led him down the path to the formation of a rock band.

His love for the drums led him to his book; Max Found Two Sticks, which is about a boy who finds sticks and uses them as drumsticks to foster his love of music.

He used his family as models for illustrating the characters in this book.

Wrapping up his presentation

Next year's presenters and speakers.  These women are pioneers in literacy. Hope we have funding so I can go!

Freebies and catalogs

We left Columbus early to beat the winter storm that was tracking our way.  The snow started just about an hour after we arrived back in Indiana.  This storm dumped another 9" of snow on our already 8" from Sunday.  Needless to say, we have missed school since then.  I can't wait to get back to school and implement all the new strategies that I learned at the conference!