December Voices for Change

9:00 am CST December 9 Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for All Professor Yong Zhao calls for a paradigm shift in education. Dr. Zhao brings extensive evidence to show that every child has both potential and need to become great. To help each and every child achieve their greatness, we need a different kind of education that focuses on enhancing the unique strengths and passion of each child. Education is to help each and every child discover and develop their strengths and passions with the goal to create value for others and the world. To do so, we need to make education personalizable by the child, instead of personalized for the child. 

• 10:45 am CST December 9 Engaging Literacy Practices for Digital Learning Today's digital landscape continues to expand the way we participate in various literacy practices within and beyond the school walls. When we had to quickly shift to remote learning, we found ourselves looking for ways to engage children in learning experiences online. Whether we are teaching from home or in our traditional school settings, there are numerous ways we can integrate technology to engage students in authentic reading and writing experiences while preparing them as digital citizens. In this session, participants will explore a range of digital tools to engage students in meaningful literacy practices such as but not limited to word work, independent reading, book clubs, and writing.

• 7:00 pm CST December 9 Play as a Means for Change Play is more than just fun; play is a way to make sense of the world, build empathy and compassion, and come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be a member of a community. This session will focus on the social emotional benefits of play, as well as address the ways play can be used to build a more inclusive community and classroom. Teacher practices will be examined to study the role of bias during children's play. Participants will leave with reflective questions, practical strategies, and research to support play as means of change.

• 10:45 am CST December 16 Playful Explorations and Inquiry Often small group time is spent with children completing tasks while a teacher meets with small groups. This session will help teachers re-envision small group time to be a time of playful engaging self-regulating explorations. This empowers children, builds executive functions, and invites children into a co-constructed space of learning. The research to support this model of small group time will be shared, as well as practical strategies to make it work in any classroom. 

• 2:45 pm CST on December 9 Developing Readers Who Choose to Read Our goal can't just be helping students learn to read, but also helping them develop the dispositions so they choose to read. Participants will learn what gets in the way of student's reading ownership and what they need instead. 

• 2:45 pm CST December 16 Literacy as a Whole Body Experience When we act as thought our brains are the only part involved in reading and writing we are cutting off important aspects of ourselves. Participants will learn the research and moves that help students bring their physical, emotional, and thinking selves together. Let's reimagine literacy as a whole body experience.

Lester Laminack

• 4:15 pm CST December 9 Building a House of Fiction on a Foundation of Nonfiction: Unpacking the Nonfiction Read Aloud We will explore the idea of delving into nonfiction through the doorway of fiction. Lester will take you on an exploration of one topic beginning with two fiction selections that will set up an exploration of moving through a series of nonfiction texts building vocabulary and background knowledge while moving toward deeper understanding of the topic.

Kate Van Haren , Kristin Halverson, and Victoria Rydberg Pre-recorded session: Place, Passion, and Purpose: Using Our Communities and Fueling Literacy Learning in Our Classrooms Our K-12 learners are passionate about so many things‚ yet sometimes it feels impossible to get them motivated for reading and writing. Join us to explore how our local and global communities can provide rich contexts to help students find purpose for their learning. Hear from educators about how they integrated inquiry, literacy, social justice, and sustainability to increase engagement and fuel passion. Experience literacy-rich inquiry, participate in discussions and small group activities, and walk away with easily adaptable strategies and lesson ideas that engage students and encourage them to create positive changes in the places where they live.

Katrena Leininger Pre-recorded session Boss Writer: How Writing for a Reader Leads to Conventional Writing Many teachers have adopted published authors and their texts as mentors for their young writers. Teachers facilitate the noticing of craft and convention moves that writers make intentionally to influence the readers of their pieces. This session will explore how to help young writers progress from noticing the moves writers make to intentionally and purposefully using writers‚Äô craft and conventions to "Boss their reader around". It will delve into how writing teachers can help connect reading like a writer and writing for a reader through the careful use of teacher language, modeling, and writing conferences to assist their writers in thinking through authentic reasons to write. Examples from primary classrooms will be shared.

Mary Lou Harris-Manske Pre-recorded session: What's New in Children's Literature and Some All-Time Favorites These books teach, touch the heart , and tickle the funny bone. Participants will be introduced to a vast array of books that enhance the curriculum and support core content areas. Books for read-alouds, interactive read-alouds, mentor texts as well as books to spur independent reading will be shared. These sure-fire books will spark interest, invite dialogue, and deepen students' engagement.