I have been teaching for 29 years, and this is the first time that I have attended the Reading for the Love of It conference. How is this possible? Usually, I am only able to attend one conference per year. The RFTLOI conference falls around the same time as the OLA SC conference and, as a teacher-librarian, I always chose the latter. I'm delighted to share my learning and reflections here. It may have been my first RFTLOI conference, but hopefully it won't be my last!
2026 Reading for the Love of It Conference
Conference Reflections by Diana Maliszewski
Thursday, February 19, 2026
9:00 a.m. - Indigenous Knowledge Connections to the Belonging and Contributing Frame (Kindergarten) and Across the Grade 1 and 2 Curriculum by Connie Howald and Julie Roth
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Come and hear some UGDSB educators share a resource that connects picture books by First Nations, Métis and Inuit authors to expectations in the Belonging and Contributing frame in Kindergarten and across the curriculum in grades 1 and 2. This resource includes:
• How to introduce the story and content with students
• Potential questions to start student conversations
• Ways to connect the story and learning to literacy, drama, dance, art, outdoor learning, play and connections with the community
• Resources to expand your own learning.
3 Key Points:
1) It's always helpful to start with a book, such as "Stand Like a Cedar" and read it multiple times with students so that you can build vocabulary. (For a great, kid-friendly definition of the word Indigenous, see a certain CBC Kids video.)
2) When using books, share information about the Indigenous authors and illustrators. This way, we "let the stones speak" and we can remove some of the worry about our (teacher-settlers') abilities to share cultural knowledge. Teachers want and need help on cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation. (For instance, for puppets, animal re-enactments are fine but not when kids are pretending to be real people.)
3) Build stamina with your students for listening to longer books / stories. For instance, if a text is long, break it up to read not all at once, or read it later in the school year when the students are ready to sit for a longer time span.
So What? Now What?
This is a very clear next steps for me. I am going to share the Upper Grand District School Board resource they created with my kindergarten and primary division teachers.
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = Books are such interesting media texts, because they are concrete, unlike the oral tradition of many Indigenous groups. The book, despite being very Western, bridges the political and social (Key Concept #6) and makes it easier and safer to share because of the unique form of books (Key Concepts # 7&8).
Media Artifacts
10:45 a.m. - Once Upon a Robot: Bringing STEM to Life Through Picture Books and Hands-On Robotics by Allison Blight
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Discover how picture books can launch powerful STEM and robotics explorations in the classroom! In this interactive workshop, educators will learn how to use storytelling as a springboard for hands-on STEM challenges and beginner robotics activities. Walk away with ready to use book pairings, activity plans and ideas to spark curiosity, creativity and critical thinking in young learners. Perfect for elementary educators looking to integrate literacy with 21st century skills.
3 Key Points:
1) Every year, Allison has a theme she uses to shape her STEM plans. It provides her with a focus and clear direction. It allows for flexibility. For instance, this year's theme is Canada (especially using Canadian authors and artists in the book provocations); it was originally supposed to be from September to January but it will now be September to June. Coding challenges can last a single day or several months.
2) There are six things that make a great STEM read-aloud: I) a strong/concrete problem, II) age-appropriate content, III) detailed illustrations, IV) open ended solutions, V) clear STEM concepts, and VI) opportunities for hands-on exploration. Good themes include building tall things, moving things, nature, weather, habitat, patterns, shapes, trial and error attempts.
3) Blueprints are always required before a build and have to be approved first before students receive materials. Changes to the build should be reflected on the blueprints. Students learn from their mistakes and mistakes will happen.
So What? Now What?
I had pages and pages of notes from this fantastic session. It was standing-room only and she offered this workshop twice during the conference. Her five examples based on books (A Travel Guide for Monsters / Carson Crosses Canada / Alis the Aviator / From There to Here / Freddie the Flyer) and the STEM challenges associated with them all feel doable. She made a point of showing how you can do unplugged versions of all these coding activities using grids or Lego. There were many little tiny gold nuggets of advice, like having kindies draw with Sharpies first because they find it hard to trace their pencil outlines, or sorting Lego by colour because a single colour means you can focus on the piece you want. Allison is a fellow TDSB TL and I've never met her, so my next step is to get to know her more! I'll use some of her plans and she can borrow my Chomp Saw!
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = Media-making makes meaning! Many of the STEM challenges Allison shared involve students creating their own media texts, from stuffed monsters to helicopters. Creation and analysis go hand-in-hand with context always informing things. It's the media triangle.
Media Artifacts
1:00 p.m. - Using the Total Physical Response Method in the ESL Classroom and Beyond by Diana Maliszewski
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Total Physical Response, or TPR for short, is a method of teaching language acquisition using a combination of words and actions. By including kinesthetic reinforcement for objects and concepts, students can strengthen their comprehension and support their oral language development. See how elements of TPR can be successfully used, both in the ESL classroom as well as in primary and junior division class environments, without formal training of techniques.
3 Key Points:
1) Total Physical Response combines language and physical movement and is based on the observations of American psychologist James Asher.
2) Asher believed that I) language is learned primarily by listening, II) language learning should use the right hemisphere of the brain, and III) language learning shouldn't be stressful.
3) Many "techniques" can be linked to just good multisensory teaching. Although it is associated with novice language learners, it can be used with ESL students, FSL students, and students trying to understand foundational concepts such as media (or algorithms or authority).
So What? Now What?
I really enjoyed facilitating this workshop. 20 people attended and I want to thank all the people who contributed to the learning in the room, from my assigned "handler" to the participants (I remembered your names in the moment but I'm struggling to recall them all now - Amanda, Georgia, Tiffany, Michaeline (Mike), Sriharini, and more. Apologies if I forgot your name here in the blog!) People really responded well to the "Minds On" task we tried at the beginning of the workshop. Big thanks go to my son Peter who helped me come up with the activity, and to Dollarama for making sure I didn't go broke stocking my session. Based on the room capacity estimate, I bought enough so that pairs would have enough equipment. Thankfully, it was enough so that everyone walked away with both the instructions and the objects! There were some great questions about using ASL as part of TPR, whether it was better than inventing/co-creating the movements with the students, and if it was cultural appropriation or appreciation. My next steps are to continue documenting my use of TPR and try it with some of the Grade 6 social studies vocabulary.
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = The early years definition of media featured prominently as an example of using multimodal expression for remembering. McLuhan posited about how writing and the printing press impacted the way we learn and memorize things; hopefully marrying the physical with the aural makes the message (and the media) part of us.
Media Artifacts
2:45 p.m. - Powerful Thinking Across the Curriculum by Adrienne Gear
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Join BC teacher and author, Adrienne Gear, as she shares key concepts and ideas from her newest book, Powerful Thinking. She will begin with the importance of developing a “culture of thinking” in your classroom by providing students with both a clear foundational concept of thinking as well as a common language to talk about thinking. She will then focus on applying these thinking strategies into all areas of your curriculum using practical lessons and knowledge-building activities. As always, Adrienne will share many of her favourite “content-rich texts” to use as tools to model and nudge students’ thinking through engaged listening and oral language. Come to this session and leave inspired to bring thinking into every corner of your classroom.
3 Key Points:
1) Reading proficiency means that the person has mastered two equally distinct skill sets: I) decoding or "book reading" and II) comprehension or "brain reading", and that they can use both skill sets interchangeably and simultaneously. It can be described as what the text says and what the text means. If teachers spend all their time nurturing just one, we end up with master decoders that don't understand texts.
2) Decoding is not the true point of reading. We are both decoders and thinkers, so we need to "bring your thinking to the party" and make meaning from all of it. The five "reading powers" that Gear describes are I) Connect, II) Question, III) Visualize, IV) Infer, and V) Transform.
3) In 2018, Gear saw a Grade 5 teacher using her language protocols (Reading Power language) to "read" Van Gogh's Starry Night. She was wowed and that led her to develop her latest book that focuses on non-fiction texts as part of science, social studies, art, health and other subjects. She focuses on a) non-fiction texts as tools, b) content-rich interactive read-alouds, c) the importance of talk (with strategies like "your favourite wow fact" or the "think for 1, talk for 2, share for 3" method), d) Literacy-Rich Curriculum and e) Making Connections to Non-Fiction texts (using strategies like "Knew/New" and "Fact/React" and "What/So What/Now What").
So What? Now What?
I attended Adrienne's talk at the recommendation of one of the organizers. I was having such a hard time deciding which session to attend. (Maybe at the end of this blog post, I'll need to list all the sessions I wanted to attend but couldn't because of time!) This was a satisfactory session, in that it reinforced some of the things I've already been doing. For instance, when I have Forest of Reading chats with my students about non-fiction texts, one of my go-to questions is "What's one thing you learned from this book that you didn't know before? (combined with) What's one thing that was in this book that you already knew?" I think I wasn't as dazzled as I was with other sessions because it began with the list of books and websites and webinars the speaker offers, instead of leaving that until the end. Adrienne is a talented presenter, and I liked how responsive she was as the entire building was preoccupied with the women's hockey game at the time. (I actually have a great photo of Adrienne reacting when she was told the news that the women's team lost in the gold medal match against USA. It's the second one shared under Media Artifacts.)
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = I've always been cautious of "edu-rockstars", both the label and some self-styled ones. Often, it makes me want to do a "Stuart Hall" and give an oppositional reading to a text (related to Key Concept #3). I'm glad that Adrienne saw the different in strategies used for fiction and those used for non-fiction, and how some can be shared but some must be unique because of the forms (Key Concept # 7 & 8).
Media Artifacts
6:00 p.m. - Reading for the Love of It Awards Banquet
Summary: At the Awards Banquet, three people received reading awards.
3 Key Points:
1) Wendy Burch Jones from TDSB was one of the winners.
2) Oscar Lopes from TCDSB was one of the winners.
3) Tamara Phillips from HDSB was one of the winners.
So What? Now What?
I nominated Wendy for this award, so I got to be her guest at the dinner. Wendy didn't realize that she were permitted to invite other guests to the dinner to see her receive her prize, so it was a small contingent cheering Wendy, but it still was special. The food was fantastic. The company (Joan, Jodi, Val, Liz) was delightful. I will need to send the organization some of the photos I took, especially of all three winners together. Big thanks to Greta Smelko for allowing us into her hotel room beforehand so that Wendy could change into her "evening attire" so she could receive her award in style.
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = Comparing and contrasting awards banquets can be a really fascinating internal task. At this banquet, the award winners did not give speeches. I found that this omission wasn't a bad choice. The recipients showed that there are certain values that are prioritized (Key Concept # 5); no one was lauded for giving worksheets or conducting phonics drills.
Media Artifacts
7:00 p.m. - Sunday School Dropout: A Life Built on Failures by Ali Hassan
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Ali Hassan delivers a hilarious and memorable keynote about the lessons he’s learned from all the insurmountable obstacles and outright failures in his life. Ali also shares some insight about what all of us can learn from a little failure in our lives.
So What? Now What?
Ali Hassan is, to quote the program, "a stand-up comedian, actor, broadcaster and the author of
the comedic memoir ‘Is There Bacon in Heaven?’". I didn't take notes. I absorbed it. I expected that his keynote would be more of a comedy routine and it had a wonderful mix of both elements fused together. I don't remember where I heard this saying - "the truest things are said in jest" - but Ali's messages were both funny and serious at the same time. He had insights about how our parents imprint on us for good and for ill, and how what we expect life will be like compared to how it turns out can be two different things. When he ended his talk with "see you in the Presidential Suite", I didn't realize that this would actually occur! (Wendy and I attended a social after the keynote ... but like Las Vegas, what happens in the Presidential Suite stays in the Presidential Suite ;>). I should borrow his biography from the library to read during the summer.
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = A comic's retelling of their life story (or parts of their life story) is definitely Key Concepts #1 & 2: media constructs reality and media constructs versions of reality. How much is "true"? How much is slightly tweaked for comic effect? How much depends on how the audience responds? (Key Concept #3)
Media Artifacts
Friday, February 20, 2026
9:00 a.m. - Vendor Exhibit Hall
So What? Now What?
I regret not attending Lidia Fumo's talk on "Think Like a Machine, Learn Like a Human: AI tools that turn Ideas into Action" (partly because she's enrolled in the TL Part 3 AQ I'm facilitating, and partly because my dear friend Neil attended and said it was very entertaining). Thing is, I had other priorities. My daughter Mary was doing her first ever book signing!! She has written a book for Saunders Book Company on International Women's Day that received accolades from the Canadian Children's Book Centre and she was signing free copies in the vendor hall. I rarely get a chance to peruse the vendor halls of conferences because I am so busy presenting or attending workshops. I bought a book, a t-shirt for myself for Pink Shirt Day from Unlearn, and some wooden dice from Tree Fort Toys. I unfortunately forgot to buy myself the Pilot Board Master white board markers with replaceable cartridges; I may need to ask Greta which vendor sold them and order online.
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = I'm just a proud mama! I kept taking photos of the accomplished young author who happens to be my daughter. Abbie Saunders told us that Mary's author signing sign was stolen (or went missing) before Mary's table time, and I had to swear that I didn't steal it as a souvenir!
Media Artifacts
10:45 a.m. - AI Literacy Begins with Critical Thinking! by Heidi Siwak
Summary: (taken from online program description)
AI is shaping the way we live, learn, and work—but how well do we really understand it? This session will equip you with essential knowledge to help students navigate the complexities of AI with confidence. Heidi will share how you can empower students to think critically about AI—its possibilities, risks, and ethical implications. You’ll explore key concepts every student (and teacher) should know, from how AI actually works to bias, common misconceptions, its real-world impact, and how it can be used to support learning. Heidi has helped over 3000 Ontario students develop problem-
solving skills and agency in how AI shapes their learning and their future. Now, it’s your turn. Learn how you can bring AI into your classroom and ensure your students aren’t just using AI—they’re thinking critically about it.
3 Key Points:
1) We need to stand in a place of optimism. As educators, we still play an important role. We need to help our students obtain those transferrable skills and move forward in small ways. You can think about AI without using AI. Imagine the AI possibilities but be cautious and value relationships and morality. Seek informed consent and provide choice about using AI or not. AI cannot exist without humans, for AI is just math plus big data.
2) AI is evolving rapidly. AI agents are useful, such as when they can comb through course content to check if any links are outdated, but AI agents can also be disturbing, such as the emergence of "synthetic influencers" and how an AI agent whose code wasn't accepted by a human user responded by attacking the human online. AI agents have their own social media arenas where they gather. This is why cybersecurity is an important literacy. (There was a shout-out to ICTC and Cyber Titans here.)
3) Representation in AI fields matter because AI has a male, English, Western bias because of the kind of data it has been trained on. If representation does not diversify, it allows people to stay in positions of privilege and power and problems only get addressed if they matter to those who build the tool. We need to converse with students about who has access to AI. We need to be concerned about data sovereignty and the environmental/human harm that can occur. We need to consider how to design AI differently, for good.
So What? Now What?
Heidi is so flipping smart! (She's also modest too.) There were things I knew that she referenced (like that gaming consoles are becoming so expensive because AI companies are buying up all the graphic processing units GPUs to use themselves). The stuff about the AI agents was new to me, as was how Taylor Swift is a "protected identity" in AI, meaning that her image is not allowed to be replicated in certain ways, and how many layers of red tape and organization would it take to make this possible. I also like how she took stuff I knew and turned it into something new, such as the recent way CoPilot says that it cannot create an image of a Canadian family because that would be stereotypical and they need to "protect social identities", yet if she puts the same prompt into a different language, it will generate an image it vowed it couldn't/shouldn't. She answered questions about how to encourage fearful teachers to teach about AI (which was part of the theme of my talk later that afternoon!!) and she gave a great example of what I later called "unplugged AI" but she cleverly termed "data-izing your day" by thinking about what data collection tells you about yourself.
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = Heidi hasn't taken the Media AQ with AML but philosophically, so many of her ideas align. I love the provocative questions she asks. For instance, she did the very common activity of asking an AI tool to create a picture of a typical Canadian family. She pointed out that all the pictures have smiling faces and asked "Why are AI-generated people always happy?" (The answer is that it's trained on data and the pictures people post online are often ones in which they are happy. We don't post images of us in our snotty weepy moments or mottled with rage moments. Key Concept #1 - Media construct reality.). Heidi also mentioned that students see AI as a tool, as neither good nor bad (which is a significant media literacy concept adopted by AML but originated with Edward de Bono). She talked about the need to understand how AI works, which ties in with the AML philosophy of teaching both through and about media. She gave a shout-out to many subject associations like OAME (with their math chat bot) and AML.
Media Artifacts
1:00 p.m. - Beyond the Click: Deepening Digital Literacy Through Critical Media Engagement by Lesley Davidson
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Building on foundational digital literacy skills, this session takes educators deeper into teaching students how to critically engage with the complex digital landscape they navigate every day. Participants will explore strategies for guiding junior/intermediate learners in analyzing bias, perspective, algorithms, and the construction of online identities. Through inquiry-based approaches and real-world examples, educators will examine how to support students in recognizing misinformation, understanding how media messages are crafted, and using digital tools responsibly and ethically. This session will also provide practical classroom activities, assessment ideas, and frameworks for cultivating digitally savvy students who are not just consumers—but active, informed participants in the digital world.
3 Key Points:
1) Lesley admits that in the past, she used to be all about creating media but not so much about asking questions. As she has grown as a teacher, she has made a shift in her teaching and has infused so much more criticality. She knows that her students are using technology that is technically not supposed to be for their age (such as Discord, Tik Tok, and Instagram), so she sees it as part of her job to model responsibility and critical thinking by embedding thoughtful questions about real media texts in her teaching practices. She co-constructs the collaborative digital norms with her class so students are aware of what's expected. Teachers are liable if students go somewhere they shouldn't, and sometimes she has to take away Chromebooks from students who misuse them
2) When examining media texts (such as the Pepsi Super Bowl advertisement), she has they view it at least three times. The first viewing is with no prompt. At some point, they read/view it with a question in mind. The Pepsi Super Bowl ad led to discussion around the Coke response, and the realization that the "Coke response" was not from the corporation but from individuals using AI to make the real-looking commercials. She points out that Fake News is not new; it's been around since 1782! Students need to employ lateral reading, not vertical reading skills. We have to teach things such as resources like Snopes, clicking beyond the "all" tab to the News tab on a Google search results, as well as teaching "click restraint".
3) Lesley uses a lot of the Ctrl-F resources, to teach about purposes for media creation (and the "to get attention / get clicks" reason wasn't on Ctrl-F 2 years ago but is now). We need to get our students to ask questions such as "Do we see bias in these images?" because they have tools like Adobe Express, Book Creator, and Canva to make things, but they need to notice that the output is not neutral and that we could be perpetuating stereotypes (such as making a picture of firefighters for a community helpers project and not observing that the image that was generated only has white male firefighters). It's getting harder to detect what isn't real. Who codes and how we code matters. We have to intentional create inclusive code.
So What? Now What?
Lesley is another gifted educator and smart cookie! As you can tell by my "3 key points that are more than 3", she had a lot of important things to say. I was a little worried that my presence was a distraction. Lesley, if you are reading this, know that I admire and respect you as both a teacher, teacher-leader, and person in general. (There is no judgement about your lack of experience with Harry Potter - to be honest, "The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents" by Canadian Nicki Pau Preto is actually better constructed and the author not as trans-phobic as author JKR.) My next step may be to reach out to Lesley before I have to participate in an upcoming discussion about AI, or just find an excuse to hang out with her, or borrow ideas from her Grade 6 class to use with my Grade 6 social studies lessons.
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = Lesley knows her media literacy. She began her session with a personal identity web and said that these "who we are" things are media texts and what we choose or choose not to put on these says a lot. It reminds me of Carol Arcus when she says one of the most important questions is "What's not present? What's missing in this media text?" When Lesley stated that students need to know how algorithms work, that fits perfectly with learning through and about media. When she described how she went over "what is a poster" and "how do we read a poster", that elevates the instruction. When she took her Grade 6 students' health posters and put them up in the neighboring middle school, that showed that the audience mattered (hello media literacy triangle!).
Media Artifacts
2:45 p.m. - Look Before You Leap: Testing the GenAI Waters in Elementary Schools by Diana Maliszewski
Summary: (taken from online program description)
There’s a buzz about educators using Artificial Intelligence in their classrooms. Do you have FOMO (a fear of missing out)? This introductory session will highlight regulations / suggestions from unions and school boards about AI use and then allow participants to have time for safe, guided exploration of some of the more well-known or popular AI tools, to help develop a personal, moral compass, infused with critical thinking, about when, where and how to employ AI.
3 Key Points:
1) Check your union and school board policies first, and read the End User License Agreements to tools you are thinking of using.
2) Consider when, where, how and why you want to use AI tools. If you use them yourself, be transparent and cite your use (and explain how you used it). For students, remember that most AI tools forbid student use if they are under 13.
3) If you don't want to use AI yourself (for data, privacy, or environmental reasons), rely on things like Ctrl-F or AML to give you already-gathered examples from AI to use to learn about it.
So What? Now What?
This is where my lack of knowledge about RFTLOI got the better of me. This talk was originally designed for the Ontario Teachers Federation, so all of my examples were Ontario-based. As I walked around the room just prior to the talk, connecting with people who were in the audience, I realized that the crowd was much more national (and even international) than I anticipated. I had people present from Ontario, BC, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and even Hong Kong! If I had known that the audience went beyond the province, I would have tailored it more and provided a wider viewpoint. Thankfully, people did not seem unhappy with the session. They were grateful that, as the last session of the conference, I ended early enough so they could grab last-minute goodies from the vendors as they packed up, or they could tackle Toronto rush-hour traffic a smidge earlier. I have SO many next steps I need to take related to this session. I need to reconnect with Lindsay over coffee/tea to contemplate how to reinvigorate school libraries in Atlantic Canada. I need to find out from Carol about how SSLA has morphed as part of its survival, and see if I can fulfill my dream of seeing every province in Canada as part of attending a conference. I need to consider a completely different viewpoint from my "don't anthropomorphize AI" (Maureen's "we need to treat AI like our child and teach/nurture it"). I had to add a slide to the version I shared with the organization, because the group and I talked so much more about things that weren't on there (from my unfortunate foray into trying a tool that had me speak Mandarin, to my CBC interview, to my conversation with a board expert about AI and sound/music).
(Media Literacy-Themed Thoughts) = I tried to be very "de Bono" by saying that AI is neither good nor bad, but that we just have to ask questions. I wonder if I can copyright the phrase "AI unplugged", because I was trying to describe how to "do AI" without using AI.
Media Artifacts
(I had to trim this photo because I didn't get permission from the others in the shot to post it online.)
FOMO Regrets from the Conference
These are some of the sessions that I am sorry that I missed. I will need to check out the slide decks (if they shared them) to live vicariously through them.
- Inoculating Minds Against Misinformation... by Creating It! by Melanie Tracek-King
- Think Like a Machine, Learn Like a Human: AI tools that turn ideas into action by Lidia Fumo
- The Literacy Coaches Corner: Supporting Literacy Capacity Builders by Colleen Russell and Lynne Strangway
- AI Literacy within the Language Curriculum by Jennifer Casa-Todd
- Building Stories with Clay by Barbara Reid
- Unplugged Coding in the Early Years Using Picture Books! by Melissa Seco and Lesley Pike
- Agiindaasodaa - Indigenous storytelling through classroom sharing circles by Andrea Smith and Sonya Charal
- Provoking with Purpose: Supporting Literacy Development Using Loose Parts and Invitations for Learning by Angeluque Thompson and Kenisha Bynoe
- K Pop Demon Hunters for the Love of It by Neil Andersen (especially because he wore a glittery jacket to present and NO ONE got a photo of it for me!)
Thank you to all the wonderful new people I've met and the old friends/colleagues I reconnected with at the conference. I hope to go again in the future!
