ELAN and OECTA (or the life of a booth kitty and speaker)

 This was a busy week, considering it's August. I attended the two-day English Language Arts Network Summer Virtual Conference, followed immediately by just the first day of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association Beginning Teachers Conference at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in downtown Toronto. Here are some of the highlights.

ELAN Ontario Virtual Summer Conference 2023

Conference Reflections by Diana Maliszewski

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

10:00 am - Opening Keynote: Angela Stockman

Summary: (copied from program) Angela Stockman is the author of several books, including Teacher’s Guide to Multimodal Composition K-5 and Teacher’s Guide to Multimodal Composition 6-12. She has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels before becoming a professional learning facilitator. In addition to her work with young writers, Angela is a sought-after consultant, working with schools and districts to improve literacy instruction and develop innovative teaching strategies.

3 Key Points

1. We need to be humbled by our students, and this is why documentation matters. We need to be "documentarians".
2. Students will lower the complexity of their ideas to match their print power if the focus is on writing; therefore, take a multimodal approach (e.g. use loose parts, make with Lego, record orally, etc.)
3. Teaching and writing are both full of false starts and that's okay. Look at David M. Bird's Beecorns as a wonderful example of multiple kinds of composition with different materials. Give students a chance to tell the same story multiple times using different materials.

So What? Now What?

I love Angela Stockman. I love how she lifts (my One Word focus for 2023) and elevates the students she works with. I love how she introduces me to new terms, like graphocentrism (the idea that the writer word is superior to other forms of communication). My next step is simple: buy Angela's new book (The Writing Workshop Teachers Guide to Multimodal Composition, K-5) and probably The Gift of Playful Learning by Nadia Kenisha Bynoe and Angelique Thompson.

Media Artifacts

12:45 pm - Get Your Head In The Game: Diana Maliszewski

Summary: (copied from program) Seymour Papert described games as "hard fun." James Paul Gee opined that the theory of human learning is built into good video games. How can educators engage their learners, address multiple expectations, and differentiate for a variety of students using games, especially video games, without leeching the joy out of them or losing all decorum and control? Come chat and play with the co-VP of the Association for Media Literacy to see how everyone can win by incorporating video games into their Language Arts curriculum. The new curriculum will be addressed as part of this talk.

3 Key Points

1. The new curriculum has both more and less about media literacy in it.
2. Games of all sorts can be used to address language expectations, as long as you recognize that school and games have separate (and sometimes conflicting) modes of interaction and conduct.
3. You don't have to play all these video games in school - you can discuss them from an approach centered on curiosity/interest rather than judgement.

So What? Now What?

This was the session I ran, so I can't comment too much on what people got out of it. I was really delighted with the post-talk conversation I had with Christina, my ELAN-assigned moderator for this time slot. We discussed the nature of virtual workshops, how influential the keynotes can be, how that directly impacted the number of breakout rooms and flow of today's talk, and how I might alter it for tomorrow's identical session. Christina's immediate feedback was so valuable that I applied it the next day.

Media Artifacts

I scribbled on my desk notes for changes to the flow of my next workshop.

2:15 pm - Critical Literacy Through Exploring Identity: Jehan Lalor

Summary: (copied from program) Picture books, videos and images are strong tools to get students to critically think about the world around them. Rich media texts will be shared along with lessons aimed to combat Hate, Bias and Racism. We will explore how we can use powerful language and illustrations to unpack student identities, build student voice and foster joy for one another.  A display of recommended reads, activities and samples of student work will be shared to help strengthen educators' Responsive Literacy Program.

So What? Now What?

I chatted so long with Christina that I clicked on the Google Meet link late. I waited for a few minutes but I wasn't "let in". I promised myself that I would be more punctual the next day.

Wednesday, August 23, 2020

10:00 am - Opening Keynote: Rebekah O'Dell

Summary: (copied from program) 

Rebekah O'Dell is an educator and writer with a passion for empowering students and teachers alike. She is the co-author of Writing with Mentors and Beyond Literary Analysis (with Allison Marchetti). She also writes a blog, Moving Writers, which is helping middle and high school teachers transform their writing instruction. She has been featured in numerous educational publications and has presented at conferences and workshops around the world. Whether she is working with students or educators, Rebekah is committed to helping everyone find their voice and reach their full potential.

3 Key Points

1. "Artificial Intelligence" programs cannot write with personal voice and the perspectives of real students, so lean into this.
2. By putting the words of professional writers in front of students, it becomes aspirational and inspirational, and is as natural as seamstresses studying clothing as a mentor text or football players re-watching NFL games to understand plays they might employ in their own games.
3. Turn on your "read like a writer" radar and use the predictable pattern of a) reading the mentor text sample, b) noticing things and considering why the writer might use this technique, c) naming this technique, d) trying this technique in our own writing - by doing this over and over, students know what to expect in the lesson and teachers can focus their energy on the student learning rather than managing the activity.

So What? Now What?

I had never heard of Rebekah O'Dell before, and at first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to attend her keynote, as the original Wednesday K-6 speaker was unavailable. However, she really spoke well and made a lot of sense. When I had my own classroom, I used to do mini-lessons (what she calls "mini-moves") and I really liked her message that you don't have to strictly abide by certain writing standards we were told in the past (such as "don't' start a sentence with a conjunction" or "always italicize foreign words"). I'll need to try out some of her techniques in my own writing.

Media Artifacts

12:45 pm - Get Your Head In The Game: Diana Maliszewski

Summary: (copied from program) Seymour Papert described games as "hard fun." James Paul Gee opined that the theory of human learning is built into good video games. How can educators engage their learners, address multiple expectations, and differentiate for a variety of students using games, especially video games, without leeching the joy out of them or losing all decorum and control? Come chat and play with the co-VP of the Association for Media Literacy to see how everyone can win by incorporating video games into their Language Arts curriculum. The new curriculum will be addressed as part of this talk.

3 Key Points - see notes from Tuesday August 22

So What? Now What?

My ELAN-assigned moderator this time was the wonderful Lyndsay Buehler. I believe that the advice Christina gave the day before paid off well. I gave a decent ratio of  "gum" and "chewing" (content and process) time on Wednesday. The participants were fantastic. They generated such marvelous ideas and suggestions for online versions of games. I hope that many of these thought migrated to the ELAN Padlet page for resources.

Media Artifacts

2:15 pm - Engaging Student Voice and Choice in Book Clubs: Lesley Davidson

Summary: (copied from program) How can educators support junior students in exploring their understanding of books at deeper levels and engage in accountable talk with their peers? Book Clubs provide opportunities for students to choose what they want to read, develop critical reading skills and make meaning of texts as they become lifelong readers. In this session, teachers will explore the role of the teacher in book clubs, strategies on how to leverage student engagement in reading, and investigate “use it tomorrow strategies” for setting up, and assessing book clubs. Come and learn how you can create a learning environment that engages and challenges students in developing a deeper understanding of the books that they are reading.

3 Key Points

1. Whole-class book studies aren't effective.
2. It's okay to change your practice. Lesley used to assign the "literature circle roles" but even the inspiring author behind the book that recommended them says to move away from such restrictive jobs.
3. The teacher is a facilitator and lets the students lead, with private chats if he/she/they notice student patterns that are concerning (e.g. lack of participation, surface level responses, etc.)

So What? Now What?

I am a goofball. I made a point of clicking the link before 2:15 pm and was puzzled when I was still waiting. I emailed ELAN and the every-patient Paula Nevins kindly pointed out that the workshop I was attempting to enter was already over! (My initial attempt was to join Rabia Khokhar's talk.) Instead I joined Lesley and enjoyed seeing all the evidence she has collected about how she runs book clubs.

Media Artifacts

This is me in the waiting room, waiting for a session that had already ended!

This is the program schedule, to show how very clear what was happening when.

I want to thank all the organizers and participants at the ELAN conference. It was my first time with this organization and it was a positive experience.

OECTA Beginning Teachers Conference 2023

Various subject associations were invited to set up tables in the Frontenac foyer of the Westin Harbour Castle hotel. There were eleven tables on Wednesday morning. This is how I set up the table for the Association for Media Literacy.

I must confess, it was a quieter than I expected during the morning. We were on the lower level, and the escalator directly connecting us to the main hub was out of order. The bad thing about this was we weren't reaching the new teachers. The "good" thing about this was the representatives from the various subject associations had plenty of time to talk. I even talked so much with Theresa Aqui that we co-wrote a blog post for AML! You can find it here, on https://aml.ca/5-easy-ways-to-keep-canadian-news-in-your-day/ .

I decided that we needed to attract more traffic to our location. We ate our catered lunch before the regular participants, because they were in session. I put on my black cat paws and my black cat head, wrote a promotional sign with markers from the OAEA booth, and then stood right by the lunch buffet. I didn't take photos of me by the lunch buffet, but I grabbed a few images of our exhibitor spot.

It worked! The other subject associations said that more people started to come down to visit after lunch. New teachers came to the AML table to take free handouts, grab a free Hershey's Kiss, and even play a couple of short board games with me to see how we are surrounded by media and it is relatively easy to teach through and about media; we are all media educators!

I'd like to thank OECTA for including us, and to all the subject associations and their representatives for being present and supporting new teachers.

From left to right: Tess from the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (www.code.on.ca), Theresa from the Ontario Family Studies Home Economics Educators (http://ofsheea.education) me from the Association for Media Literacy (www.aml.ca), Marianne from the Ontario Association for Geographic and Environmental Education (www.oagee.org), Terry from the Science Teachers' Association of Ontario (www.stao.ca), Michelle from the Ontario Art Education Association (https://ontarioarteducationassociation.org/) and Jordan from the Ontario Association of Music Educators (https://omea.on.ca/)