One of the great things about being part of the Fulbright Program is the chance to go to conferences that are relevant to the research we are doing. This is supported by the International Institute of Education which contributes funding to enable us to do this. My first conference was in Indianapolis. I am really grateful to be given this opportunity to learn more about literacy through the workshops and from the Key Note speakers.
I managed to get to Indianapolis early and see some sights before the conference began. Kelly, one of the US Fulbrighters I met in DC, showed me around. This is a beautiful city. It feels small, friendly and clean and has cool buildings, a great Art Museum and even a Hundred Acre Woods (just like Winnie the Pooh's home).
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| These are the "Funky Bones" from The Fault in our Stars fame. |
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| Art in the Hundred Acre Woods |
The Reading Conference itself was really interesting. Stand
out things for me were the Key Note speakers. Donalyn Miller, a reading
teacher and author of "The Book Whisperer" talked about the single most
strongly associated factor linked to reading achievement, is being an
independent reader. Those students we teach who struggle with reading at
school, are the students who don't read independently outside of
school. Not rocket science, but interesting that the importance is on
reading OUTSIDE of school as well -- otherwise they are simply dependent
readers. Another interesting point was that a University of Oxford study
done in 2011 found that reading books is the only out-of-school
activity for sixteen-year-olds that is linked to getting a managerial or
professional job later in life.
We also heard briefly from Glenda Ritz, the Indiana State Superintendent of Public Education who had these couple of gems:
* Every test is a test of reading, so reading is the most important thing we can do with our children.
* A reader is not a person who can read, it's a person who does read.
One
other stand out person for me was Penny Kittle who is a teacher of
writing. She says the reason her students write well is that she gives
them a poem every day. By reading good writing and discussing good
writing on a daily basis, students become better writers. She also gave some good strategies I will use with my classes when I get home.
The final thing that grabbed my fancy was the use of digital tech in literacy. A professor from Indiana University, Kokomo, Dr Tara Kingsley, ran a workshop on tech tools and apps that support higher level thinking. I need to take time and go through some of these myself as they will be relevant to my research. Another professor, Dr Nancy Steffel, from the University of Indianapolis had her pre-service teachers each select a digital tool and show how they would use it in the class. Yes, another thing I need to investigate further to find out more about effects on engagement and academic performance, but it gives me a starting point.
