Phyllis and the Celebrate Literacy Award

I need a picture. I can't believe I didn't retrieve my camera to take a picture of Phyllis Simon at our recent event. Phyllis was the recipient of our Celebrate Literacy Award. I won't bore you with my whole speech but I can't imagine Vancouver (and now North Vancouver and South Surrey) without Kidsbooks. Just the sheer luxury of a browse in Kidsbooks is something that many of us enjoy.
One of the reasons I think I crave books so much because as a child I never could get enough. I lived in a small town without a public library. The nearest bookstore was about 12 miles away. Two of my favorite memories was going to that bookstore and then spending a couple of hours at the nearby public library (and I don't even think I could borrow books from that library). That bookstore only sold hard cover books which I only received at Christmas or birthdays. Thank goodness we lived close to the states and I could find cheaper books there. Children in Vancouver are indeed fortunate. They have Phyllis and so do we!

Donald Leu-the fabulous event

I think everyone (and I only wish there had been a few more people but those of us there were so fortunate) who attended the BCLCIRA event with Donald Leu were "blown away". We were fascinated and mesmerized by the ideas and information presented. I think for many of us the possibilities of the web for our students and ourselves were really were opened up. He was able to make the complex simple and accessible. And as one of my friends said, there was the man himself... When he talked about the work that he and his colleagues at the University of Connecticut are doing, it was always we never I. It was obvious that he loves teaching and has such an appreciation of the world. He shared with us how his teaching had been grade four/five level in elementary school and he was somewhat intimidated with the thought of teaching in a grade seven class last year but then how much he enjoyed the students. And always, we are impressed by university professors who do go back into the "trenches" and deeply respect the work of teachers. My friend who doesn't see herself as a real computer type was so impressed she ended up at school the other night until 9:00 exploring some of the sites he had mentioned.
I picked up a neat book of essays entitled This I Believe which I have recently used in a couple of workshops and meetings. I love this essay by Bill Gates which you just must read. And the essay does talk about computers but much more.
I think Don Leu is someone who tap dances to work. (That was to force you to hit the last link so you can put that metaphor in context)
Never fear, you may have missed his talk but just go to the New Literacies website and check out some of their current projects and look at the section of opportunities for educators where you can actually see his video presentations of working with elementary students on critical ltieracy skills. Absolutely fascinating and so relevant to what we want to do.

Don't forget to register for Don Leu etc.

As said before, trying to keep two blogs going is a real challenge so that it has taken me awhile to get back to this one!
My latest great idea is one stolen from NCTE, let's make October 20, a Provincial (or even National) Day of Writing. NCTE is doing this in the states which I learned when I went to their recent conference in San Antonio (note picture). After years of attending IRA conferences, it's kind of fun going to NCTE. Those of you going to Phoenix will have the opportunity to hear Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea who was wonderful! There were many great sessions and a real emphasis on how to interact with technology so that I will be very interested in hearing Don Leu in February! Reminder, early bird registration saves you $20 so please register before Christmas to take advantage! For a registration form just go to BCLCIRA's website.
My week took me out to Chilliwack where I gave a session to the Valley Council on Thinking About Reading Strategies k-9. When I was told my range of audience I must admit I was a bit dumbfounded but a challenge is always good, and my audience literally did range from a kindergarten teacher to several high school teachers. Anyway we had a good discussion and great food. Thanks to the Valley Council for organizing this event.
Donna McCormick is hard at work trying to organize us for a project on Cultural Sensitivity and I thought I would share you an ongoing project from the Vancouver School Board, Marbles,a searchable bibliography of library- and/or classroom-ready, fully reviewed books by Canadian authors that promote Multicultural and Anti-racism understandings.

An Evening with Donald Leu

The next BCLCIRA event will be a dinner at the Italian Cultural Centre on February 3rd with IRA board member, Donald Leu, who will be speaking about The New Literacies and how we can prepare our students for their demands. Learn more about Donald's work at this website! For registration information go to BCLCIRA's website on the sidebar.

It's about time!

I seem to have difficulty with one blog let alone keeping two updated. In my last post, BCLCIRA executive member Honey Halpern commented that she would like me to mention that if you have gently used paperback children's books we have a project to send them to Uganda. If you comment here I will be happy to send you her contact information. Honey has done a great job in her travels finding us schools that need our books. Books have gone to Ghana, Borneo, and now Uganda.
Last year, I was privileged to meet two museum curators form Malawi and BCLCIRA with our local council, LOMCIRA, sent them back with a new laptop computer to help with their projects to educate the world about Malawi and to help with their use of traditional culture to educate people about Aids.
By joining the International Reading Association or a local council like LOMCIRA you can really get involved and make changes and give hope.
Two weekends ago, I gave a session on teacher study groups at our provincial conference in Kelowna. It was great meeting with enthusiastic teachers from different communities in British Columbia. Teacher study groups have been around for awhile but in our school district we have had lots of success with this in the last couple of years so it was great to share what we have learned (what not to do as well as what to do.)
The conference was great. Keynote, Terry Small, made me think more about how my brain works. I haven't yet tried having a meeting standing up but having a meeting while going for a walk sounds like a good idea to me!

What is in a name?

Initially I missed the C in the acronym BCLCIRA when I created this blog. This was noticed by our treasurer, Nancy Sinclair, and I fixed it but now the original exists in Google memory which may cause you to end up on a non existent blog! By posting today I am hoping that Google might update! If you visit this site and would like to visit again please bookmark it.
Summer seems to be rapidly coming to a close and I, personally, am in the midst of doing an Intermediate Summer Insitute with 11 keen teachers giving up a couple of days of summer to update! Two recent IRA books have proven popular with my participants. They are Comprehension Shouldn't Be Silent and Quality Comprehension: A Strategic Model of Reading Instruction Using Read-Along Guides, Grades 3-6. In the Vancouver School Board we already have a book club using Comprehension Shouldn't Be Silent planned. Quality Comprehension is the latest IRA book club selection. I also love that you can download all the read along guides.

Washington,D.C. and BCLCIRA's fall conference.

Here I am in Washington, D.C. at the National Geographic Literacy and Science Seminar which is excellent with such luminaries as Nell Duke, John Guthrie, Doug Hartman etc. If you want to know more about it here is the link. I went to a wonderful dinner and talk tonight about the current exhibit of Afghan treasures at the National Art Gallery . The talk was given by the National Geographic archaeologist who catalogued these treasures saved from the wars and the Taliban and thought lost. I am definitely planning a trip to see them in person on Friday.

Before I forget, if you haven't checked out BCLCIRA's fall conference in Kelowna please do! What a great opportunity for professional development as well as a bit of wine tasting!