"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." -John Cotton Dana
What an experience the DATE Conference was. Previously, I went to an NCTE Conference in Albany, but this conference was just as motivating. Besides my other two posts, I was so excited to hear Jennifer Donnelly speak about her book, A Northen Light, and about her process as being a professional writer. Visit her website at www.jenniferdonnelly.com.
The main advice I received from Jennifer was pursuing your passion despite road blocks. She is now an award-winning author, but her road to get there was quite challenging. It took her years before she became published. She was denied many times, but she finally came out to be as successful as she is now. This advice inspires me to pursue any writing I want to do and to not give up when turned down.
Otherwise, I was also heavily inspired by a session led by Carol Mikoda and Jen Rimualdo called No Workshop Left Behing: Reading and Writing at the Middle Level. Their discussion on implementing a Nancie Atwell reading/writing workshop classroom motivates me to include this in my own classroom.
The three main components to the workshop is time, ownership, and response. Students need to time to read independent books and create their creative writing pieces. Students need the ability to choose the genre in which the read and write. Students need to reflect on their growth as a reader and writer, and they need to evaluate one another's process.
How else can we get students to become independent learners if we are spoonfeeding them questions and answers? This approach focuses on self-discovery, teaching oneself how to engage in a text and write effectively.
Overall, the experience was worthwhile. I enjoyed interacting with colleagues and peers towards our quest at becoming influential English teachers. It was fabulous to see new ideas and perspectives outside methods classes and observation. This conference shows me how much knowledge is out there and how a teacher can reinvent his/her curriculum every day. I'm not even at the teaching level yet, but I have an entire toolbox of information that I can draw from already.
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3 comments:
Jami,
Like you, I found the conference to be n overwhelming success. I also thoroughly enjoyed meeting Jennifer Donnelly and hearing her writing story.
I can tell you from reading your own work that you definitely have the talent to write, and what is great is that you have the passion to follow through with it. I hope you keep going with your short stories, and continue to inspire your peers and your students as well to pursue their dreams. :)
I agree, Jennifer Donnelly inspired me to pursue my dream of becoming an author. I thought that, by now, I would have done something great if I will ever do something great, but listening to her tell how many years it took her to publish just one book renewed my inspiration. She is in her 40's and is just now achieving success. I left the conference feeling confident that I have PLENTY of time to achieve my dream of being an author.
Savanne, And you do, you do.
I'm glad Mikoda and Rimualdo inspired you Jami.
Jenn R. is a grad student in my YA Lit class this semester. She's terrific. She's doing a seminar next week on the effects of girls/women living in war zones. Great topic!
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