Comments on: Reflecting on a Literacy Conference http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2009/11/07/reflecting-on-a-literacy-conference/ If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. ~ Charlie Parker Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:48:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Vicki Boyd, Director of Heinemann Professional Development http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2009/11/07/reflecting-on-a-literacy-conference/comment-page-1/#comment-4034 Vicki Boyd, Director of Heinemann Professional Development Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:13:32 +0000 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/?p=1637#comment-4034 Hi, Kevin. I love your idea! I'll pass it along to Gay and Irene. By the way, I have no idea how to change the thumbnail icon that appears next to my posting. Do you? I suppose it does bear some resemblance to me on some days before I've had my morning coffee, but I'd like to put a better face forward here. Your blog certainly deserves better. :D Hi, Kevin.

I love your idea! I’ll pass it along to Gay and Irene.

By the way, I have no idea how to change the thumbnail icon that appears next to my posting. Do you? I suppose it does bear some resemblance to me on some days before I’ve had my morning coffee, but I’d like to put a better face forward here. Your blog certainly deserves better. :D

]]> By: dogtrax http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2009/11/07/reflecting-on-a-literacy-conference/comment-page-1/#comment-4032 dogtrax Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:48:46 +0000 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/?p=1637#comment-4032 Hi Vicki Thank you for your kind reply. Yes, there is a place for this kind of presentation, but I do wish they had worked something more hands-on into the mix. I was thinking: they could have shown us a video of a student doing reading and had us do our own tallies, then share with a neighbor, and then talk about the results as a large group. That would have been useful to me. Logistically, that would be difficult, perhaps, but it was just a thought. Kevin Hi Vicki
Thank you for your kind reply. Yes, there is a place for this kind of presentation, but I do wish they had worked something more hands-on into the mix. I was thinking: they could have shown us a video of a student doing reading and had us do our own tallies, then share with a neighbor, and then talk about the results as a large group. That would have been useful to me.
Logistically, that would be difficult, perhaps, but it was just a thought.
Kevin

]]> By: Vicki Boyd, Director of Heinemann Professional Development http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2009/11/07/reflecting-on-a-literacy-conference/comment-page-1/#comment-4027 Vicki Boyd, Director of Heinemann Professional Development Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:53:11 +0000 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/?p=1637#comment-4027 I want to thank you, Kevin, for taking the time to post such a thorough review of your experience at the Heinemann Fountas and Pinnell workshop. It's gratifying to read how much you carried away from just one day with the authors and the depth of professional reflection that day stirred in you. I concur the lecture-hall format for these kinds of large workshops is far from ideal and not consistent with what we know makes high quality professional develoment. Still, I hope you agree, and I believe your analysis of your experience at the workshop even makes the case, that there's a place for these kinds of events with authors like Fountas and Pinnell, who have such large followings they are no longer in a position to offer, themselves, the smaller, more hands-on PD experiences. I hope for all our Workshops participants, the one-day off-site event with a nationally noted educator/author represents only one aspect of a much fuller regimen of PD that includes, among other things, professional reading, regular reflection and discussion with colleagues about that reading, and school-embedded professional development that provides opportunities for guided practice with tried-and-true instructional approaches. An abundance of outstanding professional development support exists from an array of sources, including the NWP, which you highlight. And Heinemann, itself, offers an expansive menu of PD, of which one-day workshops are only one part, and offered not as ends, in themselves, but, ideally, as springboards for further reading, thinking, writing, and reflection with colleagues. We also offer more hands-on PD support designed for small groups of educators and delivered on-site in schools and districts, by both published authors and consultants who have been hand-picked by our authors to serve as their surrogates. You can learn more about the full range of support we make available at www.heinemann.com. Thank you, again, for your thoughtful analysis of your day with Fountas and Pinnell. I hope to see you again at future Heinemann workshops , where I look forward to having the pleasure of meeting you in person. I want to thank you, Kevin, for taking the time to post such a thorough review of your experience at the Heinemann Fountas and Pinnell workshop. It’s gratifying to read how much you carried away from just one day with the authors and the depth of professional reflection that day stirred in you.

I concur the lecture-hall format for these kinds of large workshops is far from ideal and not consistent with what we know makes high quality professional develoment. Still, I hope you agree, and I believe your analysis of your experience at the workshop even makes the case, that there’s a place for these kinds of events with authors like Fountas and Pinnell, who have such large followings they are no longer in a position to offer, themselves, the smaller, more hands-on PD experiences.

I hope for all our Workshops participants, the one-day off-site event with a nationally noted educator/author represents only one aspect of a much fuller regimen of PD that includes, among other things, professional reading, regular reflection and discussion with colleagues about that reading, and school-embedded professional development that provides opportunities for guided practice with tried-and-true instructional approaches.

An abundance of outstanding professional development support exists from an array of sources, including the NWP, which you highlight. And Heinemann, itself, offers an expansive menu of PD, of which one-day workshops are only one part, and offered not as ends, in themselves, but, ideally, as springboards for further reading, thinking, writing, and reflection with colleagues. We also offer more hands-on PD support designed for small groups of educators and delivered on-site in schools and districts, by both published authors and consultants who have been hand-picked by our authors to serve as their surrogates. You can learn more about the full range of support we make available at http://www.heinemann.com.

Thank you, again, for your thoughtful analysis of your day with Fountas and Pinnell. I hope to see you again at future Heinemann workshops , where I look forward to having the pleasure of meeting you in person.

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