Spark a Flame for Literacy

In education, the concept of "leader" is often reserved for administrators. This false concept has allowed many classroom teachers, specialists and school staff to assume they do not have a voice and capacity to impact and influence others. This presentation will hone in on ten different leadership principles that will move an educator from a successful leader to a significant leader.

Successful leadership says that you've accomplished something for yourself. Significant leadership says that you've made a significant impact on others. 

Equitable access to literacy determines who gets to thrive and who struggles to survive. Learn about the inherent systems, culture, and beliefs present in many schools creating these inequities. This session will dive into three inequitable practices instilled in the fabric of the culture and processes and what we can do as leaders to address these inequities head-on through Literacy Leadership.

“Our lives should be a landing strip for the emerging future.”  These are the words of Dr. Paul Scheele and aptly explain the life that educators should live.  Every move we make as educators should lay the landing strip for our youngest students to take off because we should never de-genius a child.  However, a problem arises for students who struggle with reading; confidence, weak self-efficacy, and lack of belief can leave their dreams and academic futures grounded.  This session will leave you encouraged to:  

• Adapt how you think about student potential  
• Become a believer specialist  
• Implement possibilist thinking, acting, and doing          

Strap in for this session.  The plane of “I’m Possible” is about to take off.   

Failing is part of life. It provides an opportunity to learn and grow and become better at any particular task. However, for struggling readers, failure is a pervasive issue that seeps into every academic  task at school. It also can be crippling for students as they perform life activities outside of school. This presentation explores the fundamentals of failure and how to keep students from spiraling into chronic failure. 

Do you have students that have potential trapped inside of them because they struggle to read? Are these students' great thinkers and deep learners when they do get access to stories and content?

Hear the research that explains why stories can have a physical impact on the brain, and how—when struggling readers are exposed to stories through strategies that make use of digital Literacy and other alternative approaches—moments of deep learning and engagement can have transformational impacts on students.