Virginia Hamilton Conference

Hello again! Last Friday, April 11, 2008, I went to my first educational conference and it was a beneficial experience. It was The 24th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference at Kent State University. Going with other INLA students was extremely valuable to get their perspective as well.
The day started out with two key note speakers, Mr. Jerry and Gloria Jean Pinkney. Jerry is a successful illustrator for children’s picture books and Gloria Jean writes novels. They both discussed their inspirations for their work and their presentation was excellent. I actually would have liked to hear them speak some more, but the day had to go on. Soon after, a noted author, Russell Freedman, received an award for his outstanding work in literature. He gave a short speech for his gratitude.
Then the workshops began! Each workshop was broken up into about an hour slot and would be held in two different time sessions. Every attendant got to choose three out of ten workshops that seemed most interesting to them. My first workshop session included an author, an editor and their relationship. They discussed the things they had to work out in the process of writing a novel and the obstacles they have to face to create a great story. The author is Andrea Cheng and her editor is Louise May. Even though it was not a session that can easily be incorporated into a lesson plan, I still found it beneficial if I ever wanted to become serious in the writing field.
The next workshop I attended taught how to interpret multicultural texts through reader’s theater. The conductor of the session was Tony Manna and he was fabulous. He gave the entire group great ideas to help students feel comfortable expressing new ideas through multicultural texts. We did a lot of activities with poems and working in groups. He incorporated ideas that I will definitely use someday.
My final session was fantastic! It was held by Sherry Mooers and I want to validate Sherry for everything she does for her students! She is a very dedicated educator and I found her to be an inspiration. She works in a very poor, urban school in Mississippi. Mooers gave the entire room an abundant amount of lesson plan ideas. I am seriously thinking about teaching in an urban setting and she gave us low budget ideas that are really creative with great themes integrated.
Going to this conference was better than expected and I am now more excited then ever to attend the educational conference in San Antonio, Texas, next fall.