Literacy Now

Technology is pervasive. When was the last time you picked up anything that didn’t have a Web address printed on it somewhere?

Whether it’s the hardware of an iPad, the software of a smartphone app, or the online website-building resources, the tools exist to bring literacy education into the 21st century. But the paths are not always clearly marked. What is educationally useful and what is online junk?

Steven W. Anderson is an author, both online and in print, a former classroom teacher, and a self-proclaimed “Learning Evangelist.” Through his blog, Anderson addresses what schools need to be up to speed technologically and how teachers can approach new technologies, as well as his love for all things educational.

Thursday, June 11, Anderson will share his tips and insight into how to best use technology in the classroom to improve comprehension and student skills during the #ILAchat.

A cofounder of the popular #edchat on Twitter, Anderson has been honored with a Twitterer of The Year Award, a Microsoft Heroes of Education Award, and a Bammy Award.

Anderson’s books for educators, Content Curation: How to Avoid Information Overload with tips for curation of online information, and The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning, guide educators through professional development and how to choose the best tech tools.

Join @ILAToday on June 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Make sure to hashtag #ILAchat to keep the conversation going!

Education gives people the power to make their own happiness, particularly when supported with motivation and inspiration.

As a former classroom teacher and school administrator, Stephen G. Peters knows well how to help both students and educators realize their full potentials. He will reach out to educators at the Closing General Session of the International Literacy Association 2015 Conference on July 20.

Peters, CEO and president of The Peters Group, established the Peters Foundation and has worked to encourage thousands of underprivileged, at-risk students across the United States through programs that affect academic performance by improving self-esteem, among other things. These Gentlemen’s Clubs and Ladies Clubs target “student engagement and motivation through relationship and career building, role-models and mentors, [and] service to the community.” Peters has had proven success holding participants to high standards not only in education, but with etiquette, attire, and behavior, helping young learners overcome any socioeconomic barriers they may face.

The success of the program brought Peters worldwide recognition and it has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and America, America, a program aired in Portugal and Brazil.

“Dr. Peters’ experience in education, ability to understand and connect with students and teachers, and innovative approach embody the spirit of ILA’s new mission and direction,” said Stephen Sye, ILA’s associate executive director. “Once I heard him speak, I knew he would immediately capture, inspire, and teach anyone who listened to him something special.”

Peter’s book on school turnaround, Choosing to Believe: Creating a Framework for School Success(Peters Group Foundation), was named a 2010 USA Best Books for pre-K–12 education. He is also author of Do You Know Enough about Me to Teach Me(Peters Group Foundation) and Teaching to Capture and Inspire all Learners(Corwin Press). Stephen is a contributing author for the Educational Leadership series Engaging Every Learner(Corwin Press).

Peters has served on panels as an education expert with former U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Rod Paige in Washington, D.C. He is currently a member of the American Reading Company Board of Academic Advisors. Most recently, Peters has joined the American Reading Company advisory board, working toward bias-free education.

Peters will join Academy Award-winning actress and children’s book author Octavia Spencer at Closing General Session.

The ILA 2015 Conference will be July 18–20 in St. Louis, MO, with more than 6,000 educators ready to transform their practice. Key topics affecting literacy featured at the conference include content literacy, children’s literature, classroom engagement, and professional development. In addition to conference favorites, including a revamped Teaching Edge series and Putting Books to Work sessions. More than 120 exhibitors will be on hand with new tools and technologies for all manners of literacy education.

Learn more about the conference programs at ilaconference.org. Register today for the ILA 2015 Conference to take advantage of special Early Bird pricing, which ends June 29.

With General Sessions, research panels, author luncheons, and more, the ILA 2015 Conference runs the gamut of events, not to mention any side adventures you might like.

Taking some time to take a look at the conference’s slate of events ahead of time can help in planning your weekend. Enter the iPlanner, an online directory of all conference events. Not only does it have up-to-date schedules of each day, but it’s an opportunity to personalize your ideal conference docket.

The iPlanner includes five sections: Speaker Sign In, Itinerary Planner, Program Grid, Event Search, and iPlanner Instructional Video. These can be accessed from the upper right corner on the first page after signing in.

Here’s the rundown on how the tool works.

Log In

The iPlanner homepage has information about the iPlanner and a place to login and enter your password. While everyone is free to browse convention offerings on the Program Grid and to use the Event Search, creating a login and password allows the iPlanner to “remember” sessions you save to your itinerary.

If you have never used the iPlanner, simply click the “Create Profile now!” link toward the bottom of the page. The login and password for the iPlanner are different than your member login/password and any other logins and passwords you may have set up with ILA, so new iPlanner users should create a profile. It’s an extra step, but it’s worth it!
Once you create a profile and login, it is easy to search for sessions and add them to your itinerary.

Browse the Program Grid

One way to find sessions you’re interested in is to use the Program Grid. Click on underlined links at the top of the grid page display different days or all days. Session times run along the left side of the grid.

The grid is divided into 12 categories including Assessment, Children’s Literature, Common Core Standards, Content Literacy, and Engaging Classroom Instruction. If you are interested in one of these topics, review the sessions listed in that column.

Click on the underlined link to open a window with more information about that session, including date, times, presenters, capacity, Clock Hours, and more. This window also has options to print this information or add it to your itinerary. Click “Add to Itinerary” to add to your schedule, then click “OK” to confirm.

Searching for Specifics

If you are interested in a specific topic or are looking for a session from a certain presenter, use the Event Search.

You can search by keyword (text search), speaker last name, date, category, event type (luncheon, symposium, Teaching Edge, etc.), and/or location.

When your search results are displayed, click on the underlined link for a window with more session information and a link to add it to your itinerary. Or, simply add sessions to your itinerary using the “Add” checkbox on the right side of the search results webpage. Sessions that are already added to your itinerary will say “Added.”

Review Your Itinerary

To see items you’ve added to your itinerary, click on “Itinerary Planner” in the top right menu list. On the “Itinerary Planner” page, “My Itinerary” is in the left margin in yellow.

On your online itinerary, it is easy to review your convention plans and click on session links for more details. You can add one, two, or even three simultaneous sessions to your itinerary in case one is full or cancelled. Sessions can be removed from your itinerary at any time by clicking on the “Remove” link next to the session title.

Click on “View Day Planner” link at the top right of the “My Itinerary” page to see a colored chart of how sessions overlap.

Add Your Own Events

Having lunch with a colleague? Carving out time to visit the Exhibit Hall? Taking a side trip to The Arch? The iPlanner has the option to add your own events to your itinerary. From the “My Day Planner” page, click the gray “Add Personal Activity” button at the top of your itinerary. Personal activities that you created show in orange on your day planner.

Keep Your Itinerary at Your Fingertips

The “My Itinerary” page gives you the option of e-mailing your itinerary to the address you provided in your profile, or to produce a printer-friendly version of your schedule.

From the “My Day Planner” page you also have the option to create a printer-friendly version.

The ILA 2015 App won’t be released for a few more weeks, but once it is, you can sync your iPlanner itinerary with it. Please note: if you set your iPlanner login prior to Dec. 1, 2013, the importing feature is not available. In that case, we recommend that you set up your itinerary directly in the app.

Adding Sessions Is Not Registering or Reserving Seats!

Please be aware of the room capacity for the selected sessions you wish to attend. The Itinerary Planner is simply a planning tool and is not used to register for sessions. Entry into each session at the meeting is on a first-come, first-served basis. Also, placing items in your itinerary does not constitute a paid registration, but it does put your conference wish list at your fingertips!

The ILA 2015 Conference will be held July 18–20 in St. Louis, MO, with more than 6,000 educators ready to transform their practice. The days will be jam-packed with featured speakers, the revamped Teaching Edge series, and exciting general sessions. Key topics affecting literacy featured at the conference include content literacy, children’s literature, classroom engagement, and professional development. More than 120 exhibitors will be on hand with new tools and technologies for all manners of literacy education.

Learn more about the conference programs at ilaconference.org. Register today for the ILA 2015 Conference to take advantage of special Early Bird pricing.

The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL) is a rare publication focused on the literacy education of older learners. It offers effective classroom-tested ideas rooted in research and theory that are proven to enhance the educational experience of adolescents and adults. Open access podcasts continue the conversations by offering interviews with authors of JAAL’s feature articles.

JAAL coeditors Emily Neil Skinner and Margaret Carmody Hagood ask authors about their inspirations, their educational foundations and expertise, and the impact of their research findings. Podcasts highlight key findings from each article along with ideas for instruction, reviews of resources, tips on creating a multimedia classroom experience, and commentary on current literacy news. Consider them an audio alternative when reading the journal isn’t possible, such as during a commute or workout.

As a supplement to its articles, the JAAL podcasts are intended to motivate educators to challenge themselves and their students through the applications of new and invigorating education techniques to enrich the classroom experience. JAAL articles are available to nonsubscribers for rent or purchase through Wiley Online Library. ILA Members can subscribe to JAAL for access to all issues back to 2004.

International Literacy Association is thrilled to launch the Activity Kit for International Literacy Day 2015!

This year’s theme is “The Power of People: Start a Literacy Movement” and the kit is focused on collective action, the power of one to affect a world of many. We wanted to find a cultural example of this power and we were drawn to the rich history of the Philippines.

Over the last 35 years, the Philippine federal government has worked with church communities, private universities, non-governmental organizations and more to tackle illiteracy in the country. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), just 83.3% of Filipinos age 15 and over were literate. Current statistics show 95.2% of the same population is literate today. With such an impressive success through collective action, the Philippines seemed the an ideal focus for our ILD activity kit.

The Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP), led by president Ani Rosa Almario, was tireless in making this kit authentic, and the result is an engaging set of activities for students from ages 4–18 surrounding literature, games, food, and environment.

Drawing on the immense pool of Filipino talent, the ILD 2015 kit also includes a book list populated by Filipino authors and artists, statistics about the country, and a poster created by noted Filipino illustrator, Liza Flores.

No cultural or educational movement can be made without cooperation. For interactive international implementation of this year’s kit, ILA partnered with ePals, a site that provides global classroom connection tools.

While working on ILD activities, teachers and students can register at ePals, where millions of classrooms are already online. Register for a live virtual meeting or share classroom projects with other participants around the world.
While the kit is downloaded and used around the world, the Philippines will plan for their traditional celebration on International Literacy Day (September 8). With read-alouds, and sometimes a parade, the island nation always commemorates the holiday in high style.

“As with any special event, RAP has made it a point to always gather a lot of people to celebrate a single cause,” Almario said. “I know that ILD celebrations have always had students and teachers doing a fun run in some part of the country or one year when we asked a mayor to read to children from her town and it became a gigantic storytelling event.”

ILA is also encouraging participants to embrace a service project offered to complement the activity kit and theme by building a Little Free Library. With thousands of Little Free Libraries around the world, they can be found on the corner in England or on the back of a bike in the Philippines. By planting one in their own communities, students can make a lasting impression and result of ILD 2015. The kit for the service project includes tips, samples, and classroom integration for every aspect of the planning, construction, and installation of a Library.

Download the ILD 2015 kit today and start planning your celebration. Don’t forget to share your stories and photos via social media using the hashtag #ILD15.

April Hall is editor of Literacy Daily. A journalist for about 20 years, she has specialized in education, writing and editing for newspapers, websites, and magazines.