ILA Next: Registration Is Open

Main Stage Sessions

ILA Next Main Stage Sessions showcase an exciting mix of new and established speakers with a wide range of expertise—all of whom can speak to the complex role of literacy educators through diverse perspectives.

Saturday, October 3

9:00 AM–10:30 AM ET

ILA Next kicks off with a power-packed Main Stage Session, featuring keynotes from ILA President of the Board Stephen G. Peters, Caldecott Medal-winning author/illustrator Dan Santat, and Push Through Organization founder Jasmyn Wright, and a special presentation from Made for Learning: How the Conditions of Learning Guide Teaching Decisions authors Debra Crouch and Brian Cambourne.

Made for Meaning: Updating and Extending Cambourne's Conditions of Learning

Debra Crouch and Brian Cambourne

Teachers shape the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual spaces that support student learning. But what are the classroom conditions that make student learning more likely to occur? And what decisions will teachers make to bring these conditions of learning to life? This session will update and extend research and thinking about the Conditions of Learning, explore language and literacy development, and illustrate teacher decisions that nourish a discourse of "meaning-making."

October 10

9:00 AM–10:30 AM ET

Cultivating Genius and Joy through Black Historical Model

Gholdy Muhammad

In this address, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad offers a unique, culturally and historically responsive approach toward the goal of genius and joy. This approach is essential for all students, especially youth of color, who traditionally have been marginalized in learning standards, policies, and school practices.

Distance Literacy Learning

Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey

In this session, we focus on the ways in which teachers can lead literacy learning from a distance. Using videos from distance learning classrooms, we explore the ways in which teachers maintained their credibility while developing students' skills. We include foundational skills as well as a focus on comprehension. We will also discuss the ways in which empathetic feedback can be provided to students.

Speak a Different Language: Changing the Grammar of Schooling

Yong Zhao

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education is unprecedented in education history. In this presentation, Yong Zhao advocates for changing the grammar of schooling after COVID.

October 17

9:00 AM–10:30 AM ET

A.S. King and Nic Stone in Conversation

A.S. King and Nic Stone

Printz Medal Winner A.S. King (Dig) and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Nic Stone (Dear Justyce) in conversation about identity and injustice and the intersection of those in their writing. A Q&A session with the authors will follow the conversation.

How Do We Best Support Children's Vocabulary Development? Lessons from Research and Practice

Susan B. Neuman

The session will highlight the research on early vocabulary development, and discuss strategies to promote its development in classrooms for young children.

The Research-Practice Conversation: Understanding and Bridging the Divide

Rachael Gabriel and Kate Roberts

There is constant pressure to use research- and evidence-based practices when teaching reading and writing, but the findings of published research may not always provide obvious or straightforward answers to some of the most pressing questions about practice. Join us for a conversation between a teacher of literacy, and a literacy researcher as they explore and critical questions about the persistent divide between research and practice, the role of evidence in everyday instruction, and what research can and cannot tell us about effective practice.

October 24

9:00 AM–10:30 AM ET

Family Literacy—Past and Present

Patricia A. Edwards and Marliese R. Peltier

It has been proven over time that students' academic success depends on building relationships with families and communities. In this presentation, we will focus on how family literacy can bridge the connection between home and school in meaningful ways.

Speakers for the additional Main Stage Sessions include:

Emily Solari

Main Stage Sessions will broadcast live 9:00 AM–10:30 AM ET each Saturday of the four-week event. If you miss a live session, a closed-captioned recording will be available on demand within five (5) business days.