11013567_10152884040903439_6303669568399418966_nI had the pleasure of attending the Virginia State Reading Association’s Annual Conference this past weekend in Richmond, Virginia. It was so wonderful to spend a weekend at this conference and to get to meet and talk with other educators from all different places around the state. I was able to attend a lot of different sessions that were very beneficial. The most beneficial one was called “Meeting Their Needs Through Leveled Text? That’s Magic!” The presenter of this presentation was Julia Dudley-Haley and she was a recent graduate from the Reading, Literacy, and Learning program at Longwood so it was nice to get to watch her present since I am currently enrolled in that program now! She gave us a lot of information and resources on how to find leveled texts for our students and the best part about it was that all of the resources were free! It was wonderful to be able to leave with so many resources that I can use in my future classroom to differentiate for my students.
Not only did I get to attend the conference, I also had the honor to present at the conference with two of my best friends. We did a presentation on content area literacy and how to incorporate literacy instruction into all subject areas. We went over several before, during, and after strategies that teachers can use in their classroom to get students engaged with the text before they read, while they read, and after they read. We also went over some research on why content area literacy is a good thing to use in the classroom. Being able to present at the conference was a very rewarding experience. I have a professional development presentation under my belt and will feel much more comfortable doing it again in the future! I had a wonderful time at the VSRA Annual Conference and I’m looking forward to going to it again in the years to come!