Professional Travel Grants for Graduate Students
Posts tagged travel
VSRA Conference 2015
10 years
Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the Virginia State Reading Association Conference held in Richmond, VA. I presented with two classmates from the Reading, Literacy, & Learning program, Erica Shelley and Leighan Worden. Our presentation was titled “Bring Reading to Life: How to Integrate Non-fiction” and took attendees through research supporting students’ needs to get up and move while learning as well as some activities to be used in conjunction with non-fiction texts in the classroom. Although we were the ones presenting, I walked away with many new ideas of how to incorporate movement into my daily lessons as a soon-to-be teacher. I found the experience of attending the conference very beneficial and learned about many new and different teaching techniques and ideas that I cannot wait to try out in my future classroom. I will definitely be attending VSRA Conference 2016 in Norfolk next year!
VSRA 2015
10 years
I was able to attend the VSRA 2015 Conference on March 13th, 2015. I am very thankful for the opportunity to attend a conference like the VSRA. I had no idea how large this conference was going to be but I was blown away by it! I was able to hear several speakers including Dr. Snow and Nicole WIngo, both from Longwood University. Dr. Snow presented a presentation on PALS testing and Nicole presented a presentation on engaging students in the classroom. Both presentations were very informative and I took away a lot of new information. It was so exciting being surrounded by so many educators and meeting several of them (and seeing some “old” friends there as well was exciting!). It was also exciting to walk around and look at the different vendors. Several passed out samples of their new products which was neat to see and many gave free books (which you can never have too many books for your classroom!).
Virginia State Reading Association Conference 2015
10 years
Last week, I took the wonderful opportunity to attend and present at the Virginia State Reading Association conference in Richmond, Virginia. The theme of the conference was “Reading is Magical”. While attending the conference, I learned many different strategies from experienced reading specialists and literacy coaches that I can use as a reading specialist/coach. I was able to see and hear about how an experienced reading specialist worked with another reading specialist as a team to successfully and effectively meet the needs of the entire student and teacher population in the school. I also collected great resources that will be useful for me as a classroom teacher and/or reading specialist/coach.
The topic of my presentation was “Let’s Get Engaged!”. It was a 50 minute research-based presentation about motivation and engagement. Teachers, reading specialists/coaches, graduate students, professors, and administrators attended my session. I had the attendees participate in different activities they could use as educators and facilitators. The examples could be manipulated and implemented in their field based on the content focus and need of the students. Overall, being able to attend and present at this conference has given me more experience and confidence with presenting and networking with other educators and facilitators that will help me with my career.
VSRA 2015 Conference
10 years
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the 2015 VSRA Conference. This occurred in Richmond, Virginia and was packed with beneficial information within the field of literacy. One of my favorite parts of the conference was being able to see Dr. Jean present on “No More Worksheets!”. Dr. Jean’s session was packed with at least ten different activities that engaged students more then worksheets. Dr. Jean also used song and dance to give us brain breaks. These songs and dances are geared toward PK-1 students and all are centered on different aspects of literacy. I was also fortunate to see Kimberly Johnson present on best research based practices for enhancing students writing. In addition to all of the great sessions I saw, my group and I were very proud to present our session on English Language Learner Students and Literacy. It was such a great and informational weekend, I can’t wait to use everything I have learned in the future!
Bringing Reading to Life: VSRA Annual Conference 2015
10 years
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend and present at the Virginia State Reading Association’s Annual Conference. I presented with two of my Reading, Literacy, and Learning classmates. Our presentation was called “Bringing Reading to Life: How to Integrate Non-Fiction.” Our presentation focused on combining kinesthetic learning with the use of non-fiction texts in the classroom. We had a blast sharing our ideas and activities with our session’s attendees, and even learned some new ideas from them during group discussion. Presenting at the conference was such a great learning experience. I had never presented at a state conference before, and now I know what to expect. Another great part of the conference was visiting the vendors. I liked being able to talk to the vendors and learn about new products to use with students. My favorite part was learning about “Words Their Way With English Learners.” Words Their Way has been a staple resource of our program and I cannot wait to check out the their book for working with English Language Learners. I look forward to attending many more VSRA conferences!
VSRA 2015 Annual Conference
10 years
I 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!
Virginia State Reading Association Conference 2015
10 years
The Virginia State Reading Association Conference was a great experience for me as a future classroom teacher. I learned many new and exciting things that I can’t wait to incorporate into my future lesson planning. My two favorite sessions that I attended were Motivating Struggling Readers to Become Independent Readers presented by Kathryn Starke and Making Word Study FUN!!! presented by Denise Legg. Being a presenter at the conference was also a great experience as well. One benefit I gained from attending this conference is the new knowledge of incorporating active engagement strategies into word study lessons through songs, dancing, and movement. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to attend the Virginia State Reading Association Conference.
VSRA Conference 2015 Lauren Flood
10 years
Amanda Haynes, Lauren Flood, Megan Crowe and Millie Kidder-Goshorn presenting at the VSRA
I really enjoyed this conference. As a future elementary or middle school teacher, I felt like I learned new, valuable information, no matter what grade I choose to teach. The first session on Saturday was a great way to start off the day, learning new strategies for motivating students. This was able to connect seamlessly to what we are learning in READ 650 (Research) and I felt like I was able to take so much away from this presentation. Even though this presentation was focused on K-3, I had many ideas for transitioning the material for older students. Another presentation that stuck with me was learning about the Virginia Readers’ Choice awards and the books that were chosen as the top picks for middle school and high school. I walked away with great ideas how to use these books effectively in classroom, along with book discussions and possible extension activities. Finally, presenting at the VSRA conference was an extremely fulfilling experience; it is a great accomplishment that I am proud to share with possible future employers and appreciate the opportunity.
2015 Virginia State Reading Association Annual Conference
10 years
This past weekend, I attended the 2015 Virginia State Reading Association Annual Conference in Richmond, Virginia! The theme of this year’s conference was “Reading Is Magical”. Jen Eubank and I presented on the topic of motivation regarding adolescent readers to educators, administrators, reading specialists, and literacy coaches from across the state of Virginia and other visiting states. We were extremely pleased and grateful that over 50 people chose to attend our session! Our 50 minute presentation included the following: group discussion (think-pair-share), the definition of an adolescent readers, what the research says, instructional practices, engaging activities, and a wrap-up discussion/what stuck with you? The engaging activities included: Pecha-Kucha, Gummy Bears Story-Telling, Sticky Notes, and Create-a-Story. We provided attendees with a detailed newsletter with step-by-step instructions for each activity, materials needed, time required, and how to incorporate these activities into the classroom. It was a wonderful experience to be able to talk with these attendees as they shared their prior classroom experiences and offered ideas to enhance or modify the activities. Laughter and excitement filled our entire room as attendees collaborated and communicated with one another. An experienced reading specialist stated, “I could see myself modeling and sharing each of these activities with the teachers I work with.”
After presenting, I was able to attend several other featured speakers and concurrent sessions. One featured speaker I loved listening to was Richard Allington, who happens to be the author of one of our textbooks (What Really Matters for Struggling Readers). His passion for literacy is very moving and inspiring. These speakers and sessions provided me with several ideas, resources, and activities that I will definitely utilize within my future classroom. It was exciting to watch my fellow grad students present on topics they have become so knowledgeable of. The amount of support I felt from my professors and fellow grad students was very comforting. We have become one big happy literacy family! There were also lots of vendors at the conference that supplied me with resources, websites, leveled readers, and other books to use within my own classroom library.
I had such an amazing time at VSRA! Reading truly is magical!
49th Annual VSRA Conference
10 years
This past weekend, March 12-14, I attended the 49th Annual VSRA Conference in Richmond, Virginia. I was given the opportunity to present on Friday afternoon with Amanda Haynes, Lauren Flood and Megan Crowe. Our presentation was based on techniques for engaging English language learners through speaking, reading, and writing. We had such a great experiencing preparing and presenting our material. It was a great opportunity to speak publicly and to teach fellow educators. Other than being able to present, we really enjoyed the sessions that we were able to choose from and attend. Amanda Haynes and I attended a session titled, “Word study is FUN!” and we learned so many activities to truly make word study fun and engaging . I am excited to implement them into my future classroom. Apart from the sessions, it was just exciting and inspiring to be surrounded by so many educators. It is great how everyone comes together to learn more and to better teach our children. I had a lovely time at this year’s VSRA Conference and I hope to attend in the future.