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  TDSB Assistant Curriculum Leader of English/Literacy Rachel Cooke shares helpful tips and tricks with educators during the morning plenary workshop on June 5th.

DDSB educators host the 3^rd Annual Adolescent Literacy Conference

On June 5^th, educators from across the Durham District School Board (DDSB) and beyond gathered at the Education Centre to immerse themselves in the 3^rd Annual Adolescent Literacy Conference.

The conference is for English/Literacy Teachers who teach Grade 7-12. The sessions offered throughout the day are led by fellow educators, and provide attendees with helpful tips and tricks to infuse into their classrooms.

The day began with a plenary workshop presented by Rachel Cooke, a hybrid teacher/coach and Assistant Curriculum Leader of English/Literacy in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Cooke shared a variety of field-tested tools, one of which was called Round Table Discussions. “This is a formal class discussion which focuses on a specific prompt related to a text (an article, short video, or online news report). Students sit facing each other in a circle, and share their thoughts with one another without any direction from the teacher. The teacher records the conversation in terms of the quantity and quality of the contributions,” explains Cooke.

Afterwards, teachers had the opportunity to attend three of the 19 various sessions available throughout the day which included: Adapted Literacy for English Language Learners (ELL), Identity Through Poetry, Podcasting: Using Technology to Enhance Your Oral Language Program, and Stand-Up & Teach: A Workshop for Newer Teachers.

In the Adapted Literacy for ELL workshop, Pickering High School English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher Nicole Hardy shared some things to consider when teaching an ESL classroom. “When selecting texts, consider the students’ background, knowledge, and experiences. Consider their culture and family situation, and consider their language proficiency,” says Hardy.

Hardy adds, “Make sure you offer a broad range of text forms and stories, because it’s important for students to visualize themselves as a reader, a writer, and an artist.”

The conference also invited two vendors, Another Story Bookshop and Worlds Collide Comics & Games, who set up in the atrium for attendees to browse and buy books for their classrooms.

Pearson Canada, Scholastic Canada, and Saunders Book Company provided door prizes and swag for teachers to take with them.

Educators finished the day with an afternoon plenary workshop with Kathy Lundy, a teacher, author, and inspirational speaker. Lundy shared strategies for keeping students engaged and interested in materials being taught in the classroom.

The Adolescent Literacy Conference is organized by Christine Senior, English Facilitator for Grade 7-12 at the DDSB, and Tara Armstrong, Instructional Literacy Coach for Grade 7-12 at the DDSB.

Senior says they chose sessions that centred around high expectations in the classrooms, ensuring equitable outcomes for all students, and striving for every student in the classroom to be successful.

Armstrong adds the reason behind hosting a conference for English/Literacy teachers in the DDSB and beyond, “In education sometimes we silo ourselves, so it’s great to hear best practices from other Boards. Even within DDSB, it’s such a large Board so it’s nice for our teachers to hear best practices from colleagues that are two cities away. It’s the whole idea of avoiding the silo effect.”