Nebraska State Reading Conference

The 38th annual Nebraska State Reading Conference is officially over.  My arms are sore from carrying bags full of catalogs and other information from reading vendors, booklets, and handouts from the various speakers.  My notebook is filled with notes of great new ideas, research, and activities for teaching reading to my kiddos.  I purchased books to expand on the ideas I received from the various experts.  I met many new and wonderful teacher friends from different areas of the state.  We shared ideas on what works and doesn't work so well in Kindergarten.  Who still has rest time?  Who does guided reading?  How do you manage centers? What reading series do you have and do you like it?  I also had the opportunity to spend uninterrupted time conferring with Ms. Loetscher, Mrs. Kollath, Mr. Stubbs, and Mrs. Stubbs on our own reading series -   things we like about it and how we will implement things from the series for next year.

It is a wonderful opportunity to have this gift of professional time from our administrators and the support from the parents of our kiddos as we take time off from our classrooms to learn and grow as teachers. 

Every year that I have attended the conference I have come back with so many new ideas, activities, routines, and information on new reading research.  This year was definitely no different.  Last year I was introduced to the practices of Debbie Diller a reading expert and consultant to many teachers around the country.  Her specialty is Literacy Centers and teaching reading using small group instruction along with whole group instruction.  I did my research for more information over this past summer after  purchasing more books by Debbie Diller during last year's conference. I put some of those ideas into practice this year -  but things just didn't feel right as the Kindergarten kiddos went through the procedures of our group time.  After attending 3 of my 5 sessions this year at the conference, I received more direct instruction on how to make this component of our reading time more purposeful and child driven.  I now have more tools to help my kiddos become GREAT readers and I am so excited to put these practices into play.  The other sessions I attended were just as helpful as I gained more information on Phonemic Awareness - another very important component of learning to read.

Once again, I'd like to thank our very supportive parents and administrators as we continue to work to make a difference in every child's life.  A job we all love and cherish.

Oh and parents you may want to let your kiddos know that Mrs. Straight learned so much that our Kindergarten day will be even more fun and exciting as ever!!!  I can't wait for Monday!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight