Better Teaching Now

Join three key educators as they explore teaching and learning with joy, curiosity, and equity. Jennifer Rowsell will share ways that online learning can be fun and engaging. Terry Campbell will show us how talking and listening — especially online — can be a springboard for lively, active learning. Larry Swartz shares his best children’s books for teaching the toughest topics that students face today.

The global pandemic forced educators in all sectors to learn very quickly to plan and teach online. Jennifer Rowsell, author of Family Literacy Experiences, will focus on ways to spark joy and excitement about virtual teaching and learning. She will discuss ways of thinking about online teaching as shaped around identity and habits. The best teaching speaks to students’ life worlds, interests, and habits and there are tangible ways to plan and teach with identity at the heart of pedagogy.

Literacy Out Loud can still be a reality in a virtual classroom! For example, many teachers engage in daily read alouds of appealing picture books as a central event for literacy learning, for dynamic learning in general, and just for the pure pleasure of the community experience. Author Terry Campbell explores how we can maintain the magic of the read aloud in the virtual environment. She will suggest some simple practices such as using live recordings, chatting in breakout rooms, and doing quick-writes and quick-draws for sharing and talking online.

Rooted in his latest book, Teaching Tough Topics, Larry Swartz will provide an overview of choosing and using literature to address ‘tough’ topics such as Racism, the migrant experience, gender identity, bullying, and kindness. Larry will explore why it is important to teach tough topics and suggest strategies for exploring these issues in the classroom.