57/365: Dublin Literacy Conference

February 26, 2011

Dublin City Schools, one of the suburban districts in the Columbus area, hosts the Dublin Literacy Conference every year. They arrange for keynote speakers who are authors, illustrators, and leaders in the field of literacy and education. In addition, there are three breakout sessions presented by teachers, both from Dublin and surrounding communities, that focus on the topics of interest to educators today. Sessions are offered at Primary, Intermediate, and Secondary levels. For such a relatively small conference, it is incredibly valuable and informative professional development.

Initially, I was unable to register for the Dublin Lit Conference this year due to lack of funds (unfortunately, any conferences we attend are out-of-pocket expenses.) However, last night I got a call from one of my teaching partners, Deb. She had come down with the stomach flu and missed school on Friday. By Friday night she still wasn't back on her feet, so she called to see if I wanted to take her place at the conference. I felt really bad that she was ill, but was thrilled to be able to attend the conference this year. One of our other teammates, Cathy was going to be presenting at the conference, so it was nice to have someone to attend with. In a rare second picture on my picture a day blog is Cathy and me as we get ready to head home after a day ofgreat professional development. I really enjoy these opportunities because I get rejuvenated and enthusiastic for the possibilites of my job all over again. I told my husband that next year, I really want to find the funds to attend alongside Deb and Cathy. (Maybe I'll even write a proposal to be a presenter.)