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Struggling to Keep Up With the
Changing World of Literacy Instruction? 

Join us for the 2012 Write to Learn Conference
and Get Back on the Cutting Edge!

Our world is changing rapidly, and education must change with it if teaching is to remain effective. In this rapid-fire multi-media world, we are inundated by change and deluged by new electronic gadgets.  Laptops replace home computers, then are in turn replaced by tablets. In the span of a few decades, music has gone from vinyl, to 8-track, to cassette, to CD, to MP3 files-and the technology used to play that music has gone from phonographs, to boom boxes, to Walkmen, to iPods.

And it's not just technology that's changing. As new media make their way into every aspect of culture, new literacies vie with the old for primacy. Our students today need to be just as effective at reading text found on websites and mobile devices as they are at reading magazines and books.  And even a book is not the same anymore; you can now store and read thousands of books on a device that can fit in a backpack or a purse—and you can read it without ever turning a page! This is not even to mention the growing use of social media and new genres such as the Facebook post and the "tweet."

What does all of this mean for today's language arts teacher? A couple of things.  First, it means that if we are to continue in our role of mentoring students toward effective literacy and communication skills, we need to stay abreast of new literacies as they develop. This is a challenge in itself.  But beyond simply being aware of the changing landscape, we need to actively bring these literacies into our classrooms, model critical and effective use of them, and incorporate them into our teaching repertoire.

And that's where we come in. The theme for this year's Write to Learn Conference is "New World, New Literacies," and we will bring together some of the top speakers in the country on the topic.  These speakers include keynote presenters like social critic, intellectual, and media personality Marc Lamont Hill, who is the author of Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop, Pedagogy, and the Politics of Identity; Jeffrey Wilhelm, who is consistently one of the most forward-thinking language arts teachers on the planet; Troy Hicks, the author of The Digital Writing Workshop; and Penny Kittle, author of Write Beside Them.  In addition, Friday evening's keynote speaker will be author D. J. MacHale, an example of the modern-day "Renaissance Man," who has produced, written, and directed several hit TV series, in addition to authoring the ten-book young adult series, Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure through Time and Space. 

In addition to these experts, we offer our full-day pre-conference, with literacy experts Valerie Ellery and Janet Allen, as well as Missouri master teachers Nick Kremer and Barri Bumgarner, as well as 50 breakout sessions on a wide variety of topics.  You won't want to miss this exciting learning opportunity; in fact, if you feel that the pace of literacy change is threatening to overwhelm you, you can't afford to miss this conference!  You will walk away with tons of great ideas that you will be eager to implement right away in your classroom.

So join us March 1-3, 2012 at the Tan-Tar-A Resort
in Osage Beach, Missouri.  You'll be glad you did!