NTCTELA Conference: Donalyn Miller and Teri Lesesne

I have been a loyal stalker fan of Donalyn Miller and Teri Lesesne for years. I’m not sure how I was unable to see them present in person for so long, but I was. FINALLY my first opportunity to hear them speak was at the NTCTELA conference in Hurst on June 13. The title of their presentation was “E = MC² (Engagement = Meeting Conditions Too).”

Donalyn and Teri have not kept it a secret that they are busily writing a book together (along with 20 of their closest friends.) They shared that the working title of their book is The Engagement Manifesto. The book will include information on what engagement is, what it is not, and how we can tell if students/readers are truly engaged. Teri went on to explain that engagement truly is “the unconscious delight of getting lost in a book.” (LOVE that definition!)

The entire presentation was built around Australian researcher Cambourne’s Conditions of Learning: immersion, demonstrations, expectations, employment, responsibility, approximations, and response (feedback.) Donalyn and Teri also shared dozens (dare I say “hundreds”?) of book recommendations. That alone was worth the price of admission to the conference.

I took nine pages of handwritten notes during their lecture. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Donalyn on technology: What is the iPad offering the learner?

Teri on how to start a read aloud: Begin reading picture books with the cover. Look at the fly pages. Notice everything you can, all over the book.

They reminded us that the number one way to improve reading proficiency is through independent reading. The number two way is through read aloud.

The more striving readers you have, the more read alouds you should do. It is the great equalizer. DM

RIGOR is not about levels and lexiles. It is about how complex the text is. COMPLEXITY is how an author does things in interesting ways that are accessible to the reader. TL

“Reading belongs to the reader.” DM

Value reading preferences. True preferences come from wide reading. DM

Striving readers become stronger subsequent readers with each book in a series. DM

Donalyn and Teri were definitely in their element—discussing literacy practices and books with educators. Some of the books they recommended that are now on my Amazon Wish List (come on, pay day, Mama needs some new books!) include:

I Kill the Mockingbird (Paul Acampora)

The Knife Of Never Letting Go (Patrick Ness)

Absolutely Almost (Lisa Graff)

One for the Murphys (Lynda Mullaly Hunt)

Jane, The Fox, and Me (Fanny Britt)

I cannot wait until the next time I’m able to hear the Dynamic Duo of Donalyn and Teri in person again!