Quick Thoughts from Int'l Reading Assoc Conference

A few brain dumps from IRA Conference in Atlanta...

• If (when!) Dan Roam and Roger Essley start to collaborate, I hope to be the waiter serving up the napkins and ink pens.  Wow - these guys have got to gather. (more to come on both of these books).
• Every teacher/speaker should have to read Presentation Zen BEFORE the conference. A 3,000 word text document belongs in a text document - not a powerpoint.  Yikes!
• I've been passing around the Johnny Bunko book and talking up FlatWorldKnowledge.  Teachers and Curriculum Directors are loving the idea of text books in manga!
• There are some brilliant teachers in the audience.  Brilliant!  There are more Ron Clark-types in the world than we know.  We'll be sharing more about these guys soon.
• I don't know who designed the conference program, but it's a pain to navigate.  Next year try each day having its own Table of Contents and have either Author or Strand as the alpha-order, rather than title of presentation (sometimes 42 words!)
• The  Web 2.0 "ROI" that turns on light bulbs here is how social media can impact concise writing skillls and collaborative efforts. There are others, but those two seem to be points made to stick thus far.

More to come...

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