I have come to rely on my trusty Canon G20 camcorder to bring me back to the details of Saturday Seminars. So much goes on that I don’t know where to focus first as you might determine from this group of images. So much learning to catch!!!
For this cold Saturday in early April we had no keynote, just 4 great HVWP superstar TCs willing to share their work in the area of Visual Literacy: Making Meaning From Images, one of the loves of my life 🙂
Christine McCartney, my long-time HVWP friend, colleague and fellow adventurer offered up a fresh workshop using Pablo Picasso’s Guernica as a springboard for practicing close reading skills, approach a text for literal, inferential and evaluative meanings and then moving us to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird using the same steps.
Katelin Grande has been working with Visual Literacy even before I first met her when she joined us in let’s say, 2007? She is passionate about making meaning in the world of comics and yesterday she brought us a workshop focusing on Art Spiegelman’s Maus. I have learned so much from her as she pushes us to look deeply for meaning in the creations in this genre.
Eric Savelson has taught me so much about writing in the elementary classroom over the years. Lucky for us he has been with the project for a long time, remaining active and wearing many leadership hats. Yesterday he focused his attention on his work with Science and Visual Literacy. I have been working closely with Science teachers and reconsidering how to support high school Science teachers as they bring more low stakes writing into their classrooms. Eric gave me new things to consider yesterday.
Rebecca Quakenbush presented a workshop about what can young writers learn from illustrations in the books they have grown up with. We explored parallels between the intentional decisions writers and illustrators make while composing. I remember loving this workshop when she shared it with us during our 2013 Summer Institute. Inspired by the work of Katie Wood Rey, Rebecca is mastering the art of asking wonderful questions as she moves from group to group in action.
And who benefited yesterday from the work of these teachers?
Many teacher/participants are regulars. Young pre-service teachers also manage to get themselves out of bed early enough on a Saturday morning to get to Old Main by 8:45. And of course their are always HVWP teacher consultants with us to reconnect with friends and learn something new. There was always room for more but our numbers were lush!
As I finish this post I’m grinning, grateful for the rich professional life I enjoy!
I’m spreading a bit of HVWP LOVE and THANKS right now!
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Oh, how I would have loved to have been a part of this! Amazing learning … and cool peeps.
You need to come with me one Saturday 🙂
Yes!
I wish I lived closer so I could join the HVWP! I love hearing about your incredible gatherings and learning opportunities.
That would be wonderful, Stacey. Any plans for that ???
Wishing for more details about the close reading of images! Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a Saturday…