Date post: | 08-Apr-2016 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | journal-language |
View: | 217 times |
Download: | 1 times |
Personal Reflections on the 2015 JoLLE Conference by
Donna Alvermann An invitation to reflect on what stood out for me at the 2015 JoLLE Conference came at a busy time of the semester, but then, what time isn’t busy? Besides, how often do I have an opportunity to stand back and marvel at the know-how and dedicated work of an all student run conference! One of the things I most like about the JoLLE Conference is anticipating it. Months before people from all over the world converge on Athens, the JoLLE team, aided by members of the Language and Literacy Education Graduate Organization (LLEGO}, start buzzing about “next” year’s conference. Departmental listservs, social media sites, and hallways that connect us to the rest of the College of Education remind me to get my proposal in. Peer review is rigorous, which leads to a strong program and satisfied participants. Once engaged in the sessions—keynotes, papers, and roundtables—I sample widely from those on topics that interest me personally and also from those that are tangentially related to my work. Of course the inevitable happens: I add a new interest to my repertoire. Both familiar and unfamiliar work convinces me that I’m privy to something rarely available at the larger conferences I attend each year, and that something is “enthusiastic listeners.” JoLLE could be characterized, and not tritely so, as the conference that cares about others—especially their thinking and doing. The generosity of inquirers who are not too busy and caught up in themselves to offer a word of encouragement to others is the conference’s trademark. And this, I might add, takes me full circle to the spirit, leadership, and hard work that the student organizers exhibit not just at conference time, but year ‘round. Onward to 2016’s JoLLE Conference! It will be as unique as all those that preceded or will follow.
“The JoLLE conference reminded me to watch my students with glittering eyes and remember to always expect wonderful things from them. These images represent what I found at the conference: that at the center of everything, there must be a desire.”
—Emily Williams
There is something incredibly powerful when educators come together to learn, share, and celebrate their research and teaching prac8ces. I a;ended the JoLLE conference for the first 8me in 2015 ready to be engaged and inspired, and that is exactly what happened. As a moderator, I was moved by fellow graduate students from various parts of the United States who are embarking themselves on research projects that aim at empowering educa8onal communi8es through par8cipatory approaches. I was engaged in the numerous art-‐based projects being developed to create holis8c opportuni8es of literacy learning for all students—our students. There is definitely something inspiring when you leave a conference with renewed energy, comforted passion, and transformed mo8va8on. Because, when we understand how powerful we are when we come together, we are able to reignite our personal and professional fire! The JoLLE conference made us feel educa8onally alive and empowered!
-‐-‐Lou Cardozo-‐Gaibisso
12 bar blues First conference as a grad student, I don’t know what to expect. First conference as a grad student, I don’t know what to expect. Been driving since 3:30 am, hope these direc8ons are correct. I’m a li;le nervous and unsure, I don’t see anyone I know. I’m a li;le nervous and unsure, I don’t see anyone I know. I’m only in my first year, I’m not sure how these things go. I’m taking it all in, looking on in fascina8on I’m taking it all in, looking on in fascina8on You call it embodied learning, I call it arts integra8on. I’m a master Teaching Ar8st, I do this for a living I’m a master Teaching Ar8st, I do this for a living Separate bodies of knowledge, connected by our heartstrings. So much to take in, I don’t know just where to start So much to take in, I don’t know just where to start There’s so much to learn, can I take it all when I depart? My session was small, but a great discussion ensued My session was small, but a great discussion ensued In my mind, that balanced out not having a mul8tude. Thank you JoLLE for making the waters nice and warm Thank you JoLLE for making the waters nice and warm Next year I can jump right in I know there’s no cause for alarm.
-‐-‐JoLLE 2015 Reflec8ons by Allison Upshaw
The JoLLE Conference had many amazing moments for me, yet my favorite one was when this picture of Kamala Khan showed up on Hillary Hughes’s slide during her closing plenary talk. I was lucky enough to do a presenta8on with Jennifer Whitley about women of color in comics and YA literature, and how to make meaning of their increasing presence through “remixing” ac8vi8es. To me, Kamala embodies so many elements of today’s teenagers. She’s strong, as shown by her superhero aare, yet she’s also young and innocent, as shown by her bubble gum and the school bus in the background. She’s in the sky, yet her feet are grounded on the roof. As a scholar, I want to encourage people to look up for new possibili8es in literature, wri8ng, and pedagogy, yet I need to remain grounded enough to be realis8c.
-‐-‐Margaret Robbins
Play. Outside, my muddy fingers grasp pies of make-believe chocolate; my faux angel wings spread leaves, imprinting my figure into the ground until the rain comes, washing away my childhood. Grow. My Murtaugh List flows like waves of my past—too old for fun; too old to create, inspire, engage, transform—I’m grown. Awake, work, live, sleep is what I now breathe. As I grow, play removes itself from my comfort zone. What do I now know? Reach. My hands toward the sun, I see a glimmer of my past in the mud peeking from under my nails. I break free using embodied literacies; participating in the life that’s in front of me. It’s funny how it takes play to learn that you’re never too old for fun.
-- Jenn Whitley