First Evening Session 7:15-8:30 
Chapel

Jim Burke
Join Jim Burke as he shares resources and insights into how new and experienced teachers can transform personal practice into knowledge for the profession.

Burke teaches English at Burlingame High School. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including The English Teacher’s Companion, 50 Essential Lessons for Teaching English Language Arts, Writing Reminders, Tools for Thought, and Reading Reminders, all of which are published by Heinemann. He is also the author of The Reader’s Handbook (Great Source) and Academic Workout (First Choice Publishing). He has received numerous awards, including the NCTE Intellectual Freedom Award, the NCTE Conference on English Leadership Award, and the California Reading Association Hall of Fame Award. He served on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Committee on Adolescence and Young Adulthood English Language Arts Standards.

 

Second Evening Session II 8:45-10:00 

A. Keeping Teachers at the Center:  Using Research and Reason in our Classrooms with Ruth Nathan and Kendra Wagner
Using strategies designed to keep teachers at the center, this session will practice an approach teachers can use to analyze directives—from district mandates and departmental requests to national guidelines and reviews of research. The point of the session is to provide a useful heuristic for understanding, discussing, and even challenging directives.

B. Russell Hill
Russell Hill will read from Robbie’s Wife a nominee for the Edgar Allen Poe mystery of the year award and from new work. It’s a chance to talk about teaching and writing and how they come together.

Russell Hill continues to teach part-time at Tamalpais High School in Marin County, his 50th year in the classroom. He is the author of several critically-acclaimed novels.  His latest, Robbie’s Wife, has been nominated for the 2008 Edgar Allen Poe award by the Mystery Writers of America.  He has authored a number of books on writing and the teaching of literature, has been a writing consultant to universities and colleges throughout the West and is a former editor of The California Teacher.  A book of essays, The Search for Sheepheaven Trout has become a cult classic among fly fishers.

C. Tolerance & Dialogue in the Global Village with Dr. Yetkin Yildirim and Dr. Alp Aslandogan
In a time of growing tensions among the world’s major faiths and value systems, we have arranged this session to examine interfaith issues that impact education. Globalization crowds populations with seemingly incongruous traditions, with people struggling to maintain identities into the global village. How can social harmony and inner peace be assured to all with populations increasing and natural resources diminishing? One movement to address such tensions is that of Fethullah Gulen, referred to by some as a Muslim Gandhi. This Turkish scholar’s writings that advance good will and mutual understanding have inspired a network of nondenominational schools that extends from the Philippines to Brooklyn, a "peer-to-peer"-like network that promotes dialogue and tolerance.

D. State of the Profession
Miles Myers, Richard Sterling, Dr. Sharon J. Washington, and Shobhana Rishi will lead a discussion dealing with the most critical issues facing language arts teachers today. Bring your questions, share your thoughts, and learn from your colleagues.