My CCIRA Presentation
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About the CCIRA Reading Conference
Each year, the annual CCIRA reading conference in Denver attracts between 2,500 - 6,000 educators from across the United States. Over 500 presentations are offered - from local no-name teachers like me to dozens of world famous authors from all over the world. It's a fun and exciting event that provides great professional development and bonding among colleagues. When the online registration opened up in fall, my session was one of the first 10 to fill up, just as the previous two years I offered it. I never would have imagined what would happen to me this year.
A Vendor with No Financial Plan?
What made this year different from the rest was my decision to invest in a vendor booth for GettingBoysToRead.com. Needless to say, it was quite a leap of faith, especially without a plan to make any money from the web site. When I arrived in the Vendor room, I kept doubting if my time and money was justified, especially the time away from my family.
An Overwhelming Emotional Surprise
My presentation was scheduled early Thursday morning, just one hour after the conference began. After only ten minutes into my presentation, an amazing thing happened to me. I had been explaining my reading difficulties as a young boy. I shared how my reading excitement was squashed by the lack of knowledge and understanding of the adults in my life. When I described how close I came to dropping out of high school, a realization hit me like a ton of bricks: If my reading interests would have been respected and nurtured, I would have grown up with self confidence as a reader. I realized, in front of everyone, that my entire academic career was greatly influenced by my teachers' lack of understanding.
Crying Like a Baby
As I stood in front of 100 teachers, I suddenly envisioned them as the adults of my childhood. I variety of emotions overcame me all at once - frustration, anger, resentment, sadness. I didn't want them to continue the pattern! It was more than I could bear, I tried to speak, but my feelings exploded like a volcanoe waiting decades to erupt. Here I was, a grown 38 year old man, standing in front of a room full of people crying like a little baby.
45 Seconds of Torture
Each time I tried to speak I was overcome with emotion. It took almost 45 seconds of silence until I was able to speak again. After I gathered myself, I had a rejuvinated passion and a very attentive audience. I didn't care about the thousands of dollars I spent on the website and vender booth. The months and months of late night hours had been worth it.
A Rejuvenated Passion
Of course I did not intend for this to happen, but the result made a big impression with the audience. I think that is also when I realized why I started all of this - to educate parents and teachers and to make a difference for the thousands of boys, just like me, that they influnce each day. After that realization, the rest of the time in my vendor booth was energy filled and worry free!
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Hello Mike, Your words make me sit down for a while & read what you wrote over and over, you really have a passion & you know how to use it; I hope you succeed in this noble mission and we will help you as much as we can here in the Blog and The Forum.
Finally keep on this because we all know that you'll make a change.
Thanks, C.A
One thing I learned from your experience is that we should respect children. Respect in the sense that they too have interests of their own. We should pay attention to what they have to say, to what they feel and what their interests are.
If we ignore them, make them feel that their interests were of less importance, it will surely backfire one way or another. They'll lose self-esteem and will think that they're thoughts were unimportant.
Great work, Mike.
You gambled to invest this kind of project with a noble cause. Mike, you are in the right track...money is nothing if you can't make any difference for others. Through this site, you already inspire us and make us also believe that there is still a chance to change our ways to help kids reach their star.
It is time to make a change in the system of learning...Old school is out and buried, This is a new generation of parents and educators... a new age to raise and develop into a kind of individuals that could be an asset in the society.
This is a challenge to all of us to make a better world... " Help kids (boys and girls) to read: the first step for a better tomorrow".
God Bless you!!!
Okay, Mike...
You push me daily to become a better teacher. I'm glad you shared this. I love hearing the experience of men who have taken a struggle with reading, and turned it in to a passion for literacy. You inspire me to take the time and energy to get in touch with my students' interests and help them spark their interest in reading. My current block class is 15 boys and one girl. This could be a great chance for me to tap in to some of their interests. Any suggestions?
~Julie
The hard work paid off - love your site. It really is a wonderful resource for finding books that boys will enjoy.
I have a running joke with my 11 year old son, an avid reader. When he "runs out" of books and complains that there is nothing to read, I grab "Misty of Chincoteague" from his bookshelf. I bought it for him because it was one of my favorites as a kid, but he has absolutely no interest in reading it.
Thanks for giving this mom a different perspective on good books for boys.
I grab "Misty of Chincoteague" from his bookshelf. I bought it for him because it was one of my favorites as a kid, but he has absolutely no interest in reading it.tiffany necklaces
You guys are right! Most of our kids learn what they ccna exam say from the television. I have a nephew who is three and his parents really don't talk to him in English but he speaks to me in English when I visit them. Guess where he learned to speak the language? From watching cartoons. It is really up to us to tell them what is right from wrong. Again, thanks guys. These homonyms are really confusing if one don't know the appropriate word to use in a sentence.ccie training
Say for example, the teacher says, "you are right, Ana." other students will spell right as write. so it is really important to know the correct usage of words, how to pronounce it correctly , and how to spell it right. ccie lab
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We admired you Mr.Mike...You did a good job! All the hard works and time you've spent just to invest in a vendor's booth and to have this informative site was really worth it...You've been an inspiration for us Filipinos, who often viewed this site...