Blount County schools’ Fifth Annual Reading Conference provided educators with some food for thought over their summer holidays. Educational leader Todd Whitaker set the tone for the day, sharing with  teachers and administrators the traits that he feels make a great teacher. He’s written several books on the subject. All students should be treated with respect and dignity all the time. Whitaker, a professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University, said the three behaviors that should never be used in school are arguments, yelling and scarcasm. The keynote speaker sprinkled his comments with humor as he pulled examples from his time as a classroom teacher. “We need to cultivate society. We’re not trying to reflect society.”

His philosophy of education (and of life) is “Raise the Praise” and “Minimize the Criticize.” People should be treated as if they are good, giving an example of questioning a student who is out of class. Instead of acting as if the student is doing something wrong, ask if he or she needs help. Great teachers are the ones who act intentionally in everything they do, developing well-thought out plans while making it look random. Great teachers can help students develop a love of reading, which starts with a book. 

The day-long conference was chock-full of workshops including Novel Studies, Triology of Reading Strategies, Social Studies for Social People, Using Children’s Literature to Support Life Skills and many others that touched various issues of reading. The presentations I was able to attend all dealt with better engaging our students. I particularly enjoyed Steve Chastain’s Technology Tools for an Educator. Chastain, a University of Tennessee professor who teaches about technology, showed educators Web sites and tools that they can use in their classrooms and gave examples of how those can be utilized in different subject areas. 

I’ve attended these reading conferences in the past in a different capacity and found that they provide useful information to our teachers. As a lifelong learner myself, I enjoy conferences that serve to inspire you, to underscore what you are doing right and to give you fresh ideas. I think that is what this conference, which was the inspiration of Director of Schools Alvin Hord, does for participants. Hord created it not long after being name director because he felt a stronger emphasis needed to be placed on reading skills for all grades and all subjects.

This year, as in past years, it was held at Heritage High School and had close to 400 participants. It will give our teachers something to shift around in their subconscious over the summer months and return to the new school year charged up with ideas.