Knowledge Quest on the Web:
March/April 2002
Special full-text reprint with embedded links of the "Homepage" column
exclusively on KQWeb
Make a Deal
Debbie Abilock, Editor
The Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) <www.amlainfo.org> held its second annual conference in Baltimore just after our Toronto conference. Actually, before March I’d never heard of AMLA. However, at my Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) presentation, "Teaching Twenty-First-Century Literacies," in which I proposed a model for teaching the intersection of information literacy, visual literacy, and news media literacy skills, an AMLA board member introduced himself and suggested that I come to their conference, saying that there was significant congruence between their initiatives, interests, and concerns and ours. I went—and he was right.
AMLA’s conference was called "Literacy and Liberty: Rights Roles and Responsibilities in a Media Age." Without exception, every session I went to was related to what we teach: understanding the role of media in the political process; assessing the authority and accuracy of information from TV or Web sites; identifying bias and stereotypes; evaluating the impact of the consolidation of media ownership; juggling individual freedom and national security; teaching technology effectively; and raising achievement in culturally diverse schools.
Don’t get me wrong. This is not a plug for AMLA over this fall’s AASL National Conference. After helping to edit this issue of Knowledge Quest, there is no doubt in my mind that "Information Matters" in Kansas City will be the most important professional development event you attend this year. (Besides, AMLA’s next conference is every second year.)
However, I am suggesting that our colleagues in other disciplines would find AASL’s conference equally relevant and energizing, especially if you attend with a teacher from your school. At lunch you can share notes from different presentations. Together you can comb the exhibits to locate new resources. Far from the daily press of events at your school, you will have the time you need to think about, modify, and adapt projects that you’ve heard presented. It’s exactly the kind of time for planning and collaboration that you need.
"Why would my science teacher do this?" you ask. "How could I get my second-grade teacher to attend?" My own approach has been to make a deal: I’ll come to your conference if you’ll come to mine. Using the conference listing I’ve compiled (see chart), find a nearby conference (think cheap) and match the discipline or focus to a teacher you have a hunch could be convinced to join you. Think about the projects or curriculum that this teacher already does that could be enhanced by collaborative planning. Or think about a teacher who has been frustrated by the lack of time to plan with you. Or think about a teacher who likes fun. Make your case (show them this issue), and, when he or she is convinced, propose it together to your administrator. Describe both the collaborative and curriculum benefits your partnership can expect to realize—one of my administrators used to call this the "deliverables."
By the way, my conference listings aren’t definitive. You may look at it and think, "Debbie’s forgotten . . ." Write me and we’ll update it online. (For practical reasons I have not included the state conferences.) I have noted important resources at each site and the URL. Get a sense of the organization’s focus. Their conference venues are listed through 2007, since you and your administrator may need some lead time for budgeting. (I’m sure that some of you will have ideas for creative financing—that could be the subject of another column!)
Your first step, however, is to read this issue of Knowledge Quest. Our conference choices are rich and the opportunities for learning are impressive. We are an amazing organization!
Debbie Abilock, Editor of Knowledge Quest magazine, is cofounder of NoodleTools, Inc.
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