CCIRA June Newsletter 2021
A Message from CCIRA President,
Jessica Rickert



Reflection 

June is a time for reflection and celebration. We reflect on the end of a crazy unforeseen school year and celebrate the start of summer. 

CCIRA is also reflecting on the end of its unpredictable and ever-changing year. During this time we reviewed what we accomplished and began to plan for the year ahead. 

One change that CCIRA made this year is to send the Annual Report to Members informing everyone of the actions and happenings with our organization. Click this link to watch a quick video to review and reflect on the 20-21 CCIRA Year. https://vimeo.com/556563533/ac7fe86598

We want to celebrate Anne Cook who graciously came back this year in the role of Immediate Past President to help advise and guide the organization. Anne’s insight and many years of CCIRA leadership helped the Executive Committee and Board of Directors revise the bylaws/policies and CCIRA structure to continue to build an effective organization. Anne, thank you for donating your time and energy to CCIRA this past year. 

We also want to celebrate all the CCIRA leaders (local council leaders, committee chairs, and EC). Thank you for supporting CCIRA. We couldn’t do this work without all of your support and insight!

Have a relaxing and enjoyable summer! I look forward to another year of being your CCIRA President. 
CCIRA Conference 2022!
Hello from your 2022 Conference Chair! 

"Happy Summer" to you as you wind down an utterly unbelievable school year! This summer the conference committee will be busy putting the finishing touches on the 2022 Conference! We're so excited to have an in-person conference again. We are crossing our fingers and toes that our state and country will have a healthy handle on dealing with COVID-19 allowing us all to gather again.  

Thank you to all of the educators who would like to present at the 2022 conference! If you haven't completed the proposal form, and you have a session you'd like to present, please complete the speaker proposal form here as soon as possible. We're excited to go through the proposals with our program directors and get accept as many speakers as we can. Just a reminder that our conference space will be amazing, but a little bit smaller than the DTC Marriot Hotel, so if your proposal is not accepted please try again in 2023. 

Fortunately all of the keynote speakers, authors and invited speakers that were excited to share their expertise with you in 2021 are just as excited to be with us in 2022!  

When we postponed the 2021 conference we promised to make good on our goal to provide our members with high-quality, free professional development opportunities. The first one is on June 12th from 1-3 pm. Brian Cambourne (who will join us from Australia) and Debra Crouch will talk about their partnership as they wrote Made for Learning: How the Conditions of Learning Guide Teaching Decisions. They will present a 2-hour webinar in which they talk about the book and show video clips of Debra coaching teachers through it's use with 1st, 5th and 8th grade students. Watch for more details on our website and social media on how to sign up for this amazing webinar. You will not be disappointed!!
I hope to see you at the webinar and at the conference in 2022!!
Pam Minard
Conference Chair 2022
Highlight on Featured Speakers!
‌


Join John Schu (Mr. Schu Reads), Colby Sharp and Rhonda Jenkins on the Saturday of our conference for a 3-hour Institute. They are known for their expertise in building readers through community, school libraries, classroom libraries, and booktalks. They will share their experiences in promoting a culture of reading among students, staff, and caretakers. Make sure you come hear and see them!
Meet the Executive Committee!
Look here next month for introductions of new Executive Committee Members!
Remember to check out the CCIRA Blog!

Reading CCIRA.blog every week—perhaps over lunch or a cup of coffee—builds a quick dose of professional learning into your routine. Who knows what ideas or inspiration this might spark!

CCIRA.blog features a wide variety of nationally renowned literacy experts, as well as talented practitioners from across Colorado. Check out the posts on https://ccira.blog/


If you might be interested in submitting a guest post to CCIRA.blog, please contact Hollyanna Bates (hollyannabates@gmail.com).
CCIRA and the local councils have resources, podcasts, and events for you to access! Now that things are opening up again....councils will have more great ideas to share as the Fall approaches.
https://cciraliteracyconversations.simplecast.com/  
Click on....CCIRA Reads to find out how you can get involved in an amazing book study!
Shop Year Round!
Make sure you check out the Shop With Scrip website and do some shopping online for a gift
card.... and benefit CCIRA
at the same time! *
Do you buy gift cards for your friends and family? Give a card to Starbucks or Amazon as a thank you to your favorite aunt? What if at the same time you could support CCIRA without spending an extra cent? That’s what you can do now by participating with Shop with Scrip, an online fundraising site. Since 1994, ShopWithScrip has been supporting schools and other non-profits in this unique way to fundraise. Just buy a gift card at one of the 750 retailers and know that a percentage is sent to CCIRA. It’s an easy way to support our work with literacy while you shop. For more information, visit https://www.shopwithscrip.com/ and then sign up to become a supporter of our organization.

When you are ready to make your purchase please use this enrollment number:
 A34A3B6D69223  

*CCIRA endorse this fundraising activity.
Valuable information for educators like you!
Coming on June 12th!

A chance to hear a presentation by Brian Cambourne on June 12, 2021 from 1:00-3:00. Look for details on our website and on the CCIRA Facebook page
‌
Reviewed by Dr. Stacy A. Griffin
"I traditionally recommend specific audiences for books at the end of my reviews. However, I feel compelled to begin this piece with a rousing endorsement. This past year has been a challenge for many teachers and students. Yet, challenge can be the origin of change. If you want to continue to change, to hone your practice, to transform your craft, I passionately recommend that you read Made for Learning: How the Conditions of Learning Guide Teaching Decisions by Debra Crouch and Brian Cambourne. This book will remind you of why you were called to become an educator.

"The esteemed authors, through their constructivist lens and grounded in 60 years of research, examine the holistic principles that define exemplary practice, regardless of grade or content area. They explore the processes which underpin learning to read and write. They prompt us to reflect on our own instructional decisions in a way that is honest and mindful. If, at our core, we truly believe that authentic erudition is a result of constructing knowledge, and not transmitting information, we must consider how the following three intersecting domains can reform, and consciously change, how we teach.

  • The conditions of learning that supported young children learning to talk;
  • Effective reading and writing processes; and
  • How to turn these conditions and processes into effective pedagogy (Crouch and Cambourne, 2020, p. XIII)

"We engage in a deep exploration of Cambourne’s Conditions of Learning, which were built on his decades of research observing how children learned to speak. The Conditions of Learning are supported by the belief that a nurturing classroom environment, regardless of the mode of instruction, is essential for learning to occur. The Conditions include Immersion, Demonstration, Engagement, Expectation, Responsibility, Approximation, Employment, and Response. When we seamlessly integrate the Conditions with Processes That Empower Learning (Transformation, Discussion/Reflection, Application, and Evaluation), the result is learning. “Learning is our ever- changing knowledge, understandings, feelings, values, and skills regarding what is to be learned” (Crouch and Cambourne, 2020, p. 26).

"The authors share powerful classroom vignettes that further deepen our understanding of how the Conditions operate synergistically and holistically in practice. Crouch and Cambourne provide templates designed to support our own work of applying the theory to our practice. They encourage us to reimagine our fundamental beliefs about teaching and learning. They show us how to shift our discourse from one that is focused on acquisition to one that is centered on meaning-making. If you believe your role is not to teach textbooks, but to teach students; if you believe that we must return to the why behind what we do, if you want to challenge or change your theory of learning, Made for Learning: How the Conditions of Learning Guide Teaching Decisions is for you."

Reference:
THE CALIFORNIA READER
Spring 2021 • VOL. 54, NO. 2 39
‌

CCIRA Executive Committee

Jessica Rickert, President: jessrccira@gmail.com
Pam Minard, President-Elect: pam.minard@gmail.com
Christi Walker, Vice President: christimwalker@gmail.com
Anne Cook, Immediate Past President: annecook59@gmail.com
Michele Warner, State Coordinator:
warnermichele4@gmail.com
Corina Kaskey, Secretary: Corina.Kaskey@summitk12.org
Jessie Meeks, State Membership Coordinator: jessie.meeks@jeffco.k12.co.us
Emily Bradley, Marketing Coordinator: emily.bradley@weldre4.org
Stevi Quate, Partnership Chair: steviq@gmail.com
Cathy Lynskey, Treasurer: clynskey2000@gmail.com
Lisa Kahn, Administrative Assistant: lisakahnccira@gmail.com
Is your local council, state committee, school, or community doing something extraordinary for literacy in Colorado? Do you have a great idea to share with other educators on how to enhance literacy in the classroom? Do you know of a conference or event that CCIRA members might be interested in attending? If so, please contact Anne Cook (annecook59@gmail.com) to submit information for publication.