4400 East Iliff Avenue
Denver, CO 80222
Symposium on Teaching and Learning
Friday, March 6, 2015 • 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Featuring Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Maryanne Wolf
Sponsored by:
A Message from the 2015 Symposium Chair
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
On behalf of Denver Academy and our conference planning committee, it is my pleasure to invite you to attend DA’s
2015 Symposium on Teaching and Learning.
This year’s Symposium will be the seventh in a series of conferences hosted at Denver Academy focusing on meeting
the needs of diverse learners, their families and those professionals who serve them. Past keynote speakers include:
Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Robert Brooks, Kelley King, Kim Bevill and Richard Lavoie.
Dr. Maryanne Wolf
Director, Tufts University Center for Reading and Language Research
John DiBaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University
For the 2015 Symposium, we are proud to announce that Dr. Maryanne Wolf will be our keynote speaker. Her
monumental book, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, brought a fresh and critical perspective
about the history of reading, the development of literate minds and both the challenges and gifts of dyslexia.
Dr. Maryanne Wolf is one of the world’s foremost experts on cognitive neuroscience.
Her research investigates the scientific underpinnings of reading and language, as well
Dr. Wolf’s opening keynote will bring the perspective of the remarkable journey that the reading brain has taken over
the past five thousand years, as well as show us why children with dyslexia have reading difficulties and amazing gifts.
Her closing keynote will focus on the future of the reading brain. Taking the longview, from the clay tablets of the
Sumerians to modern day digital devices, our reading brains are undergoing dramatic transformations. Dr. Wolf will
discuss what profound implications this could have for every child and for the intellectual development of our species.
as how those origins relate to dyslexia. Dr. Wolf’s work has furthered literacy efforts both
at home and abroad, as far away as South Africa and Ethiopia. With over 130 scholarly
publications to her name, Dr. Wolf has been honored with the NICHD Shannon Award
Along with our featured keynote speaker, we invite you to attend two break-out session led by Denver Academy
faculty and experts from our community. All sessions are designed with this year’s theme in mind; a complete listing
is featured in this brochure as well as on the Symposium website.
As our collective understanding of the reading brain in the digital age continues to evolve, our teaching, learning and
parenting must keep pace in order to create the best world possible for our children. Our Symposium is designed to
help us navigate that landscape and plot our next steps as teachers, parents and professionals.
We hope you’ll join us on March 6, 2015.
for Innovative Research, the Distinguished Researcher Award and the Fulbright Research
Fellowship for work on dyslexia in Germany.
Among public audiences, Dr. Wolf is most widely known for her book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the
Reading Brain, which chronicles the origins of reading and its development. It has received numerous awards and has
been translated into 13 languages.
Respectfully,
Philippe Ernewein
Denver Academy Director of Education
2015 Symposium Conference Chair
Dr. Wolf received her doctorate from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and holds two degrees in
Literature from Northwestern University and St. Mary’s College. Select awards include the Distinguished Professor of
the Year from the Massachusetts Psychological Association and the Teaching Excellence Award for Universities from
the American Psychological Association. Dr. Wolf serves on the Library of Congress Advisory Committee on Literacy
Awards, and the Advisory Committee to the X Prize.
Cost:
March 6, 2015 Schedule:
· Current DA Family Members Free (up to 2 people)
· All Other Participants $95.00 (includes lunch)
8:30-9:00 a.m.: Registration & Check-in
9:00-10:30 a.m.: Opening Keynote Speaker Dr. Maryanne Wolf
10:45-11:55 a.m.: Morning Breakout Session
11:55-1:00 p.m.: Lunch
1:00-2:10 p.m.: Afternoon Breakout Session
2:30-3:30 p.m.: Closing Keynote Speaker Dr. Maryanne Wolf
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S Y M PO S IU M
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BREAKOUT SESSIONS
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Reading for College: Tips, Tricks and Tech Tools
Gayle Bell, Director of College Achievement Program, Denver Academy
Learn about the background needed to experience success with reading in college. Along with tips
and strategies for specific approaches and skills that can be implemented, we will review assistive
technology that is available as well as how to access and navigate those tools within the collegiate
accommodations field.
D A 2 0 1 5 S Y M PO S IU M O N T E A C HI N G A N D L E A R N I N G
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Annie Patterson, Senior Director, Public Education Business Coalition
Jessica Greenberg, Literacy Specialist, Denver Academy
Ben Patterson, Student Body President, 12th Grade Student, Denver Academy
The partnership between a parent (Annie), a literacy specialist (Jessica) and 12th grade
student (Ben) has developed throughout the years and allowed Ben to be successful in
literacy and learning. This session will feature the narrative, strategies, technological tools
and lessons learned from the partnership and how it will take Ben to college.
Advocating for Diverse Learners: Strategies for Navigating Systems When
You Are (or are working with, or parenting) an Out-of-the-Box Learner
Julie Hagy-Hancock, Special Education Consultant/Advocate, Success by Design Education
Supportive learning is a dialogue between students, parents and teachers. In this presentation/
conversation, we will explore forms of teacher, parent and student advocacy. Focus will be on
collaborating to get the needs and learning styles of students who learn differently met through
clear communication, appropriate differentiation and student empowerment.
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A Meaningful & Authentic Partnership in Literacy:
Teacher, Parent & Student
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I Was a Turtle:
When You Aren’t Making a Pleasure Connection with Reading
Craig Knippenberg, LCSW, M.Div., Knippenburg, Patterson & Associates
Learn about the emotional impact on students who struggle to read through the lens of the
speakers own struggles. See how the emotional/self-concept side of the learning-to-read equation
can become the larger road-block to success. Learn how teachers and parents can emotionally
support exceptional students and help foster a student’s pleasure connection with reading.
Coding is Language: Learn to Program or Be Programmed
Wanda Zimmerman, High School Teacher, Robotics Camp & Club Coordinator, Denver Academy
The Digital Age incorporates technological tools into our everyday lives. This session will guide
participants in using the tools of the digital age: BASIC programming, keyboards and breadboards.
With these tools, we’ll write our own code–communicating through technology. Come and join us
as we practice how to better develop ourselves as writers within the digital age.
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Dyslexia and Executive Functioning:
Strategies to Improve Literacy and Learning
Cyle Feingold, Results Learning
Do your children or students struggle to read, comprehend the meaning of text, study for
tests and/or stay organized? Learn about the commonalities and interplay of dyslexia and
executive functioning. Leave this session with practical tools and strategies that you can
implement in the classroom or at home.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
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Young Ambassadors for Change: Teens Telling Their Stories
Dr. Jill Adams, MSU Denver
Dr. Kathy Deakin, MSU Denver
Bobby Duhamel, High School Teacher, Denver Academy
D A 2 0 1 5 S Y M PO S IU M O N T E A C HI N G A N D L E A R N I N G
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Jolene Gutierrez, Librarian, Denver Academy
Do you have your heart set on ebooks or are you in love with print? We’ll chat about the good, the
bad, and the interesting changes in reading tools and brainstorm ways we can utilize these resources
to support all readers.
Since the beginning of time...Language Arts teachers have attempted to re-invent story! This session
will present a summer “camp” experience that yielded student-produced documentaries chronicling
the stories of their communities. Presenters will reflect on the process and share student models and
participants will explore the possibility of creating Young Ambassadors for Change.
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Parenting the Plugged-In Teen
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Lana Gollyhorn, M.A., Counselor, Denver Academy
How can parents make informed decisions about technology? How much is too much, and how
do parents teach responsible and balanced use? This session will explore practices advised by child
experts, then teach you how to devise your own family technology plan. Parents will learn: how to
develop an organized and realistic tech plan, how to deal with resistance to limits on tech use, how
to balance an adolescent’s needs for autonomy with your obligation to ensure safety and personal
development and how to administer a tech plan consistent with your core parenting values.
The Power of Young Adult Literature:
Using YAL To Create Life-long Readers & Thinkers
Marge Freeburn, Colorado Teen Literature Conference Chair
Learn about YA Literature as a mirror of our experiences, a window to understand lives unlike our
own, a bridge connecting adults and teens and an opportunity for recreation and learning. We’ll
discuss recent YAL and a selection of diverse authors.
Paper or Plastic/Print or Ebooks:
How Literacy Is and Isn’t Changing for Readers
Strategies For Engaging All Readers
Cynthia Richardson, Faculty Development Coordinator, Denver Academy
Jenni Walker, High School Teacher, Denver Academy
This interactive session will provide specific processing strategies for engaging all students in
comprehending text using digital and non-digital approaches. Teachers will walk away with
materials and ideas they can implement the next day.
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Dyslexia Simulation Workshop (one session offered in the morning)
International Dyslexia Association - Rocky Mountain Branch
Experience Dyslexia is designed to increase awareness of the difficulties and frustrations that people
with dyslexia (a specific language learning disability) encounter daily. We hope this experience
will provide insight into working more effectively with students with dyslexia and lead to greater
empathy and understanding.