Educators’ Days are free full-day experiences at FAN EXPO Denver 2024 that provide teachers, librarians, administrators, and other educators the chance to:
NEW for FXD ‘24
Pick the day that best fits for your role! Our focused programming for teachers, librarians, and other educators will be organized across three days:
- Friday, July 5 — Librarians and Library Staff
- Saturday, July 6 — Middle and High School Educators
- Sunday, July 7 — Elementary Educators
2024 Educators’ Days Applications Are Now Open!
Educators’ Day applications close April 30, 2024.
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2023 EDUCATORS’ DAY SESSIONS
Friday, June 30, 2023
| 10:00am | Keynote | TBA | |
| 11:00am | Student Created Zines: Ownership & Active Learning | Karyn Light-Gibson | Zines, do-it-yourself publications, are a great way to inspire active learning and engagement. Mixing educational information with artistic expression, zines are cheap to make and give students a sense of ownership over their knowledge. They allow students, particularly middle school through adult learners, the freedom to share their knowledge through their own interpretive lens. Describe how to create a single page zine Identify how to scaffold teaching zine creation Recognize the benefits of zine creation in education. I will have examples of zines, single page folded papers as examples/to take, and have lesson plan ideas for different lengths of lessons (single day, week long, three week long) |
| 12:00pm | Using Classic Toys to teach in a k-12 setting | Quinn Rollins, Play Like a Pirate | Has your post-pandemic classroom become too routine? Come add to your bag of tricks by seeing how you can use Play-Doh, LEGO, Action Figures, Superheroes and Funko Pop to make your classes fun again! Using design thinking, participants will get hands-on experience and resources to supplement their existing curriculum and materials. Participants will have access to free templates via my website that they’ll be able to use immediately in the classroom, along with examples of student work and suggestions for entry points into their own curriculum. Several hands-on activities that will be available for participants; humor; handouts (also available digitally via QR codes); giveaways via a drawing for participants. The presentation includes extensive question and answer and “”how would this look in your classroom,”” think-pair-share type activities.” |
| 1:00pm | Mexican or “Mexican: Menues as primary sources | Josie Chang-Order, History Colorado | We all know about Casa Bonita’s legendary menu and are excited to taste the new one! But where did those sopapillas come from in the first place? What do menus of Mexican – or “Mexican” – food tell us about Colorado’s tastes, our economy, and even changes in our identity over time? Come dig into menus from History Colorado’s archives and order up some food for thought! *No actual food provided, so don’t come hungry – except for knowledge! Educators will leave with strategies for using primary sources for student analysis, interpretation, critical thinking, and for bringing history to life. We will bring fascinating examples of Colorado restaurant menus to investigate and discuss in small and large groups.” |
| 2:00pm | Fanfiction Makes Better Writers | Tasha Christensen, Monsoon Press | Fanfiction – writing stories based on existing worlds and characters – is rooted in the most ancient traditions of storytelling. In this class, we’ll talk about what fanfiction is, how it can be used as a tool to isolate and improve creative writing skills, and how it teaches readers to think more critically about the stories they enjoy. – Fanfiction is a unique way to engage with plot, worldbuilding, and characters in a book, movie, TV show, or video game. – Using fanfiction as a writing exercise takes away some of the pressure to create everything on your own. Writers can isolate certain skills, like writing prose or plot development, and borrow the rest from a pre-existing piece of fiction. – Other exercises can teach readers to analyze what makes a story they love so engaging and memorable. I’ve taught this class at other conferences, so I’m well-rehearsed and enthusiastic about what I’m teaching. This class includes printouts of fanfiction-related exercises that can be used in a personal or classroom context to improve creative writing and critical reading skills. I also like to include an interactive portion at the end where we collaboratively design a piece of fanfiction by voting on topics and plot points as a class. It’s always a lot of fun!” |
| 3:00pm | Teaching Visual Literacy in a ELA Classroom | Jessica Hedaria, Coral Academy of Science Middle School | “Students are exposed to a visual world and teaching them how to interpret that is vital to tomorrow’s success. Graphic memoirs and historical fiction graphic novels are a great way to teach students visual literacy skills while also connecting to stories of the past. Practical ways to teach visual literacy using graphic memoirs and historical fiction Ready to use title suggestions and materials Ways to engage students in conversations around historical moments” |
