2016 Nerd-cation

Back in 2014, when I was discussing an upcoming trip with a group of English teachers, one of my snarkier students smiled and said, "Have fun on your nerd-cation!"  And although I had never heard the term before, Adrian nailed it.  "Nerd-cation" perfectly describes my annual pilgrimage to the Illinois Reading Conference.

Allow me to share this slice of utopia with you.  Imagine, if you will, an arena filled with:
boxes and boxes of crisp copies of the latest and greatest YA novels

AND tables adorned with glossy professional development books

AND vendors peddling t-shirts bedazzled with reading puns

AND booths laden with free goodies for you and your students (and daughters!)

AND meet-and-greet sections to fawn over (and take selfies with) your fav authors!

Jordan' will be there!

And Joan, too!

And Laurie!

Imagine days where you can :

listen to Barbara of Anderson's Bookstore tempt you with the best titles of the past year

AND learn from professors, colleagues, authors, and researchers in six (or more!) teaching sessions each day

AND gawk at your professional nerd-crushes  (OMG - was that Jefferey Wilhelm? Kelly Gallagher? Kylene Beers? Christopher Lehman????)

AND enjoy meals in the company of beloved authors

AND stay in a hotel (without your children) and keep the reading light burning well past midnight (Seriously. It's insane.)

AND drink coffee & chat & laugh about books & teaching & students & life with some of the best people in the whole wide world!

  

Two of my favorite people ever oxo

All of these idyllic moments are brought to you courtesy of the Illinois Reading Council. Fortunately (?), the host location is Peoria, Illinois. This locale helps to keep all our excitement in check. Nonetheless, we geeky teachers all get pretty psyched to attend ... in three days!  Yes, it's nearly time for my dreamy three-day nerd-cation to commence. Heart be still. 
 

Here she is!  Once a student, now a colleague. oxo

But wait: there's more! At last year's conference, I had the great good fortune of running into a former (dazzlingly intelligent! boundlessly creative! effusively compassionate!) student, who is now a fellow teacher (How amazing it is when the best and brightest join our profession!)  Our encounter blossomed into a blogging adventure with our students, and - as a result - we will be presenting at one of the teaching sessions at the conference.  And that's not all. Sara is coming, too!   And if you want to know who Sara is - you'll just have to wait until my next post.  

Nerd-cation, here we come!