MACRA 19th Annual Conference October 23-24, 2009
for the best in college reading staff development..

Dunes Manor Hotel 2800 Baltimore Ave. Ocean City, MD 21842

• Conference Schedule
• Presenters
• History
• Registration Form (pdf)
• Past Topics


Conference Schedule [back to top]

THURSDAY - October 22, 2009

6:00 p.m.	MACRA Officers & Board Meeting (Hospitality Suite)
8:00 p.m.	MACRA Officers & Board Dinner

 FRIDAY October 23, 2009

8:30 a.m.	Registration (Lobby) Continental Breakfast
9:15 a.m.	Welcome and Introductions
9:30 a.m.	Teresa H. Filbert, Ed.D., "The Digital Cave: Literacy In and Beyond the 21st Century"
12:00 noon	Lunch, (Victorian Room Restaurant)
1:00 p.m.	Teresa H. Filbert, Ed.D., "The Digital Cave: Literacy In and Beyond the 21st Century"
3:00 p.m.	Afternoon Tea (Lobby)
6:00 p.m.	Presidents' Reception (Hospitality Suite)

SATURDAY - October 24, 2009

8:30 a.m.	Registration (Lobby) Continental Breakfast
	Publishers’ Exhibits (Lobby)
9:00 a.m.	Announcements and Housekeeping
9:15 a.m.	Jeanine L. Williams, "Towards a Pedagogy of Persistence"
10:30 a.m.	Break
10:45 a.m.	Dr. Nicole Williams, "Teaching Developmental Reading Using a Holistic Approach"
12:00 Noon	Lunch and Awards (Victorian Room Restaurant)

Conference Presenters [back to top]

Teresa H. Filbert, Ed.D., a clinical assistant professor in the Education Department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, serves as the Director of Professional Development Schools for teacher candidates. She brings numerous experiences in the public school setting to her work, including serving as a social studies teacher, a reading specialist, a reading teacher of adults, and a principal. From her earliest days in the classroom, literacy has been a main interest, including reading in the content areas and among older students. Dr. Filbert also was drawn to the study of literacy through the experiences of members of her family who, despite struggling as readers and writers, persisted to achieve success in a variety of fields.

Dr. Filbert’s current teaching includes courses in literacy for both undergraduate and graduate students. She also provides training in conflict resolution education for pre-service and in-service teachers. She has presented in these areas of study at conferences sponsored by the Eastern Education Research Association, the Whole Language Umbrella of the National Council of Teachers of English, the State of Maryland International Reading Association, the Maryland State Department of Education, and the National Association of Professional Development Schools. 

Dr. Filbert completed her undergraduate work at what is now Towson University and holds two master’s degrees, one a Master of Science in Reading, from the Johns Hopkins University. She completed her doctoral studies at Seton Hall University.

Presentation:  The Digital Cave: Literacy in and Beyond the 21^st Century

Scholars have come to realize that prehistoric cave paintings were more than drawings. Their creators communicated with others across centuries and cultures to tell stories of their lives. Today we “read” the markings of unknown scribes and learn about their world. What will today’s current and emerging systems of communication tell our descendants about life – and literacy - in the 21^st century?

How must the instruction of developmental reading and writing change to empower our students to serve as today’s scribes for future generations? Literacy continues to be defined in a myriad of ways. How do we shift our present paradigm to connect our students with the critical challenges of their world today and 20 to 50 years from now? Are we offering our students the knowledge and skills to continue their literacy journeys on a lifelong developmental continuum? Let’s explore the possibilities.

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Jeanine L. Williams is an Assistant Professor of Reading at the Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville. She has taught developmental reading for the past several years at various colleges and universities in the Maryland and D.C. areas. She has a true passion for developmental reading instruction and the role it plays in college student persistence. She has an active research agenda and has published and presented her research on critical literacy.

Presentation:  Towards Pedagogy of Persistence

This presentation will explore critical literacy as a persistence-oriented approach to college reading instruction.

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Dr. Nicole Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Reading, ESOL, and Foreign Languages department at the Community College of Baltimore County.  Her specialization is in the social context of learning with at risk students and qualitative research.  Her current research focus is on developing holistic pedagogical reading development methods.  

Presentation: Teaching Developmental Reading Using a Holistic Approach

This presentation will demonstrate the benefits of combining a variety of pedagogical methods to help developmental students reach their highest potential.  Particularly, the integral connections between reading and writing and the importance of incorporating personal development into the reading development curriculum will be highlighted. 

 

History [back to top]

The Mid-Atlantic College Reading Association (MACRA) includes reading and writing faculty from community and four-year colleges. Faculty from Maryland community colleges initially formed this organization as the Maryland Community College Reading Association in 1974. In 1991, the Maryland group decided to expand its membership to include the five neighboring states (New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia and Pennsylvania) and changed its name to the Mid-Atlantic Community College Reading Association. As membership increased, we found our rolls included many faculty from four-year colleges and universities. At our annual conference in 1997, we changed the name to more accurately reflect the interests, needs, and diversity of our membership.

Each fall MACRA holds a two-day conference in Ocean City, Maryland. This conference features a noted authority in reading or a related field. The second day is devoted to colleague interchange on topics such as

Critical Reading
Learning Disabilities
Vocabulary Development
Study Skills
Reading/Writing Connections
Textbook Readability
Computer Assisted Instruction
Reading in the Content Areas
English as a Second Language for teachers of reading or related fields.

Past Topics [back to top]

Dr. Shelley A. Chapman  2008 Theory Like Theatre: Viewing Our Educational Practice Through Different Lenses

Dr. Jennifer Cuddapah 2007 Transforming Teaching through a Multiple Strategies Approach

Dr. Dee Tadlock 2006 Transforming Poor Readers to Excellent Readers: Relying on the Plasticity of the Brain

Dr. Rita Smilkstein 2005 Brain-Based Learning

Dr. Beth Holmberg 2004 Critical Reading, Writing, and Thinking: Research Findings and Implications for Developmental Education

Dr. David Caverly 2003 Integrating Technology into Developmental Reading: Past, Present and Future

Dr. Catherine Wambach 2002 A High Feedback Model for Teaching General Psychology

Dr. Anne Goodsell Love 2001 Collaborative Learning Strategies