TALE Member News
Spring 2023
In This Issue
- Conference Recap
- News and Updates
- Professional Development Opportunities
- Committee Updates
- Our Publications
- Scholarships and Awards
- Recent Meeting Minutes
- Message from our Chair Dr. Garden
TALE 2023 Recap
We had an enriching time with colleagues and peers during TALE 2023! We hope you did as well. See some highlights in images below:
The Opening
Meeting Dean Pedro
Colleagues Sharing a Photo
Some of Our Board Members
The Cruiser
A Sample of some of the Books the Curiosity Cruiser Shares With Communities
Curiosity Cruiser
We Get to See the inner workings of the cruiser
The Authors
Lupe Mendez
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton
Ralph Fletcher
@WriterRalph17
General Sessions and Keynotes
Joe Cisneros - Director of STAAR Spanish and TELPAS
Pre - Conference Speaker - Melissa Stewart
Gretchen Bernabei
The Fun and Comradery
News and Updates
Board Elections Coming Soon!
Do you have a desire to become more active in TALE? Consider joining our Board of Directors! We are currently accepting nominations for 4 elected positions on TALE’s Board of Directors. The voting process is entirely online and will take place in April. We will send an email containing a link to the electronic ballot to TALE members who have active membership status as of February 1, 2023. In order to ensure high levels of participation during the election, we encourage you to make sure that your TALE membership is current and that the email address we have on file is accurate.
From ILA
There's still time to nominate a colleague (or yourself!) for the International Literacy Association's (ILA) 2023 awards and grants program! This year's winners will join the ranks of past recipients including Linnea C. Ehri, Nell K. Duke, Yukie Toyama, John Z. Strong, and Timothy Rasinski. Who should we spotlight next?
Professional Development Opportunities
Committee Reports
Advocacy
Complete this form by March 15th to join us!
Community Involvement
Communications Development
Do you have an interest in social media?
Do you find yourself sharing all of the great things that TALE does with your coworkers and friends? Do you have mad Canva skills? Would you like to get more involved in our great organization? If so, the newly reorganized Communications Committee will be holding its first meeting in the upcoming weeks, and we need your help!
The TALE Communications Committee's goal is to promote communication among TALE membership through a variety of print, electronic, and social mediums. Our publications include the TALE Yearbook, The Texas Journal of Literacy Education, and the TALE Newsletter. We actively post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram platforms.
Anyone with an interest in TALE Communications is encouraged to join our committee. Please reach out to Dr. Jill Culmo, Communications Chair, at communications@texasreaders.org.
Educator Empowerment
The goal of the Educator Empowerment Committee is to empower TALE members in ways that develop voice, ownership, and leadership of their professional literacy landscape. See what we have going on below.
Pamela Koutrakos is a middle school instructional coach. Her current book, Mentor Texts that Multitask: A less is more approach to integrated literacy instruction, k-8 shows how to streamline literacy instruction by using a single mentor text to teach reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, speaking and Listening.
If you would like to join one of our committees you can do so at http://www.texasreaders.org/.
Our Publications
To be considered, submissions must be based on the presentation given at the conference, fall within one of two categories (see Call for Submissions), be previously unpublished, and may not be currently under consideration with another publication. The 2023 Yearbook will be a peer-reviewed publication available online in Fall 2023 at: http://www.texasreaders.org/yearbooks.html
- TALE Yearbook Follows the annual conference
- A compilation of some of the presentations with an aim to widely share these advances in literacy research and practice with national and international audiences.
Are you interested in becoming a reviewer? Email us at tale.yearbook@texasreaders.org
2023 Yearbook Editorial Team:
- Dr. Shelly Landreth
- Dr. Amy Cummins
- Dr. Chanelle Maynard
- Dr. Mady Edgar
The Texas Journal of Literacy Education (TJLE) is TALE’s official peer-reviewed scholarly journal.
We value original research and insights from all voices and encourage you to submit your work. TJLE is committed to providing a forum for a variety of voices and viewpoints
We value original research and insights from all voices and encourage you to submit your work. TJLE is committed to providing a forum for a variety of voices and viewpoints.
We look forward to your submissions!
Sincerely,
Your new editors from Texas A&M University-Commerce Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Reading
- Kamshia Childs, EdD, Lead Editor
- Laura Slay, PhD, Lead Editor
- Tami Morton, PhD, Associate Editor
- Juan Araujo, PhD, Associate Editor
Scholarships and Awards
Jack Cassidy Memorial Scholarship
The Jack Cassidy Memorial Scholarship was established by The Cassidy Family and TALE in 2021.
2023 Award Winners
Marilyn Keller Nicol
- Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction--Literacy
- Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
The Jack Cassidy Distinguished Service Award was first awarded in 2013. This award is presented to any in K-12 schools or at the University level who demonstrates exemplary service in the field of literacy.
Literacy in Leadership Award
Non-Classroom Leader- Librarian, Joan Lange - Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston, TX
- Publishes bi-monthly in Association of Independent School Libraries (AISL)
- Co-Sponsor for school Literary Magazine
- Hosts author writing workshop “History as Story”
- Hosts Poetry Slam to showcase student writing
- https://aislnews.org/author/joanl/
PK - 12 Educator Award - Katherine Rogge - Madden Elementary, Fort Bend ISD
- Lab Classroom Leader
- Supports EB students through literacy access
- Developed and led district PD for first year teachers with a focus on literacy
- New member of the Advocacy Committee
- Follow her on twitter: @miss_rogge
TAIR Grants and Awards
CONGRATULATIONS 2022-23 TAIR Emerging Literacy Leaders Grant Recipients: William Roby and Nicole Sussman
*Coming in August 2023 GRANT APPLICATION $500 to Attend the 2024 TALE Conference*
We are seeking new members for our grant committee. If you would like to join our committee, please contact: Dr. Carol Revelle at carol.revelle@tamuc.edu.
Message from our Chair Dr. Garden
Hello,
As chair of TALE, I have had the awesome opportunity to share our mission of enhancing the lives of Texas citizens. We have just finished another fantastic annual conference and our membership has grown from the 432 members when I started to now more than 500 members and counting.
One of my goals continues to be growth in our membership. I want to expand our reach to impact more people in the state. We are working diligently to make TALE a brand that you associate with promoting literacy education that will enhance the lives of all Texas citizens personally, socially, and economically. We are doing this by reaching out to educators both in the k-12 space and in higher education as well as librarians and others who share our love for literacy! We are growing our committee work so that when you join, you can also get right to work!
My charge to all TALE membership is to get involved, participate in our upcoming events, and share our vision with your networks!
Again, I am very excited to serve for the love of literacy!
Dr. Pearl
Join Us!
Email: tale@texasreaders.org
Website: http://www.texasreaders.org
Phone: 0000000000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/texasreaders.org/
Twitter: @TXLiteracyEd