---
title: "Conference Circuit: Literacy Education"
id: "38868"
type: "post"
slug: "conference-circuit-literacy-education"
published_at: "2017-07-13T20:36:05+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-16T19:54:15+00:00"
url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/07/13/conference-circuit-literacy-education/"
markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2017/07/13/conference-circuit-literacy-education.md"
excerpt: "The International Literacy Association’s 2017 Conference and Exhibits begins this weekend in Orlando, Florida. More than 5,000 are expected to attend."
taxonomy_category:
  - "Learning"
taxonomy_post_tag:
  - "AssociationsNow"
  - "conferences"
  - "Education Law"
  - "Literary"
  - "Meetings"
taxonomy_content_format:
  - "Article"
taxonomy_role:
  - "Employee (Non-Manager)"
taxonomy_persona:
  - "Industry Professionals"
---

[Home](https://associationsnow.com/)
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 » Conference Circuit: Literacy Education

Thousands of professionals in the field of literacy education—teachers, authors, illustrators, researchers, school administrators, librarians, and others—are headed to sunny Orlando to learn the latest in literacy development, research, and teaching.

**Organization:** International Literacy Association

**Conference:** 2017 Conference and Exhibits

**Venue:** Orange County Convention Center

**City:**Orlando, Florida

After a series of Preconference Institutes on Friday, [ILA 2017 (opens in a new tab)](https://www.literacyworldwide.org/conference)
 begins on Saturday morning with an opening general session that will explore the ever-evolving definition of “literacy.” Speakers include Miami-Dade’s 2017 Francisco R. Walker Teacher of the Year, Precious Symonette; Global Learning Foundation Founder and Director of Education Enrique C. Feldman; and award-winning author Carmen Agra Deedy. Also on the agenda:

**Lunchtime learning.**The meeting’s lunches have a fresh format this year. The Meet & Eat Networking Lunch will allow attendees to connect with one another, while the Sparks Lunch will feature short, power-packed talks from literacy leaders challenging the status quo. Rounding out the options is the Power Hour Lunch, which will teach attendees outside-the-box skills to improve their teaching.

**Working workshops.**Putting Books to Work takes the traditional “talking heads” author panel and reimagines it as a hands-on workshop. Participants will dive deeply into classroom-friendly titles with the authors who wrote them, create book-focused materials with fellow attendees, and leave with practical, teacher-generated ideas for incorporating those titles into their curriculum.

**Poetry prowess.**Those passionate about poetry won’t want to miss the 20th Annual ILA Poetry Olio. This evening of verse and song—presented by featured poets, songwriters, and musicians—will be mixed with open mic readings, surprise guests, audience participation numbers, and valuable prizes.

Check out [Twitter (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/ILAToday)
 ([#ILA17 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ila17?src=hash)
) and [Instagram (opens in a new tab)](https://www.instagram.com/ilatoday/)
 for lots more meeting details.

(AbleStock/Thinkstock)

[Samantha Whitehorne](https://associationsnow.com/author/samantha-whitehorne/)

Samantha Whitehorne is a former editorial director of Associations Now in Washington, DC.

[More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/samantha-whitehorne/)

Tags: [#conferences](https://associationsnow.com/tag/conferences/)
 [#Education Law](https://associationsnow.com/tag/education-law/)
 [#Literary](https://associationsnow.com/tag/literary/)
 [#Meetings](https://associationsnow.com/tag/meetings/)

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