For two days in July, the small town of Parma, Michigan becomes the center of the literacy universe.
I’m off to Nerd Camp and will be sharing photos here throughout the conference. Check back and I’ll be adding to this post as the day goes along.
What is Nerd Camp? Short versh: an “un-conference” focused on literacy. Long versh: I wrote all about it for School Library Journal.
Dear Diary . . .
Just enjoying a fresh cup of Nerd Camp roast.
Starting the day right with a hearty bowl of Nerd Camp Nerdmeal
How far to Nerd Camp? Nerdy five miles.
Made it
Nerd water
Original Art Raffle! This one is by Lauren Eldridge
Another sample from the original art raffle. This one by Matthew Cordell
A packed house for the pre-conference: 30 Reasons You Need Diverse Books in Your Classroom
Pre-conference panel with Tracey Baptiste, Juana Medina, Karuna Riazi, Kathy Burnette, and Alex Gino
To the gym for the opening Nerd Talks by Chad Everett, Shannon Hale, Donalyn Miller, and Teri Lesesne
Just gave my 7 min keynote at #nErDcampMI pic.twitter.com/kFpVVUov48
— Shannon Hale (@haleshannon) July 10, 2017
First Session! Storytime Breakdown with Carter Higgins and Emily Arrow
Second Session! Minh Lê and I talked about how blogging let to writing for kids.
It was hard to present with this poster on the wall. I kept laughing.
Surprise Guest! For the third session, R.J. Palacio showed up.
This guy was around.
Look, nerds don’t just love books – they also love tiny robots. I learned about them in the maker space session.
Fired. Up. And. Ready. To. Go. @pernilleripp: professional game changer and inspirer. Thank you. #nerdcampmi pic.twitter.com/TmFDxphpSe
— A.Rose (@betweenmargins) July 10, 2017
The fun of a conference in a high school – you might come across the drama dept. storage room.
A bit of promotional genius whipped up by Jess Keating for her next nonfiction book.
Mike Lowery showed us how he draws.
A page from Mike Lowery’s sketchbook.
I managed to get a bit of recording in for future episodes of The Yarn podcast:
Jack Gantos
Nora Baskin
#BrainCapacityIsFull #nErDCampMI pic.twitter.com/zXem9NE0Y7
— Cassie Thomas (@mrs_cmt1489) July 12, 2017
Thanks @nErDcampMI for two great days of learning and collaborating. Can't wait until next year! #nerdcampmi pic.twitter.com/8b2oPFKauc
— Todd Allgor (@toddallgor) July 12, 2017
And then, after all the grownups leave, kids arrive for Nerd Camp Jr.
Another wonderful nerdcamp Jr in the books! Gr8t big thx to Team #nerdcampmi for all u do to make this magical conference happen every yr??? pic.twitter.com/mz92jKrzGs
— Lauren Castillo (@studiocastillo) July 12, 2017
This @MLive piece also includes some nice shots of our Nerd Camp Jr session #nerdcampMI https://t.co/XdBWmSMzQc @DisneyHyperion @nErDcampMI pic.twitter.com/KRp73stqor
— Minh Lê (@bottomshelfbks) July 12, 2017
About Travis Jonker
You’ve got a real gift for the conference re-cap, my friend! Always fun to read your takeaways. Also… I was beginning to think Jack Gantos really WASN’T there! I never saw him and never saw any pics posted. Thanks for the evidence!
Excellent photo and tweet recap. Glad we reconnected. There is nothing quite like Nerd Camp MI!
Love this post, Travis. So glad to have met you and shared a meal with you at Nerd Camp this year!