Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians: Educator Panels

10:00–11:00 You Have to Read the Pictures, Too: Visual Literacy and Analyzing Graphic Texts with Students—In this crash course in text analysis for graphic novels, teachers and industry experts will demonstrate techniques and tools for building students' critical literacy skills with graphic texts. Hear these panelists discuss how comics and graphic novels are different from other texts and how they are similar, how students can analyze the combination of art and text, and how they can use visual text evidence to support their thinking. Featuring Rachelle Cruz (UC Riverside, Experiencing Comics), Derek Heid (high school English Language Arts, TVUSD), Talia Hurwich (NYU, Worth A Thousand Words), Laurence Tan (LAUSD and Teaching Tolerance Teacher of the Year), Tony Weaver Jr. (founder, Weird Enough Productions; Forbes 30 Under 30), and moderator Tracy Edmunds (Graphic Novels are Elementary!).  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

11:00–12:00 Kapow! Woosh! Zap! Comics in the Classroom—Hear from a panel of super teachers, Jaime Brown (English, San Diego High School of International Studies), Mick Rabin (Project Resource Teacher, Advocacy and Education, San Diego Unified School District), Christine MacNeil (5th Grade, Lilac School), Grace Nall (National Board Certified Teacher, 2nd Grade, Walker Elementary), and Ella Rogosin (History, Olympian High School), moderated by Jewyl Clarke (Integrated Curriculum Coordinator, San Diego County Office of Education) as they discuss how incorporating comics into the curriculum increases engagement and access for all students while developing a love for learning (and secretly powering up literacy skills). They’ll also discuss how the Comic-Con Educator Book Club brings together teachers from across the region in pursuit of great reads, community, and strategies for the classroom. You too can become a super teacher! They will share resources, tips, and tools you can add to your utility belt, and they would love for you to join their league of super educators.  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

12:00–1:00 Spirit Skies: International Student Collaborative Comic—A panel on how students from two nations collaborated to write and illustrate a comic about environmental stewardship using the migration of the hummingbird. Moderated by Timothy Stiven and Zachary Brown, conservatory coordinators from Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, will lead a Q&A session with student writers and editors Ashley Jabro, Hannah Wentworth, Samantha Chai, Justin Wang, Giovanna Agrazal (Panama) and artists Katie Sheng, Jessica Li, and Riley Sullivan. They’ll be discussing what it takes to edit and illustrate a student created multi-volume graphic novel internationally.  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

1:00–2:00 Conservation + Comics: Enhancing the Understanding of Science Through Art—Samantha Wynns (biologist and educator, National Park Service), Alonso Nunez (artist and proprietor, Little Fish Comic Book Studio), Alex Warneke (chemical ecologist and science communicator, the Climate Science Alliance), and Garfield Kwan (marine biologist and director, Squidtoons) discuss how art is an incredible tool to tell the story of science, changing STEM to STEAM. The panel will be moderated by Paul Wynns (aerospace engineer and director, the Kevin Workman Foundation). There will be a live demonstration - audience participation encouraged!  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

2:00–3:00 Ask Me Anything: Pick Educators’ and Creators’ Brains on Comics in Classrooms—This Q&A session allows attendees to ask a range of professionals about incorporating comics in classrooms. Ask the panelists about recommendations, how to get parents/administrators on board, how to find supporting resources, or even how to discuss authorial intent with your students. These teacher/creator panelists can help you out. Where the conversation goes is up to you. Hear from educators Meryl Jaffe (Johns Hopkins University, Worth A Thousand Words), Derek Heid (HS ELA, TVUSD), Tracy Edmunds (LitX, Graphic Novels are Elementary!), authors Mark Seigel (5 Worlds) and Ben Costa/James Parks (Rickety Stitch), editor Gina Gagliano (Penguin Random House), with moderator/educator Talia Hurwich (NYU, Worth A Thousand Words).  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

3:00–4:00 Heroes of S.T.E.A.M.: Kids Doing Research Through Gaming—2018 Pop Culture Educator of the Year Jim McClain (Solution Squad) Tracy Edmunds (Think Earth, Tracy's Teaching Tools), and game designer Jon Loftus (University of Notre Dame's Center for Environmental Science and Technology) introduce a program to motivate students (grades 4 and up) to do research in any subject area (not just S.T.E.A.M.) by turning the details of their research into the qualities of their very own self-created superheroes who square off in mock combat using a simple dice game that reinforces computation skills.  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

4:00–5:00 Comics, Culture, and the Classroom—Chanti Burnette (Animo South Los Angeles High School), Kimberlee Kelley (Animo Leadership High School), and Timothy Ojetunde (Green Dot Public Schools) share pedagogical theories and practical examples of embedding comic books and popular culture into high school curricula in order to build collaboration within the classroom through a collectivist culture of literacy. These diverse educators explore using popular narratives to empower students with more nuanced perceptions of themselves and the world around them as they gain critical skills in multimodal text analysis. Moderated by Peter Carlson (Green Dot Public Schools).  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

5:00–6:00 Welcome to Adventure Academy—Kevin Beardslee (executive producer, Age of Learning), Kevin O’Donnell (senior producer, Age of Learning), Rob Corley (senior art director, Age of Learning), Joel Kupperstein (SVP of curriculum, Age of Learning), Diana Hughes (director adaptive games, Age of Learning), and moderator Anastasia Betts, (VP of curriculum planning and design, Age of Learning) share exclusive insights about the development and launch of Age of Learning’s exciting new educational MMO, Adventure Academy—a fully immersive virtual world where students in grades 3 to 8 can experience endless learning possibilities through quests, animated and live-action series, interactive games, digital books, graphic novels, and more. Session will be followed by a Q&A. Come for the learning. Stay for the fun!  Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

6:00–7:00 Psychology and Learning in TTRPGs—Tom, Joe and Dr. B discuss the ways in which a growing number of people in multiple fields see the value in the applications and usages of games for real-world benefit. Panelists: Tom Conmy (doctoral candidate, Learning and Instruction, University of San Francisco), Joe Lasley (doctoral candidate, Leadership Studies, University of San Diego) Raffael Boccamazzo, PsyD ("Dr. B," clinical director, Take This, Inc.) Room Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

This program kicks off our 4th annual Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians (CCEL). Comic-Con International and San Diego Public Library have teamed up once again for this FREE five-day conference, which takes place during Comic-Con from July 17 - 21 at the Central Library. Through presentations and panel discussions, CCEL explores the role comics play in promoting education, engagement, and literacy for all ages. Library professionals and educators are invited to learn creative and exciting ways to incorporate comics and graphic novels into their work.

CCEL is free to attend, but space is limited and registration is required for each day.

Comic-Con badge-holders with valid single same-day or four-day badges are welcome to attend and are not required to register.