Teacher Professional Development Seminar

Thu 11 May 2023

Samantha Wheeler + Nova Weetman + Danielle Binks

Heritage Collections Learning Room, slq

Word Play / Workshop

WP021

#Performances

#About the event

Duration: 180 minutes

Event time update: Please note this event was previously listed as starting at 10am. The correct start time is 9am.

Teachers and teacher-librarians, don’t miss out on this fantastic seminar for professional development, featuring the following workshops:

Supporting AusLit in schools: 'The Books of Our Own Backyard' with Danielle Binks
#LoveOzYA, #LoveOzMG and #LoveOzKidLit were grassroots social-media campaigns borne out of trying to keep Australian youth literature front-and-centre, in an ever-crowded bookish landscape. In this talk Danielle Binks will discuss how far we've come, and how far we still have to go in ensuring the next-Generation of readers engage with 'Books of their own Backyard,' so that they grow into adults who still read Australian stories, and keep our industry alive and thriving. She'll look at the new social-media and streaming-service Goliaths pushing largely American-only books, and why algorithms are no substitute for school librarians. Acknowledging the difficulty in changing curriculum texts, Danielle will also examine a case for parity and pushing for more Australian stories to be studied in schools.

Creating Characters with Nova Weetman
We all get stuck writing creatively. In this workshop Nova Weetman will demonstrate how she creates characters, and how she simplifies the process for students when she is running writing workshops. This will be a (fun) hands-on workshop where participants can create a character and rough story beats in a short session. This workshop will provide educators with some strategies and simple techniques to use with their students. This can be particularly useful for those reluctant writers.

Think little, grow big: creative narratives from the everyday with Samantha Wheeler
Students often complain of having no story ideas. Feeling overwhelmed while staring at a blank page. This PD session will provide valuable in-house tips from children’s author, Samantha Wheeler, on how to deal with the inevitable ‘But I don’t know what to write about.’ Samantha will demonstrate how she takes every day experiences and twists and tweaks them into imaginative, compelling stories. Essential ingredients include an easy planning scaffold, exploration of the senses, a large sprinkling of ‘what ifs’ and a healthy dose of visual stimuli. A no-fail recipe to encourage your students to write.

#Artists

Samantha Wheeler

Samantha Wheeler studied agriculture, worked with dairy farmers and taught science, until writing her first story for middle grade readers, inspired by koalas. Her books, which include Smooch & Rose, Mister Cassowary, Turtle Trackers, Devils in Danger and Everything I’ve Never Said, have been shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards, the Readings Children’s Book Prize, and the Wilderness Society’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature. Samantha is now completing a PhD at the University of Queensland, investigating the creative devices which might best encourage young people to care for our environment.

Nova Weetman

Writer of 16 books for children and young adults, including Sick Bay, The Edge of Thirteen and The Jammer. Her books are CBCA notables and have been shortlisted for the NSW Premier's History Award, the Readings Children’s Prize, the ABIA Awards, the Speech Pathologist Awards, the YABBA Awards and the Sakura Medal in Japan. She has won an ABIA Award for The Edge of Thirteen, and YABBA and Koala Awards for Sick Bay. Writer of Film Victoria short films Ripples and Mr Wasinski’s Song (AWGIE nomination and winner Best Australian Short at MIFF). Short fiction published in Overland, Mslexia, Kill Your Darlings, Wet Ink and Island and articles in The Guardian, Island and Fairfax Media. Nova is a regular on ABC Radio Melbourne talking about historic children’s books in Australia.

Danielle Binks

Danielle Binks is a Melbourne-based writer and literary agent with Jacinta di Mase Management. In 2017, she edited and contributed to Begin, End, Begin, an anthology of new Australian young adult writing inspired by the #LoveOzYA movement, which won the ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children (Ages 13+). The Year the Maps Changed, Danielle’s bestselling middle-grade novel, was a 2021 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Book. And her 2021 YA novel The Monster of Her Age won in the Young Adult category of the 2022 Indie Book Awards. Her new middle grade novel out in 2023 is Six Summers of Tash & Leopold. Danielle is also teaching Fiction & Young Adult Writing in the Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University.