Leigh Van Horn, associate professor of urban education, took seven teacher candidates to present a workshop, Power up your literacy instruction with engaging sort activities, at the Houston Area Association for the Education of the Young Child Conference in Galveston, Texas Feb. 9.

Students included Socorro Alquicira, Norma Cabrera, Amber Kelpen, Adriana Porras, Juan Pablo Restrepo, Erika Stevens, and Crystal Stille. The presentation focused on naturalistic observations and interactions with young children in order to provide them with nurturing literacy experiences that are focused on their needs and interests. This session allowed HAAEYC members to further develop ideas about individualization, differentiation, pedagogy, curriculum design, and aspects of evaluation and the resultant student centered teaching.

When asked about the presentation, attendees commented:

"Great job of presentation interaction with teachers."

"I liked the individual presentations."

"I liked the booklet they gave us. I enjoyed how we were able to move around. It was more interactive and personal."

"I liked the stations and interactions."

"I liked all of it - very helpful with new ideas."

"I liked the individual tables with different topics."

"It was informative, good ideas for pre-school. I liked that students presented activities."

"I liked having different presenters and some hands-on activities."

"I will be able to use ideas from each center. Please book for the Fall Conference."

"I didn't want it to end!"

Van Horn also noted that on nearly every evaluation, the group received 5 of 5 on the following five criteria:

• Presenter's knowledge and expertise of topic
• The information presented in this seminar is relevant to my work
• Opportunity for you to share your wisdom and understanding of the topic
• Opportunity for you to apply ideas discussed to your work and life
• Workshop as a whole

Congratulations to Van Horn and the student presenters on a job well done!