I went to the teaching literacy speaker that you said could also count as a workshop and "What Do You Meme?" with Anne Beck. Both were somewhat informative and useful, both as a current student and as a future teacher. The teaching literacy speaker was not entirely what I expected. Rather than a presentation or explanation of their theories, we actually went through several of the lessons they use. Unfortunately, it was entirely focused on elementary age children, and I am going to teach secondary. However, the first part of the event was an explanation of how people are affected by dyslexia and how persistent it can be as a disability, which was very helpful to me as a future teacher, and very insightful information in general as to how it relates to many of my fellow students. The second workshop, "What Do You Meme?" with Anne Beck, was more specific to my major and interests. She explained the different ways incorporating memes into a classroom can create a more relaxed and relateable atmosphere for your students. My favorite example was using a meme with very poor grammar and spelling as a bell work activity where the students have to correct it at the beginning of class. It is both funny and educational, and a way to connect to the students through something they use daily in social media thus making it accessible and interesting. It will be difficult to use this as a current student, but certainly as a future teacher it will be relevant.
