Presentations

National Conference Presentations

• Blanton, M., DeHart, J., & Zhang, S. (under review; November 2025). KAPOW! Understanding Text Complexity in Graphic Novels for the 4th-8th Grade Classroom. A session proposal submitted to the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers’ (ALER) Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, OK.

• Blanton, M., & Bellows, E. (under review; November 2025). Feeding Two Birds with One Scone: Planning Integrated Read-Alouds that Teach Historical Thinking and Literacy Skills. A session proposal was submitted to the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers’ (ALER) Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, OK.

• Blanton, M. (2019). Through the Looking Glass: How Preservice Teachers Reflect on their Practice using a Technology Enhanced Tool.  Presented at the 2019 CREATE Conference at High Point University, High Point, NC.

• Blanton, M., Cheek, A., & Bellows, E. (2019). eCoaching: Providing Preservice Teachers with Real-Time Feedback. Presented at the 2019 CREATE Conference at High Point University, High Point, NC.

• Blanton, M., Cheek, A., & Bellows, E.  (2018). Just In Time! Real-Time eCoaching Provides Immediate Feedback.  Presented at the Learning Forward Conference in Dallas, TX.  

• Blanton, M. (2018). Turn Up the Heat: Examining School Evaluation and Degrees of Poverty.  Presented at the 2018 CREATE Conference at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA 

• Pacifici, L. & Blanton, M. (2018). Insights Gained from Pre-service Teachers' Experience with a Digital Sabbath: Paradox in the Digital Age.  A brief paper was accepted to be presented via Round Table Discussion at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) Conference in Washington DC

• Blanton, M., Hardin, B., Lineberger, J., & Wilson, M. (2014) Flipped PD: A Hybrid Approach. Presented at the Learning Forward National Conference, Nashville, TN. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

• Rock, M., Crawford, P., Blanton, M., Jones. A. (2014) Quad-level Engagement: Leveraging Partnerships That Support Change in School and Statewide Professional Development Practices.  Presented at the US Office of Special Education Project Directors Conference, Washington DC.

• Clauset, K., Porter, R., Blanton, M., Brogdon, B., Hardin, B., Lineberger, J., & Walker, J. (2013) Empowering Teacher Action Teams to Implement the Common Core.  Presented at the Learning Forward Conference, Dallas, TX.

State-Level Conference Presentations

• Blanton, M. & Combs, H. (2024). Finances and Families: Using Culturally Sustaining Practices to Teach an Integrated Social Studies/ELA Unit with a Multi-Genre Text Set. A concurrent session was presented at the North Carolina Reading Association’s 2024 conference in Winston-Salem, NC. 

• Blanton, M. & Pyles, D. (2023) Difficult Conversations: How to Intentionally Curate Text Sets that Teach Complex Topics. North Carolina Reading Association’s annual conference in Winston-Salem, NC.

• Blanton, M.V. (2020). Ripples and Reflections: What Preservice Teachers Notice about their Practice. Presented a paper that shared findings and implications for practice at the North Carolina Association of Research in Education (NCARE) Conference in Greensboro, NC.

• Blanton, M., & Acuff, Y. (2017) Coaching in Cleveland County. NCDPI Exceptional Children’s Director’s Conference, Greensboro, NC.

• Blanton, M. & Wilson, M. (2017). Catching the Canvas Wave. NCDPI Homebase Symposium, Greensboro, NC. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

• Sedita, J., Blanton, M., Lemmons, H., Mackall, S., McKee, A., & Wilson, M. (2016). The Key Comprehension Routine: A Model of Tiered Content Literacy Instruction, Grades 4-12. Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement. Greensboro, NC. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order after the lead presenter.  

• Blanton, M. (2016) Digging deeper with data: Decision-making protocols for adolescent literacy.  Created an online mini-presentation used in NCDPI’s MTSS Moodle course for MTSS Implementation Teams across the state.

• Blanton, M. (2016) Professional learning: Using Canvas and Google Classroom to coach and support.  Created an online mini-presentation used in NCDPI’s MTSS Moodle course for MTSS Implementation Teams across the state.

• Jones, A, Blanton, M., Degree. O,., Lawson, K., Luckadoo, M., McFarland, A. (2015) A winning framework. North Carolina Middle Level Education conference. Greensboro, NC.

• Blanton, M. (2014) Digging into Words. Discovery Place Education Studio. Charlotte, NC.

• Blanton, M. (2014) Brewing Up a Storm. Discovery Place Education Studio. Charlotte, NC.

• Blanton, M. (2014) It’s Magic: Demystifying Inference. Discovery Place Education Studio. Charlotte, NC.

• Blanton, M. (2014) Summer Reading Loss: So What? Presented at Gardner-Webb University’s Keeping Learning Alive Conference: Boiling Springs, NC.

• Blanton, M. & Hardin, B. (2014) Flipped Instruction: A Hybrid Approach. Presented at the GWU Keeping Learning Alive Conference: Boiling Springs, NC. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore they are listed in alphabetical order. 

• Begeny, J., Blanton, M., Mitchell, C., Tsuen, H.Y., & Leary, L. (2010) Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) One-on-One Program Training. Presented to North Carolina School Psychologist at North Carolina State University

• Blanton, M., Short, R., Sigmon, E., & Summey, M. (2008) A Puppet’s Perspective: One Spin on Reciprocal Teaching in the K-5 Classroom. Presented at the North Carolina Reading Association State Reading Conference. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

• Blanton, M. (2015) Digging into Words. Gaston County Teaching and Learning Conference. Gastonia, NC.

• Blanton, M. (2015) Brewing Up a Storm. Gaston County Teaching and Learning Conference. Gastonia, NC.

• Blanton, M. (2015) It’s Magic: Demystifying Inference. Gaston County Teaching and Learning Conference. Gastonia, NC

• Blanton, M., Brogdon, B., & Hardin, B. (2013) Flipped PD: A Hybrid Approach. Presented at the Cultivating Capacity Collaborative: Charlotte, NC. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

Guest Lecturer

• Blanton, M.V. (2021) Choosing Texts for Complex Conversations.  Guest Lecturer for a graduate-level school counseling course that focuses on lesson planning and design at Oregon State University. 

Local Presentations (for Educators)

• • Blanton, M. (2025). “It’s Complex!” Using the Three Facets of Text Complexity to Make Recommendations for Elementary Literacy Instruction.  A professional learning workshop for preservice teachers in the Reich College of Education.

  • Blanton, M. (2024). Listening and Learning: Operationalizing Instructional Values through Tiered, Personalized Support. Presented at Gardner-Webb University’s Gayle Bolt Price School of Graduate Studies Online Faculty Professional Learning Event in August 2024.

  • Blanton, M. & Pyles, D. (2023) Teaching Complex Topics through Children’s Literature: A Framework for Curating High-Quality Text Sets. Funded with a Public School Partnership Mini-Grant and through the RCOE’s Math and Science Center, these professional learning sessions are designed for 4-5th grade teachers and focus on a multi-faceted framework created to help teachers select multi-genre texts about complex topics related to their curriculum.

  • Blanton, M. & Pyles, D. (2022). “Why is this creature trying to hurt our island?” Teaching Climate Change through Picturebooks.  Presented as a seminar through the RCOE’s Math and Science Center’s professional learning series, Boone, NC. 

  • Blanton, M. (2019). Great Experiments: Using NearPod to facilitate online and face-to-face classes. Presented to colleagues in the Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education.

  • Blanton, M. (2018). Break out of the norm!  This ePoster presentation was presented to university faculty and students at Appalachian State University’s Teach4Tech Fair.  Breakout boxes are a student-centered, hands-on, inquiry-based instructional strategy that can be useful to teachers at all levels (PK-20+).

  • Blanton, M. (2018). Break Out of the Norm: Using Breakout Boxes to Increase Engagement and Teach Content.  Presented to preservice teachers as part of the Appalachian State University’s James Center Professional Development Spring 2018 series.

  • Blanton, M. (2016) The Power of Words: Speaking and Listening is Literacy Too! Cleveland County Close the Gap Conference: Shelby, NC.

  • Blanton, M. (2016) Two Birds, One Stone: Using the Key Comprehension Routine for Tier 2 Interventions. Cleveland County Schools Teacher Symposium, Shelby, NC.

  • Blanton, M., Lemmons, H., Wilson, M. (2016) Transformational Literacy. Online/Blended professional learning for Cleveland County Schools teachers. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order.  

  • Blanton, M. (2016) Purposeful Interventions: Decoding, ORF, and Comprehension. Online/Blended professional learning for Cleveland County Schools teachers

  • Blanton, M. (2016) MTSS Purpose and Process. Online/Blended professional learning for Cleveland County Schools administrators and teachers

  • Blanton, M. & Mackall, S. (2015) Engaging students using BlendSpace and Google Classroom.  Cleveland County Schools Teacher Symposium, Shelby, NC. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

  • Blanton, M. (2015) Literacy/Math= A Rational Equation. Optional flipped course for Middle School Math Teachers in Cleveland County Schools.

  • Blanton, M., Lemmons, H. Mackall, S., McKee, A., & Wilson, M. (2015) Keys to Literacy Comprehension Routine. Provided to Cleveland County Schools Secondary Teachers (Cohort 1). Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

  • Blanton, M. & Wilson, M. (2015-2016) Reading Foundations.  Provided to Cleveland County Schools Secondary Teachers (select teacher/schools). Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order.  

  • Blanton, M.  (2014) Leveraging Literacy.  Optional flipped course for Social Studies and English-Language Arts Teachers at Crest High School.

  • Blanton, M.  (2014) Illuminate Reading: Active Strategies for Tackling Texts.  Optional flipped course for Teachers at Crest High School and Crest Middle School.

  • Blanton, M. (2013 & 2014) A Logic Model Approach to Program Design. Presented to Gardner-Webb University Doctoral Candidates enrolled in EDCI 702.

  • Blanton, M. (2013) Intro to Early Literacy. Taught three class periods to dually enrolled Cleveland Community College and Burns High School students.

  • Blanton, M., Hardin, B. & Lineberger, J. (2013) Vocabulary: Beyond the Flashcard!  Optional flipped summer course for Cleveland County Schools Teachers. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order.  

  • Blanton, M., Hardin, B. & Lineberger, J. Cooperative Literacy. (2013) Optional flipped summer course for Cleveland County Schools Teachers. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

  • Blanton, M., Hardin, B. & Lineberger, J. (2013) Illuminate Reading: Active Strategies for Tackling Texts.  Optional flipped summer course for Cleveland County Schools Teachers. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order. 

  • Blanton, M. (2013-2016) Seize the Data!  Instructor for an online course designed by the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

  • Blanton, M. (2013) Rubrics: Assessment OF, FOR, and AS Learning.  Presented to Crest High School Teachers.

  • Blanton, M. (2013) Planning for Rigor.  Presented to Crest High School Teachers.

  • Blanton, M. (2013) Rubrics: Assessment OF, FOR, and AS Learning.  Presented to Cleveland County Schools Secondary Teachers.

  • Blanton, M. (2013) List, Group, Label, Write: An Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Strategy. Presented to Crest Middle School teachers

  • Blanton, M. (2013) Using the ACE Writing Strategy. Presented to Crest Middle School teachers

  • Blanton, M. (2012) Implementing the Focused Collaborative Cycle with Professional Learning Communities. Facilitated in-service professional development for Cleveland County Schools 6-12 grade teachers.

  • Blanton, M., Brogdon, B., Hardin, B., & Lineberger, J. (2012) Learning by Design. Presented to Cleveland County Schools Professional Development Lead Teachers. Please note that author/presenter order was not established therefore names are listed in alphabetical order.  

  • Blanton, M. (2012) Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) Small Group Program Training. Presented to Cleveland County Schools Title I teachers.

  • Blanton, M. (2011) Merging Phonics and Fluency. Presented at the James Love Elementary Intervention Faire to Cleveland County Schools Title 1 teachers

  • Blanton, M. (2011) Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) One-on-One Program Training. Presented to Cleveland County Schools Title I teachers

  • Blanton, M. (2010) Motivating Students with Repeated Readings. Presented to Casar Elementary School teachers

  • Blanton, M. & Kirby, J. (2010) Research-based Fluency Interventions. Presented to Casar Elementary School teachers

  • Blanton, M. (2010) Literacy Strategy Toolkit: Grades K-2. Presented at the Summer Strategy Stampede Conference for Cleveland County Schools teachers.

  • Blanton, M. (2010) Literacy Strategy Toolkit: Grades 3-5. Presented at the Summer Strategy Stampede Conference for Cleveland County Schools teachers. 

Local Presentations (for Parents)

• Blanton, M. (2012) Summer Reading Smack-Down. Presented to Title I parents and students

• Blanton, M. (2012) Extreme Makeover: Learning Styles Edition. Presented to Title I parents and students

• Blanton, M. (2012) Super Bowl Literacy Party. Presented to Title I male caregivers and male students

• Blanton, M.(2011& 2012) Fundamental Friday: What is phonics? Presented to Title I parents and students

• Blanton, M. (2011) Makeover Madness: Literacy Salon. Presented to Title I female caregivers and female students

• Blanton, M. (2011) Homework: What’s a Parent to Do? Presented to Title I parents and students

• Blanton, M. (2011) Comprehension Carnival. Presented to Casar Elementary School parents

• Blanton, M. & Thomas, K. (2010) Rev Up Your Reading: Making the Most of a Million Minutes. Presented Casar Elementary School parents

• Blanton, M. (2010) Be a Reading Detective. Presented to Casar Elementary School parents

• Blanton, M. (2009, 2010, & 2011) Ready, Set, Grow: Reading Aloud and Making Books Presented to Pre-Kindergarten Parents