Annual Convention: November 16-19, 2023     
  • October 2022

    • Tag: NCTE Annual Convention

    The Learning Continues Well After the Convention!

    Date : 2022, 10 Oct | Category : Updates

    This post was written by NCTE member Kasey Short.

    This year will be my fifth year in a row attending the NCTE Annual Convention and I am counting down to November when I can attend in person for the first time since 2019. Every year at the conclusion, I leave energized to implement new ideas in my classroom, encouraged by speakers that challenge and inspire their audience, and hopeful for the future of English education.

    The Convention presenters challenge and inspire me both personally and professionally. I encourage everyone who attends an NCTE Convention to look for the sessions and speakers that interest them. The General Session keynotes always leave me feeling proud to be part of an organization and profession that can attract distinguished speakers who value the work being done by English teachers. Their presentations share valuable insights and motivate me to continue working toward improving my own practice in way that will positively impact my students.

    Memorable speakers from previous Conventions include Trevor Noah, Amanda Gorman, and Michelle Obama; this year I can’t wait to hear all the speakers, especially Yuyi Morales and Seema Yasmin. I am also looking forward to attending as many sessions designed and presented by educators and authors that I can fit in my schedule.

    There are always more sessions than time, but I start by looking for sessions that connect to topics I plan on teaching, ideas that I may be unfamiliar with but want to learn more about, and sessions that include authors whose work I enjoy.

    For this year’s Convention, I will keep openings in my schedule for making in person connections that I have missed the past few years at virtual conventions. I also follow the Convention hashtag (#NCTE22) on Twitter; last year I found this to be a great resource for learning about sessions and connecting with other educators.

    Attending an NCTE Convention is a great way to discover how to become more involved in the organization. A multitude of committees and publications provide opportunities for professional growth.

    One of the most memorable moments of my first NCTE Convention was listening to the Build Your Stack® sessions. I returned home with pages of book recommendations. I love books and sharing that love with students is one of my favorite parts of my job. Listening to those sessions and hearing other educators recommend books with the same level of excitement I feel inspired me to write a blog post for Build Your Stack and to present at one of the sessions the following year. I am now part of the Build Your Stack committee and enjoy every opportunity to meet with the Committee and to continue to help educators build their own stack of books to read and recommend to students.

    Each year that I have attended the NCTE Convention, I have returned to my classroom energized and in awe of how many innovative ideas, research-based strategies, and new resources I gained. While attending, I make lists to help me organize resources and ideas for my return to the classroom—general notes during sessions with ideas that interest me; “implement-now” notes; as well as a list of websites and books to revisit and read after the Convention. I also follow people on Twitter to make lasting connections.

    The learning continues well after the Convention!

    It is the policy of NCTE in all publications, including the Literacy & NCTE blog, to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the staff, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.


    Kasey Short earned a BA in middle school education from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a concentration in English and history. She earned a Master’s of Education in curriculum and instruction from Winthrop University. She the Middle School Director of Studies and an 8th grade English teacher at Charlotte Country Day School, North Carolina.

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    “I Think You’ll Find That There’s a Lot of Power at This Table!”

    Date : 2022, 20 Oct | Category : Updates

    This post was written by NCTE member Katie Wheeler.

    Twelve years ago, I attended my first NCTE Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida. On the plane ride there, I talked with the random man next to me. “It seems kinda like a meeting of the minds,” I said. “Teachers from all across the country gather to share ideas.”

    “So someday you’ll have to share your ideas there too then, right?” he asked.

    “I doubt I’m qualified,” I snorted, thinking back to a conversation with a principal about what he’d termed “my latest big idea.”

    The NCTE Convention was a meeting of the minds. I was amazed to share a roundtable discussion with Nancie Atwell and delighted, too, to learn from teachers who were rock stars in their own tiny towns and schools. It was encouraging to know that what I was doing may have been outside the norm at my own school but was definitely happening in other classrooms across the country. It was comforting to hold my notebook full of new ideas, strategies, and book recommendations.

    It was also exhausting. Exhausting to know that other teachers were fighting the same systems and limitations I was in order to better support their students. Up to that point, though, I’d felt alone in my exhaustion. I’d thought it was because I was doing something wrong, because I’d seen how it looked easier for others. The teachers who said, “Just tell me what to do.” The teachers who distributed the same worksheets year after year, easily recalling the lessons they’d memorized by heart.

    In contrast, I’d found myself in trouble for lessons and books that were too edgy. The volume of our classroom was often not contained within our walls. And I didn’t think it was right for anyone to tell me what to do unless they were willing to spend time in our classroom, living daily life beside us. It was at the NCTE Annual Convention that I first found others who not only believed and taught the same things I did but had the courage to talk about it. When I discovered that their exhaustion and mine were the same, it didn’t make me any less tired, but it did make me brave. Brave enough to share the stories of our students and their lives with others. Brave enough to call for support that teachers need in order to honor the lives our students live.

    My last night in Orlando, I gathered with a group of colleagues from the Iowa Writing Project. As they talked about the madness of our profession balanced with the life choices of children, partners, hobbies, and obligations, I sighed my exhaustion. My mentor and colleague Jim Davis leaned over, waiting to hear my thoughts. “How does anyone do this for a lifetime?” I asked.

    Jim paused, maybe to gather his thoughts, but likely listening to hear if I had more. Then, breaking our silence, he spoke: “I think you’ll find there’s a lot of power at this table.”

    Jim was right. The power of smart, resilient teachers coming together is immense. It is a force that has sustained me through years tougher than I’d imagined possible. It is why I keep coming back year after year.

     

    Katie Wheeler is a teacher at McCormick Junior High in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Unfiltered thoughts, awkward talk, and raunchy jokes are just a few reasons why she has chosen to spend all seventeen years of her teaching career in middle school.

     

    It is the policy of NCTE in all publications, including the Literacy & NCTE blog, to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the staff, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.

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