NCTE 2011: Chicago

I have so much to share from my short, but super busy time in Chicago for the 2011 NCTE National Convention. Lots of buzz about Common Core [which I’m currently writing curriculum for as my school is going full CCGPS next semester] and “tools” [which if you’ve followed along with my thoughts, you’ll find I love tools but have a problem when it comes to focusing on tools (if that makes sense)].

Be on the look out for my reflections on the Convention AND for some thoughts on the semester this year. I know I haven’t posted as much as I should be [I need to work on getting my handwritten notes turned to posts on here], but my goal is to write much, much more! Also, I want to share with you some notes of thanks that my students gave to me before the Thanksgiving break. These notes were a reminder that the little things truly do matter the most.

Hope you all are refreshed after your breaks and ready to head into the homestretch of the semester!  Only 10 full days of school left for me! [read: where in the WORLD did this semester go?]

Hello, Chicago!

Very excited to be in Chicago for the NCTE 2011 National Convention!

This year, I’m presenting on how digital literacy narratives bring a classroom together [and how Third Space Theory is intertwined in our students’ reading/writing practices].

Will definitely be sharing things that I learn with you all once I have time to reflect and write:]

You call THAT reading?

I keep thinking about two specific comments from my AP Lit workshop that I am struggling with in regards to adolescent reading and writing practices today. When I first started researching new literacies and the ways in which students (and really all of us) are becoming increasingly multiliterate, I truly believed that “Literacy as we know it is not in a crisis, but instead evolving as we know it.” This belief still holds true today as I think the majority of kids are reading and writing, a lot, just not in ways that the traditional classroom has always valued.

With my belief in place, I think many of you will see why the two comments below got my attention…

Thoughts on AP Lit Workshop

During the AP Lit workshop I attended a bit ago, I truly learned about a lot of different techniques and resources that will be VERY helpful for me not only with my new prep (AP Lit, of course!), but also with my other classes as well. I have to admit that I have been a bit nervous about the transition from AP Lang to AP Lit…however, I was reminded that though there are differences between the two classes, reading is reading and writing is writing. And it’s true. Helping kids become more critical thinkers, readers, and writers is key in all of my classes no matter what the title of it is.

One thing I really liked a lot

Philly!

I recently headed to Philadelphia for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference. Through my experiences with ISTE, I’ve already been lucky enough to meet a ton of other educators from all over at the conference (and virtually) who are using technology in really neat ways!

A goal of mine is to help other young educators connect with the ISTE Young Educator Network. Too often my colleagues say, “Oh, that’s not me! I’m not tech savvy like you!” However, the reality is that this network isn’t about how “tech savvy” you are, but instead it’s a place to share ideas and gain confidence in utilizing technology in the classroom to enhance what you are already doing in it. One of the ideas I brought up at the conference was to host a Twitter “chat” (like #engchat) to help extend the conversation of the YEN. We’ll see how it develops … maybe even joining the conversation of the #ntchat sometimes, too! (By the way, if you aren’t branching into all of the edu chats going on, you should do so. It’s a great way to not only network, but have instant PD!)

Below, you can watch me and all of the other award winners during the opening Awards Ceremony. It was a huge honor to be named one of the Emerging Leaders for 2011! Enjoy!

NCTE Day 4: Final Thoughts

I left for the NCTE National Convention looking forward to coming back refreshed, loaded with new ideas, and reaffirmed that many of my beliefs on teaching English today were shared by educators from all over.

I came back home with all three of these things accomplished.

The Convention has become a place where I have grown as an educator and had the opportunity to meet so many influential people to work with, learn from, and talk about everything related to teaching English with. And, needless to say, I’m looking forward to next year’s gathering, too!

Thanks, everyone! See you in Chicago!

NCTE Day 3: Teachers are learners, too!

And isn’t this the truth!

The day started off with one of the NCTE author strands with some of the big names in our field (Sara Kajder, Deborah Appleman, and Bob Fecho to name a few). I really suggest checking out this series as I’ve already checked out Kajder and Appleman’s books and know the rest will be great, too, if these are any indication. Another point that hit me when I listened to these authors talk is that researching and teaching DO go hand in hand (read my previous struggle/thoughts here). And I absolutely believe that they SHOULD.

The next talk I attended was another great one that dealt with Google. (However, I’d have to say that many people were still talking about the “tools” and not the “whys” and “implementation.” See previous note here about my thoughts on moving this mindset.) The presenters all praised the Google Teacher Academy as they participated in the program (note: I only wish it weren’t half way across the globe this year or I would absolutely LOVE to submit an application! just have no idea how I would EVER find the funds for that trip).

One of the biggest things I liked with this presentation was the idea of using Google Docs to have kids collaborate, publish, and share as link to others (note: I’m thinking it would sort of look like this example shared by Jim Burke here — which will lead me to another blog post in a bit on the idea of multimedia essays). In addition, I liked the idea of sharing lesson plans within a department using docs (and ties into my thoughts here on collaboration).

NCTE Day 2: Everyone has a story to tell

And it’s true. I do. You do. Our students do, too.

The day started off with the opening session highlighting Erin Gruwell which was pretty neat for me considering I loved the movie. Her talk was very inspiring for all of the teachers in the room; she reminded us to never say never and be sure that each of our own stories (and our students’ stories) were heard.

Another talk I visited talked about strategies to get kids reading more and ultimately “reading their lives.” I liked the idea of generating questions from each student’s own life that he/she uses while reading text. I think that it would certainly

NCTE Day 1: It’s about literacy practices — not tools.

I’m backtracking a bit here, so I plan on going back through my NCTE notes and posting some thoughts from the talks I attended.

Reports from Cyberspace inspired the tag line for this post: “It’s about literacy practices — not tools.” Too often I think teachers get caught up in the tools aspect without ever thinking behind the “so what?” ideas about the implementation. I’d really like to see this mindset change within more classrooms. This mindset NEEDS to change within classrooms. Tools come and go. However, the practices that our kids are engaged with remain (and evolve into multiple forms).

Two other thoughts from this talk (and Middle Level)…I love the idea of creating a video process essay. We have a “snapshot” of essays that my seniors practice leading up to their graduation second semester. I think this would work really well (and, as I’ve stated before, may work well with cross-curricular collaboration). Also, Because Digital Writing Matters is definitely on my must read list.

Finally, be sure to check out Digital Is.

 

My “official” NCTE recap

As I mentioned before, I haven’t stopped reflecting about NCTE. In fact, if anything I keep realizing more and more how important reflection is…And with that said, let me officially recap my NCTE experience.

To start off, I attended the opening session with Teri Lesesne in which I got a ton of ideas for YA Literature for my students. The idea of moving kids from book to book, creating a “reading ladder,” so we don’t lose them is one that has stuck with me. And stemming from the idea behind creating reading ladders led me to think about writing ladders and how we engage, challenge, and keep students as active writers, too. I think new technologies aid in the ladder for writing, such as blogs and yes, even texts and tweets! In the end, however, it’s all about finding connections for our students to help them see they are already active readers and writers in their every day lives (and this is something I feel very strongly about which you all already know!).

Another interesting idea that I am still pondering after one of the sessions…how do the ideas behind