All Blog Posts (217)

First Full Day: NCTE 2009

What a day! Julie Andrew, Alfred Tatum, Linda Rief, Jim Burke, Stacy Somppi, Tiffanie Goff, and Tom Lynch not to mention all the other inspiring educators that I met between and within the NCTE sessions at this year’s annual convention in Philadelphia. To provide you some flavor of my day, let me share some of their words and ideas. Julie Andrews credited her father with giving her an appreciation of nature’s wonders. I didn’t know Andrew’s father was a teacher. She spoke of the education she… Continue

Added by dea conrad-curry on November 20, 2009 at 9:28pm — No Comments

LGBTQ - Classroom Activities & Unit Outline

Most of these documents came from the "Respect for All" Training of the NYCBOE LGBTQ Unit Outline.doc 4 I's of Oppression.doc… Continue

Added by Nathan Blom on November 19, 2009 at 9:05pm — No Comments

Bits Post: A Simple Starting Point for Visual Assignments

It’s easy to give students assignments that ask them to create posters, magazine covers, and billboards. It’s somewhat harder to make sure they have the technology support that they need to complete the project. If you’re looking for a very simple starting point for this kind of visual assignments, these web-based templates are a great find! Continue

Added by Traci Gardner on November 18, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Inbox Blog: The Secret to Teaching Literature

NCTE's 2009 Annual Convention in Philadelphia this week offers to inspire conversations about traditional and contemporary literature and to foster lively discussions of how we teach as well as what we teach. NCTE Inbox blogger Traci Gardner starts the conversation now by sharing her own secret to teaching literature in this week's NCTE Inbox Blog. Continue

Added by Traci Gardner on November 18, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

CEE National Technology Leadership Award Nominations for NCTE 2009

Greetings English Educators! I'm writing to encourage all of you to nominate top NCTE CEE presentations demonstrating innovative uses and integration of newer literacies and emerging technologies in teacher education for the CEE National Technology Leadership Award. An award winner is selected from the pool of nominees by the CEE Commission on Technology and Teacher Education. The winner then has the opportunity to share her/his presentation at the Society for Information Technology and… Continue

Added by Carl Young on November 17, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments

The LEARN act: Reading First on Steriods

The NCTE is supporting the LEARN act and asks NCTE members to support it. (http://www.ncte.org/action/alerts/learn) I do not support the LEARN Act. As described in the Senate Bill, the LEARN Act is Reading First expanded to all levels. It is Reading First on steroids. The methods required by LEARN are nearly identical to those promoted by NCLB and Reading First: "… systematic, and explicit instruction in phonological awareness, phonic decod… Continue

Added by Stephen Krashen on November 17, 2009 at 1:03am — No Comments

BITs Post: My Secret Weapon in the “Show, Don’t Tell” Battle

I’ve probably written “Show. Don’t Tell.” on several thousand papers. It’s always felt at least slightly disingenuous. After all, I tell students to show. Where’s the logic in that? Now I have a new tool for the arsenal. Continue

Added by Traci Gardner on November 16, 2009 at 7:20pm — No Comments

DON'T MISS: NCTE '09 New Media Gallery, Friday November 20

The NCTE Commission on Media invites you to visit/learn/engage/interact: New Media Gallery --Friday November 20 Convention Center/Room 202A, Level 2 9:30am Media Literacy Made Easy: Integrating Media and Technology into an English Classroom 11:00am News Literacy: Helping Students Learn to Read Between The Lines 12:30pm The English Classroom at Science Leadership Academy 2:30pm 21st Century Literacy Education: Report fr… Continue

Added by Frank W. Baker on November 16, 2009 at 2:26pm — No Comments

National Gallery of Writing -- reflections from a curator

As a curator of the National Gallery of Writing, I have had the privilege to read hundreds of submissions. For me, the submissions break down into a few categories: school assignments, memory writing (mostly from older participants), and cathartic writing (from older and younger participants). Unfortunately, as I was reading the entries, I neglected to record titles, authors or series numbers, so my recollections here cannot direct readers to specific submissions. The writing pieces that arrive… Continue

Added by Rick Chambers on November 15, 2009 at 7:39pm — No Comments

Need Help

Hey, Sorry if this isn't an appropriate place; I'm a little new to all this. I'm flying in on Thursday, and since it took me a while to get enough funds my hotel is about 22 minutes from the convention center. I figure someone else has to be out there in the middle of nowhere with me, and I was wondering if anyone had transportation figured out? I could chip in for gas, or go dutch on a taxi; I just can't afford to take a taxi everyday, and I don't know Philadelphia well enough to take the publi… Continue

Added by Meghan Harlan on November 13, 2009 at 7:01pm — 2 Comments

The National Gallery of Writing: Commitment to Literacy in Action

When I first heard about the National Gallery of Writing, I was excited about the idea of NCTE engaging in a large-scale project to highlight the centrality of authentic audience and publication in the writing process. I find that the Gallery has achieved that goal, as I’ve enjoyed my time spent browsing galleries that interest me and searching for entries by friends and colleagu… Continue

Added by Scott Filkins on November 13, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Bringing School to the 21st Century

I would like to invite you to participate in a 10-minute online survy on school curriculum. It is anonymous and the results will be used for education purposes only. You are invited to share your suggestions on how to better educate children for the 21st Century. Thank you for participating. Guofang Click Here to take survey Continue

Added by Fawn Wan on November 11, 2009 at 6:08pm — No Comments

Inbox Blog: What’s the Best Plagiarism Detector?

Should you look for a tool that ensures bibliographic citations are perfect? Can you help students avoid plagiarism by comparing their finished drafts to resources in a database or search engine? What is the best way to determine when a student plagiarizes? My answer is in this week's NCTE Inbox Blog. Continue

Added by Traci Gardner on November 5, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Teaching Media Literacy in the Classroom

As posted of Brenna Coleman in suite101.com: Students today have an unprecedented access to media; yet, media literacy education remains a relatively new development in education, particularly in elementary, middle school, and high school classrooms. Children use the internet both as a research tool and a social outlet; they listen to mp3's while sending text messages; they play video games with their next door neighbor, but also with the media savvy children who live on the other side of… Continue

Added by FelipeI on November 4, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

Greetings....

Greetings, I am looking forward to sharing my two decades of inquiry into the impact of art-based literacy on students reading and writing skills with you during the Nov. Convention. I will be presenting twice. On Friday, Nov. 20 from 4:00pm-5:15pm , I will be presenting a full 75-minute session with 2 colleagues--Dr. Sue O'Connor (a school administrator) and Susan O'Byrne (a classroom teacher and past District mentor). Linda Rief will be chairing our session. We are presenting Artists/Writers… Continue

Added by Beth Olshansky on November 4, 2009 at 2:00pm — 1 Comment

Summer HS News Literacy Teacher Institute

Become a News Literacy Fellow this summer at Stony Brook! Help pioneer a new course for high school and middle school students on how to know if you’re getting the truth from the news media! Work and study with a select group of journalists and faculty at the School of Journalism. The two-week immersion course, underwritten by the Ford Foundation, will include a condensed version of the university’s innovative News Literacy course, colloquia with journalism school lecturers and professional jour… Continue

Added by Frank W. Baker on October 30, 2009 at 8:35pm — No Comments

Questions for Junot Diaz

Junot Diaz, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, is our Thursday evening convention speaker. Diaz let us know that he enjoys responding to teachers' questions. As you pack your bags for Philadelphia, throw in a couple of "meaty" questions for the author! See you there, Carol Continue

Added by Carol Jago on October 29, 2009 at 7:47am — 2 Comments

Hotel sharing?

Hi All, I hope this is an appropriate place to ask this. Our affiliate is sending a young teacher as the Leadership Development Award winner to the conference in Philadelphia She's very excited but also concerned about costs. We can help a little, but she's from a small private school that can't support her beyond allowing her to attend, so this is a hardship for her. She was shocked to find the hotels are booked and also at the prices (and she's more than a little afraid of the big city too).… Continue

Added by Karen Johnson on October 27, 2009 at 11:02pm — 2 Comments

Media Literacy- Book Recommendations

Due to upcoming travel and other commitments, I am sending this annual list of recommendations early. Each year, around this time, I create a list of books about media and media literacy that might make great additions to your library, personal collection, or as a gift. The list can be found on the home page of my web site under NEW RESOURCES. Happy holidays. Frank Baker Continue

Added by Frank W. Baker on October 26, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Session L:26 "It’s the Context Not the Text: Engaging Students in Required Reading"

Here are the handouts for our session. We hope you can come, and if you do come, we hope you enjoy it. It’s the Context Not the Text: Engaging Students in Required Reading Continue

Added by Susanne Nobles on October 24, 2009 at 9:45am — No Comments