Post on 15-Jun-2020
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Minnesota Council of Teachers of English
The Minnesota Council of Teachers of English is the Minnesota-based professional
organization for teachers of English and language arts at the elementary, middle,
secondary, and post-secondary levels.
MCTE is committed to providing quality professional development opportunities for
English teachers in Minnesota. The organization also advocates for best practices in
English/language arts in the public and the legislature, and promotes professional
growth opportunities for college students pursuing a career in English education.
MCTE also provides opportunities for publication through the Minnesota English
Journal and the Student Writing Journal. Finally, MCTE provides a forum for member
communication through our newsletters and website.
To learn more about MCTE, visit www.mcte.org
This program and related conference materials are available at our conference wiki: http://mcteresources.pbworks.com
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Minnesota Council of Teachers of English
Officers and Board Members as of January 1, 2014
Executive Board
President: Daryl Parks
President-Elect: Jennifer Kulm
Vice President: Sherri Larson
Past President: Andrew Burklund
Treasurer: Rachel Malchow Lloyd
Executive Secretary: Katie Kritzeck Anderson
Advisory Board
Assistant Executive Secretary: (VACANT)
Website Editor: Sandy Hayes
Newsletter Editor: Jodi Anderson Wolhaupter
Minnesota English Journal Editors: William Dyer & Scott Hall
Student Writing Journal Editor: Katie Kritzeck Anderson
Student Writing Chair: Audrey Thornborrow
English Education Chair: Jacqueline Arnold
College English Chair: (VACANT)
Two-Year College Chair: Jeff Stephenson
Secondary Section Chair: Jason Kaiser
Middle Level Section Chair: (VACANT)
Elementary Section Chair: Mike Borka
Department of Education Liaison: Charon Tierney
Membership Promotion Chair: Kathryn Campbell
Intellectual Freedom Chair: Jeremy Hoffman
Minnesota Writing Project Liaison: Jessica Dockter Tierney
Representative at Large: Daniel Muro Lamere
Representative at Large: (VACANT)
As we look to our hosting of the National Council of Teachers of English convention in 2015, we will need
help from our membership. Please attend our Member Social/Board Meeting Thursday afternoon (3:45
in the Harbor Room) to learn more about how to become involved in the work of MCTE.
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Have you “Liked” us on Facebook?
Check out the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English Facebook page and click “Like”!
This resource is a great place to collaborate with peers and keep
up-to-date on the latest MCTE information!
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MCTE Conference Schedule See schedule for room assignments.
Main Speakers, Breakfast, and Lunch will be in Lake Superior Ballroom.
Thursday, April 3
7:30-8:30 Registration – rolls, juice, and coffee provided
8:30 Welcome and introductions
8:40-10:45 Speaker: Dr. Ernest Morrell author, Critical Media Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in
City Schools and Linking Literacy and Popular Culture & NCTE President
10:45 Break (visit vendors tables; refreshments available)
11:00-11:50 Breakout Session 1
12:00-1:15 Lunch and Speaker: Jim Northrup author, Rez Salute, Walking the Rez Road, and Rez Road Follies
1:30-2:20 Breakout Session 2
2:20 Break (visit vendors tables; refreshments available)
2:35-3:25 Breakout Session 3
3:45-5:00 Member social & MCTE Annual Meeting – Harbor Room
Please join us to meet the MCTE board members and find out
how to become involved!
(Free appetizers, drinks available)
6:00 Dinner on your own
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Friday, April 4
7:30-8:30 Registration – rolls, juice, and coffee provided
8:30 Welcome and introductions
8:40-10:30 Speaker: Joyce Sutphen poet, House of Possibility and After Words & Minnesota Poet Laureate
10:30 Break (visit vendors table)
10:45-11:35 Breakout Session 4
11:45-1:10 Lunch and Speaker: Geoff Herbach author, Stupid Fast YA Series: Stupid Fast, Nothing Special, and I’m With Stupid
1:15-2:00 Round Table Discussion: Regarding Common Core
with Charon Tierney, Minnesota Department of Education Liason
Thank you for attending this year’s MCTE Spring Conference!
Safe travels home!
Mark your calendars and plan on joining us for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention
held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 19 – 22, 2015!
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Conference Speakers
Dr. Ernest Morrell – Thursday Morning Speaker
DR. ERNEST MORRELL is professor of English Education and
Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education
(IUME) at Teachers College, Columbia University. Morrell is
also the president of the National Council of Teachers of
English (NCTE) and a Class of 2014 Fellow of the American
Educational Research Association (AERA). Morrell was an
award winning high school English teacher and coach in
Northern California, and he now works with teachers and
schools across the country to infuse multicultural literature,
youth popular culture, participatory research, and media
production into standards-based literacy curricula and after
school programs. Professor Morrell is the author of 75 articles
and book chapters, as well as six books including Critical Media
Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools and Linking Literacy and Popular Culture.
In his spare time he coaches youth sports and writes poems and plays. Morrell earned his
Ph.D. in Language, Literacy and Culture from the University of California at Berkeley where
he received the Outstanding Dissertation Award.
Thursday Lunch Speaker – Jim Northrup
“I WAS BORN ON THE REZ, live on the Rez, will probably die
on the Rez. T'was a lot that happened in between but it was
just details, and from those details I make my stories.” Jim
Northrup writes a monthly newspaper column, the Fond Du
Lac Follies which is published in The Circle, The Native
American Press, and the News from Indian Country. In his
writings, he describes life on the reservation with candor and
wry humor. Northrup has published several stories and
collections including: Rez Salute, Walking the Rez Road, and
Rez Road Follies. He was named Writer of the Year in
syndicated columns for 2001 by the Wordcraft Circle of
Native Writer's and Storytellers for his column. Walking the
Rez Road was awarded a Minnesota Book Award and a Northeast Minnesota Book Award.
Northrup and his family live the traditional life of the Anishinaabe in northern Minnesota.
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Joyce Sutphen – Friday Morning Speaker
JOYCE SUTPHEN grew up on a farm in Stearns County,
Minnesota, and she teaches literature and creative writing at
Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Her first
collection of poems, Straight Out of View, won the Barnard
New Women Poets Prize; Coming Back to the Body was a
finalist for a Minnesota Book Award, and Naming the Stars
won a Minnesota Book Award in Poetry. In 2005, Red
Dragonfly Press published Fourteen Sonnets in a letterpress
edition. She is one of the co-editors of To Sing Along the
Way, an award winning anthology of Minnesota women
poets. Her fourth collection, First Words, was published in
2010; in 2012, House of Possibility, a letter press edition of
poems, was published by Accordion Press, and her latest collection, After Words, was
published in 2013. She is the second Minnesota Poet Laureate, succeeding Robert Bly.
Friday Lunch Speaker – Geoff Herbach
GEOFF HERBACH is the author of the Stupid Fast Young Adult series (Stupid Fast, Nothing Special, and I’m With Stupid). His books have won the Cybils Award for best YA Fiction and the Minnesota Book Award. They have been listed among the year's best by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, The Junior Library Guild, Booklist, and many state library associations. In the past, he wrote the literary novel, The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, produced radio comedy shows and toured rock clubs telling weird stories. His newest YA title, Fat Boy vs. The Cheerleaders, arrives in May of 2014. Geoff teaches creative writing at Minnesota State, Mankato. He lives in a log cabin with a tall wife.
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Breakout Session Schedule
THURSDAY: Breakout Session 1 (11:00 – 11:50) Room Presenter(s) Title Audience Description
Lake Superior
Andrew
Burklund Rasmussen College
Going Digital:
Creating Online Content &
Curriculum
Middle, Secondary &
College
As technology increases in all aspects of education, there’s an increasing need for
educators to create robust digital curriculum. Participants will learn about one
teacher’s journey to go fully digital and be given a high-level overview of the process to go online. In addition to exploring the pros and cons of moving curriculum online, this
session will highlight online projects such as discussion forums, blogs, YouTube
demonstrations, digital citizenship lessons, and web-based student portfolios.
Furthermore, this session will highlight the importance of transforming curriculum to
meet the changing needs of digital fluency in higher education.
Lyric Room I (Level 1)
Sandy Hayes Becker Middle
School
Charon Tierney MN Department of
Education
The Uncommon Core Standards
Elementary, Middle &
Secondary
Minnesota’s standards include unique
benchmarks in media production, media literacy, and student choice in reading and in
writing. We will illustrate some ways in which these standards support student skill, ethics, engagement, and creativity as well as bridge in-school and out-of-school literate practices. There will be time for audience
interaction.
Lake Erie
Catherine Ford
Simley High School
Christina Pierre White Bear Lake
High School
Ann Deiman-Thorton
Inver Hills Community College
Integrating Concurrent
Enrollment and the Common
Core
Secondary & College
Engage in dialogue with teachers and administrators who are involved with concurrent enrollment courses. In this
interactive presentation, learn about how teachers work towards implementing the common core into concurrent enrollment
classes and the role and perspective of administrators in this endeavor.
Lake Ontario
Scott Hall
Irondale High School & Anoka
Ramsey Community College
William Dyer
Minnesota State-Mankato
Minnesota English Journal:
ONLINE! General
The Minnesota English Journal is now ONLINE and INTERACTIVE! During this workshop, participants will learn about the new MEJ format, and interact with the articles and materials uploaded at our site. Bring an
internet ready device.
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THURSDAY: Breakout Session 2 (1:30 – 2:20) Room Presenter(s) Title Audience Description
Lake Superior
Sherri Larson
St. Michael-Albertville High
School
Discussing
Controversial Issues in the
Secondary Classroom
Middle & Secondary
Engaging middle and high school students in
meaningful classroom dialog can be difficult if teachers feel they need to avoid all potentially
controversial topics. This presentation will invite participants to share their own concerns
of censorship in the classroom. Rather than living in fear of critical phone calls and emails, we’ll discuss strategies to respectfully address important issues with students. Participants will leave with some simple lesson ideas to
invite and encourage honest dialog about topics that are very real to students—race, gender,
religion and politics included.
Lyric Room I (Level 1)
Emily Peterson Central High
School
Jesse Kwakenat Central High
School
The Omnivore’s
Dilemma for Young Readers:
Using High-Interest, Non-Fiction Text to
Engage Reluctant Readers
Middle & Secondary
This session will explore how to strengthen
cognitive engagement in struggling/reluctant readers through the use of high-interest, non-
fiction texts, specifically, The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Young Readers.
Lake Erie
Nancy Drescher Minnesota State -
Mankato
Anne O’Meara Minnesota State -
Mankato
Jacqueline Arnold
Minnesota State - Mankato
Writing Connections: Meeting CCSS,
Writing for the Academy,
Supporting all Learners
Middle, Secondary &
College
Jacqueline will review writing texts, present
strategies and share assignments for meeting the CCSS for writing. Anne will define five
“moves” of academic writing as outlined in Joseph Harris’s Rewriting (2006) and discuss
her students’ responses to practicing these moves. Nancy will discuss strategies, support
systems, and assignment modifications to meet the needs of ELL students in your classrooms –
in particular, some of the tools provided by WIDA Consortium.
Lake Ontario
Rachel Malchow
Lloyd Champlin Park
High School
Daniel Muro LaMere
Humboldt High School
Teaching Texts in a Post-
Colonial World Secondary
In this interactive session, two practicing
teachers share their experiences with and tools for teaching diverse literature in today's diverse classrooms. Texts discussed will include Shaun
Tan's The Arrival and Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. A
particular focus will be on adapting post-colonial theory for use with high school
students, and the ways in which teachers can meet and exceed the Common Core Standards
via critical literacy.
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THURSDAY: Breakout Session 3 (2:35 – 3:25) Room Presenter(s) Title Audience Description
Lake Superior
Susan L. Brooks Bethel
University
Just the Facts?
Finding and Exploring
Expository Texts that will Enhance, Not Replace, Your
Curriculum
Middle & Secondary
Do you sometimes feel that to bring expository texts into the classroom, you need to abandon
the engaging texts and activities that you already use? This session will provide
strategies for finding and incorporating expository texts that will enhance your
existing curriculum. Technology resource suggestions and handouts will be provided.
Lyric Room I (Level 1)
Dr. Cheryl Bostrom
Bethel University
Content Instruction for
English Language Learners
Elementary, Middle &
Secondary
Are you challenged with achieving outcome
goals for all of your students, including those who are non-native English speakers? Join us
as we discuss this challenge, and receive a copy of a Professional Learning Community
(PLC) initiative that creates a school environment in which English Learners (ELs)
can succeed.
Lake Erie
Jeff
Stephenson Anoka Technical
College
Teaching
Students to Argue and Counter-argue Using
Sources
Secondary & College
At its highest level, the Common Core’s
mission is to help prepare students for both a career and for college. Being able to avoid
plagiarism and incorporate borrowed information into a research paper or other
writing assignment is pivotal for college students’ success. Using the “I say/They say/I say” paragraphing model (adapted from Graff and Birkenstein’s They Say, I Say), this session will provide participants with an outline and an example of how to write paragraphs that establish the student’s own argument and address counterarguments incorporating
outside research. Time will be provided for participants to ask questions, modify or adapt
the handouts, and to develop assessment methods or grading rubrics for this activity.
Lake Ontario
Daryl Parks,
PhD Metropolitan
State University
Using Structured
Socratic Seminars
Middle, Secondary &
College
This highly engaging workshop will have you participate in a Socratic Seminar, a text-based discussion format that strengthens analysis,
inquiry, and speaking/listening skills. Following the seminar, we will reflect on its
careful structure, examine supporting handouts, and reflect on the potential of this approach in our classrooms. You’ll learn why my urban high school students used to plead for “one of those seminar things” on Fridays,
not a video. (NOTE: Our text will be Ray Bradbury’s “The Last Night of the World.” Feel free to read in advance, though not required!)
Don’t forget to join us for the Member Social and MCTE Meeting at
3:45 in the Harbor Room! Free appetizers, drinks available!
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FRIDAY: Breakout Session 4 (10:45 – 11:35) Room Presenter(s) Title Audience Description
Lake Superior
Kevin Sheridan John Glenn
Middle School
Betsy Dobbins John Glenn
Middle School
Close Reading
Instruction in a Reading
Workshop Structure to
Meet the Demands of the Common Core
Middle
This presentation will give participants
opportunities to: understand close reading and its connection to the CCSS more clearly, engage in a close reading
experience to see how this can look and sound with students in a reading
workshop structure, and learn ways to teach students how and when to read
closely.
Lyric Room I (Level 1)
Karla Smart-Morstad Concordia
College
Qualitative Classroom
Research: Story as Content and
Narration as Knowing
Middle, Secondary &
General
This presentation will empower teachers to see themselves as researchers in their
own classrooms. Qualitative research makes use of story as a way of knowing, as well as a mode of presenting content
(new knowledge). Understanding literary elements, as English teachers do, makes
for a perfect fit for designing, carrying out, and presenting descriptive, narrative
scholarship. Lecture with handouts and examples. Interactive presentation to
formulate research questions that lead to the use of story as investigative process
and story as new knowledge.
Lake Erie
Greg Heinecke Elk River Schools
Mary Alberts
Elk River Schools
Engaging
Students in Reading and
Writing Using Academic Language
Elementary, Middle &
Secondary
Participants will actively engage in
learning strategies that allow all students to gain an understanding of their reading
and be able to respond using academic language. Utilized strategies will include interacting with the text, writing a roving
paragraph, and speaking and listening through an inner-outer circle.
Lake Ontario
John Zdrazil West Central
Area Secondary
An Uncommonly
Good Homecoming Friday Lesson
Plan
Middle & Secondary
For those days on the school calendar
which guarantee classrooms full of high-energy, distracted, visiting-prone
students, here are a couple of evil teacher plots that just might harness and focus those kids and maybe even trick them
into talking about books and symbolism and other language artsy things.
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April 1, 2014
Daryl Parks, President
Minnesota Council of Teachers of English
Katie Kritzeck Anderson, Executive Secretary
Minnesota Council of Teachers of English
Dear Minnesota Council of Teachers of English:
I send greetings from the National Council of Teachers of English to you and to all those joining you at your
conference on April 3-4, 2014. NCTE applauds the efforts of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English in
making this conference possible as well as each participant’s contribution to the event and the development of
this profession.
Ongoing learning opportunities for teachers are vital for improving the teaching and learning of the English
language arts at all grade levels. Research shows that all students can achieve at high levels when they are taught
by teachers who are continuing learners, especially when teachers learn and share in teams with their colleagues
across the disciplines. This conference provides a way for teachers to continue their own learning so they can
share new ideas with their colleagues and work together with them to better support the learning of their
students.
As the only nationwide professional organization of English and language arts teachers, NCTE works to make the
teaching of English language arts more rewarding and more effective for all by providing professional learning and
sharing opportunities through the National Center for Literacy Education and its Literacy in Learning Exchange;
through its professional learning programs; through its books, journals, and position statements; and through its
conventions and meetings. In addition NCTE works with policymakers at all levels to insure they are aware of good
teaching and learning practices and consider these in the policies they make. I invite your membership in this
important organization.
Sincerely,
Millie Davis
Senior Developer, Affiliate Groups and Public Outreach
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SWJ – Student Writing Journal
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 2013-2014 STUDENT WRITING JOURNAL Do you have a student who deserves recognition for their writing? The Student Writing Journal, produced by the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, is a great place to highlight student’s writing online! The Student Writing Journal publishes writing by students in middle school and high school. We publish all types of writing from poetry and creative writing, to letters and articles. It doesn’t matter if the submitted writing was part of a school assignment or a student’s personal contribution. In addition, we are also interested in publishing teacher reflections on teaching writing or on an effective writing assignment with accompanying student examples. It is our sincere hope that in addition to celebrating the excellence of writing of Minnesota's students, the issue will provide teachers with models to use with their own students.
SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED YEAR ROUND.
(Issues run on a school year term, so the 2013-2014 issue should come out by the Spring of 2015.)
A submission form signed by both the student and a legal guardian must
accompany all submissions (handout in folder).
All submissions will be published as long as they follow school guidelines for
appropriateness. The only editing done to submissions may be for length.
If you have questions, comments, or concerns about the next issue of SWJ, please
contact the current SWJ Editor, Katie Kritzeck Anderson, at kkritzanderson@gmail.com.
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Minnesota English Journal Call for Submissions
Editors: Bill Dyer, Minnesota State University, Mankato Scott Hall, Irondale High School
MEJ, the online journal of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, publishes scholarly articles, personal narratives, opinion/position pieces on topical teaching issues, and pieces focused on pedagogical strategies of major interest to English and Language Arts teachers of all instructional levels. MEJ seeks to represent both quantitative and qualitative research—papers that are driven by classroom experiment, observation, description, anecdote, survey, interview(s), case study, and cross cultural comparison directly related to pedagogy, instructional research, content and curriculum, and literacy. MEJ will also value pieces that take positions on important current issues impacting those teaching as well as being taught in the classroom. MEJ’s audience consists of teachers from the elementary to the college level who want to learn more about effective teaching techniques, share their own classroom discoveries, and desire a platform for interacting with those who present their work. MEJ’s deadline for submitting articles for the 2014 issue will be a “ROLLING” one. We’ll be taking papers continuously throughout the year and publishing them regularly to refresh our content, given the dynamic and evolving magazine and blog-like nature of how we mean to proceed and represent submissions. Authors will be informed of the status of their submissions just as soon as we’ve read and commented on them, and we will actively interact with the authors throughout the editorial process. The journal will be published before April 1st, shortly before the MCTE Spring Conference will convene. The editors strongly encourage submissions be forwarded for consideration by September 1st in order to maintain the currency of MEJ’s content. A “comment” function will permit readers to actively engage with every piece we publish: (1) formal qualitative and/or quantitative research-driven articles, driven by theory, --survey-driven articles; case studies; classroom experiments; traditional scholarly articles on language, literacy, and literature; online or face-to-face pedagogy; bibliographical essays; etc. (2) researched and/or experiential “praxis” papers that run ten pages or more (3) short, informal pedagogical pieces, driven by personal experience in the classroom --“teaching tips,” or experiential pieces that come directly from a teacher’s (not always) successful attempts to address a specific classroom challenge; narratives by new teachers adjusting to their new classroom circumstances; effective methods for using technology in the classroom; methods for responding to student work; collaborative learning and how to manage it; requiring more student writing and how to manage the workload; matters of classroom assessment; interviews/conversations with mentor teachers, writers, or exemplary teaching professionals; management of classroom discussion; assembling teaching units that stimulate and succeed; efforts at enabling students to teach each other; creative projects of substance; effective strategies for helping students to use the internet responsibly and productively; etc. (4) opinion/position essays on issues of concern to those working in the profession, --writing across the curriculum; censorship; the role of testing in the educational process; the need for all teachers, at all levels, to continue to write in their disciplines and areas of interest; working in, with, and for the multi-cultural classroom; creative ways for public school teachers and college instructors to work in the same classroom and enrich the student experience in the process; making peer teacher evaluation a reciprocally constructive process; recognizing the teaching of English as the most important teaching endeavor; issues of educational policy; etc.
MEJ encourage pieces of all lengths, from a couple of paragraphs to thirty pages. Citation of sources (primary or secondary) should be done in accordance with the MLA Handbook for Writers for Research Papers, 7th edition. Contact Bill Dyer at straits@mnsu.edu and Scott Hall at scott.hall@moundsviewschools.org.
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NCTE AFFILIATE AWARDS Nomination Procedures
MCTE is proud to recognize members of our affiliate through the formal nomination and
recognition of two teachers who demonstrate excellence in the area of English Education. Award
winners must be or become MCTE members to be selected; NCTE membership, if not already in
place, is also recommended.
Nominations for the two awards are due to our local affiliate by April 25, 2014. The selection will
be made by the Awards Selection Committee of the current MCTE board. The award winners will be
announced at our next Spring Conference.
Below are the details for each of the two awards, as described on the NCTE website. More
information as well as the formal nomination forms are available at the NCTE website:
www.ncte.org/affiliates/awards.
How to nominate either oneself or a colleague: For Teacher of Excellence: Complete the
nomination form, complete a personal
recommendation to the MCTE board’s selection
committee, secure a résumé from the nominee,
and include two additional formal letters of
support as noted. These items become a part of
the recognition folder given at the convention.
Send these five documents via email as PDF or
word attachment(s) to sherril@stma.k12.mn.us
by April 25.
For Developing Leadership: Complete the
nomination form and enclose a personal letter
of recommendation to the board. The recipient
must be in his/her first 5 years of teaching. Send
these two documents via email as PDF or word
attachment(s) to sherril@stma.k12.mn.us by
April 25.
Note: to be selected, the nominee must be or
become an MCTE member ($30 or attendance at
fall or spring conference, which nominators may
choose to cover to ensure eligibility).
Teacher of Excellence Award Criteria: Each
affiliate is at liberty to select a person...in the
manner of its choice. An affiliate’s governing
board might acknowledge someone who has
previously won an award within the affiliate, or
the affiliate might advertise for applications for
nominations before choosing a winner.
Honoree Supporting Data: The affiliate contact
person is responsible for submitting the
honoree's résumé and signed letters of support
from at least TWO different constituencies –
principal, supervisor, chairperson, peer, parent,
or student – about contributions in the
classroom and excellent practices exhibited by
the recipient.
Leadership Development Award Eligibility: Any early career teacher (1-5 years experience) who has never attended an NCTE Annual Convention and who has demonstrated a capacity for professional leadership as well as a willingness to join and participate in the affiliate during the upcoming academic year.
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Upcoming MCTE and NCTE Opportunities
2014-2015
April 25: Deadline for nominations for the NCTE Teacher of Excellence and Developing Leader awards. Email nomination paperwork to sherril@stma.k12.mn.us
April 30 Deadline for the Norman Mailer Student and Teacher Writing Awards Check out http://www.ncte.org/awards/student/nmwa for details. April 30 Submissions due for MCTE Newsletter June 15 Deadline for NCTE Donald H. Graves Writing Award (K-6 Teachers) See www.ncte.org/awards/graves for ore details. July 2 Deadline for NCTE Student Literary Magazine Contest
See www.ncte.org/awards/student/PRESLM for details.
October 20 National Day on Writing October MCTE Fall Workshop – Check back for Presenter information!
Visit www.mcte.org and click on Fall Workshop for more details. November 20-23 NCTE Annual Convention, Washington, D.C.
See www.ncte.org/annual for details. February 13 Deadline for names submission to NCTE Student Achievement Awards in
Writing Contest (for 11th graders) See www.ncte.org/awards/student/aa for details.
February 13 Deadline for names submission to NCTE Promising Young Writers
Contest (for 8th graders) See www.ncte.org/awards/student/pyw for details.
April MCTE Spring Conference – Check back for more information! Visit www.mcte.org and click on Spring Conference for more details.
Plus, don’t forget to submit your students’ writing to the MCTE Student Journal and your articles to the Minnesota English Journal!
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MCTE Collaborative Partnerships Please ask your legislators to continue to fund the arts and humanities.
Minnesota Writing Project
The Minnesota Writing Project (MSP), housed within the Center for Writing at the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, is the local site of the National Writing Project. For the past eighteen years, MWP has been offering summer institutes, creating teacher-support networks, establishing partnerships with schools and districts, and working closely with the University to solidify support of the PreK-12 schools and improve writing at all levels. Believing that teachers can empower other teachers, members of the Project provide an environment in which teachers can learn from one another and then share that learning with others in their departments, schools, and districts. MWP Goals
To establish and sustain a network of teachers who write, teach, and learn with other teachers
To support teachers as writers and researchers To develop and disseminate best practices in the teaching of 21st century
literacies To assist districts and schools in meeting their literacy needs through
professional development To promote cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity within MWP To strengthen collaboration between the University of Minnesota and
Minnesota’s school districts and teachers To nurture connection with the National Writing Project and its Special Focus
networks For more information, please visit www.mwp.cla.umn.edu.
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RESOURCES FOR MIDDLE AND HIGH
SCHOOL TEACHERS!
READY OR NOT WRITING
The mission of the Ready or Not Writing Program is to increase chances for post-secondary writing success by increasing college-ready writing proficiency in high school. To achieve its mission, the Ready or Not Writing Program assesses and identifies levels of college readiness, alerts high school students of their writing tendencies, recommends strategies and resources for improvement and fosters communication among and between high school teachers, high school students, and college English instructors. Through the use of Ready or Not Writing, students have an increased chance for success in college.
"I think the rubric rating helped a lot. It allowed me to look over my essays, analyze what I did, and improve on
my writing." - Ready or Not Writing High School Student
STEP WRITE UP
Step Write Up invites 8th graders to submit a portfolio of their writing to high school language arts teachers who provide constructive feedback and support. Step Write Up readers also provide rubric ratings in five writing domains based on the "step" rubric aligned with the Common Core standards. The program's mission is to better prepare 8th graders for 9th grade writing tasks by fostering open and frequent communication among 8th graders, their teachers, and high school readers.
"I loved this resource…. I would love to be able to use this resource multiple times within a school year."
- Step Write Up 8th Grade Teacher
READY OR NOT READING
Ready or Not Reading provides personal feedback that helps high school students prepare for college-level reading. College and University reading educators provide teachers and students with targeted (personal) feedback on the student's comprehension of college subject area readings and with reading resources to help students improve. Students learn how well they use reading strategies and vocabulary knowledge in college-level English/language arts, history, mathematics, and science. Teachers receive data on student reading performance as well as strategies for using reading to improve student achievement in content areas.
Visit http://www.centerforcollegereadiness.org/ for more information or to sign up your school!!
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We look forward to seeing you again soon!
This program and related conference materials are available at our conference wiki: http://mcteresources.pbworks.com.
Plus, don’t forget to visit www.mcte.org to learn more about the
Minnesota Council of Teachers of English and how to become involved.