By Angela Hase
It snowed again. Even though we are in April. And I already put away my winter jacket. The white flakes coating the ground are making me moony for summer. I am ready for rest and revitalization. One of my favorite summer teacher events to get this much-needed reset for the new school year is the North Dakota Council of Teachers of English Conference. When I think about all of the memories I have made over the years, it is easy to see how important this event is in my routine:
In 2013, Ryan Goble, author of Making Curriculum Pop, modeled what an effective inquiry-based lesson using collaboration would look like. At that moment in my teaching career, it was eye-opening. I understood what questions to ask students and how to structure group work to help them have purposeful discourse instead of just mindless talk. I still use his graphic organizers in my classroom.
In 2015, Penny Kittle led a morning writing group that I was fortunate enough to attend. She picked a prompt, wrote beside us, and shared her work. I wasn’t expecting her to actually read what she had written because it was just a rough draft jotted down in 10 minutes. I remember being impressed at her willingness to be vulnerable. The stakes were higher for her to share. She was the professional, after all. I thanked her for giving us that moment with her, and it inspired me to share more of my rough work in front of my students, a practice I continue today.
Last year, I arrived in great need. We were all emerging from isolation and drained from the online schooling world. I reconnected with teachers from across North Dakota, people I only see once a year, at this conference. Over the years, they have become my friends. We laughed and commiserated about the last COVID years. Surrounded by teachers sacrificing summer days, I found joy and passion. I left excited and refreshed.
These few examples do not begin to describe everything I have learned or taken from this conference. Nor have they even dived into the quality of speakers this conference books. I have learned from Kelly Gallagher, Jeff Wilhelm, Harvey Daniels, Donalyn Miller, and more.
This year's conference is set to be another great one. It features three keynote speakers:
NCTE co-sponsored speakers Lindsay Illich & Melissa Alter Smith, authors of Teach Living Poets
Poet Tanaya Winder
Dave Stuart Jr., author of These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most
I will be there, hopefully glowing from the summer sun, ready to learn and ready to reset.
If you’re interested in joining me, check out the registration information on NDCTE’s website.
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