Motivating and inspiring Michigans English Language Arts teachers.

In This Issue January 2013

A message from Rosie Nedry, eMet editor
Responding to Tragedy in Schools MCTE Spring Conference Commentary on Testing Whats new from NCTE message from President Ernest Morrell Library of Michigan Offerings Writing opportunity for high school students Urban Literacies Institute MCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award Teacher Spotlight MCTE Region MapWhere are you in MCTE?

As we begin this new year, many may be thinking were on the downhill slide toward summer vacation, or at least headed for Spring Break! With all the opportunities for professional development workshops, conferences, webinars, etc. along with the daily rigors of teaching, it may sound overwhelming for us to ask, Where are you in MCTE? There are several BIG ways to become involved in MCTE, the professional organization for English teachers in Michigan. However, there are many less stressful ways to become involved and to experience the camaraderie of this very special group of people. First, READ! We ask that you thoroughly review the articles in this edition of the eMet. Also, you can gain insight from the articles in the LAJM (Language Arts Journal of Michigan). If you are a member of NCTE and subscribe to journals from them, read to gain information for use in your own classrooms, to conduct research, and perhaps even contribute your own article for publication. Another way to be involved is to attend and participate in professional development offered through your MCTE Regional Coordinator. If you dont know who that person is, please locate your Region on the map on page 12, then locate your Coordinator on the last page of this newsletter. (Remember, your Region is determined by your workplace, not your residence.) There youll find your Regional Coordinators name and email address. One more way to consider yourself involved in MCTE is to practice your profession to the absolute best of your ability. Our reputation as educators stands on the actions of all of us. If you have questions, please email your Regional Coordinator he or she will be happy to hear from you! Or, please email me at rnedry@gmail.com.

Happy New Year!

Offerings from the Library of Michigan

The 2013 Letters about Literature and River of Words programs are starting. The Library of Michigan is sending a letter and entry forms to public and school libraries and we hope you will participate or encourage children and teens to participate on their own. The 2013 submission deadline will be January 11, 2013 for Letters about Literature and February 1, 2013 for River of Words. You can find more information below and at www.michigan.gov/youthlibraryservices.
Letters about Literature (www.lettersaboutliterature) is an annual program from the Library of Congress. This national reading-writing contest invites readers in grades 4 through 10 to write letters to authors of books that have changed their lives. This program gives students the opportunity to reflect deeply on a book.

2013 Letters about Literature Entry Coupon - Entry Form for Schools, Libraries or Individuals

Letters about Literature FAQ and Rules Letters about Literature Lesson Plans

River of Words (www.riverofwords.org)

provides tools for teaching environmental literacy - the understanding of the natural world around us - to children, teens, and teachers through art and poetry. It includes an annual poetry and art contest for students (ages 5-19) and curriculum for teachers. The program and contest promote literacy, creative expression, and community awareness of critical environmental concerns, especially water. River of Words Entry form

A reminder that the deadlines for Letters about Literature and River of Words are right after the holidays. If your students are participating, best of luck to them!
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The Best Midwestern High School Writing: A Celebration and Recognition

Writing well is a valuable artistic and communication skill often overlooked in an increasingly technology-focused world and a skill worthy of development and recognition. The Best Midwestern High School Writing: A Celebration and Recognition is a writing competition sponsored by the Lee Honors College and the Department of English at Western Michigan University and supported by the Third Coast Writing Project. This competition presents a unique opportunity for young writers to acquire the personal satisfaction and esteem that comes from writing well and receiving public recognition. The competition invites high school teachers to nominate students whose manuscripts are deemed worthy of submission to the competition. Eighteen prizes are available to the top three students in each of three categories, fiction, non-fiction and journalism, in two distinct age groups. As an added incentive, nominating teachers of prize-winning students will receive a stipend to use for classroom resources. Winners will be announced and awards given in March 2013. All winning manuscripts will be published in the The Laureate, the literary journal of the Lee Honors College. Open to students in grades 9-12 in MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, OH. Submission deadline: January 10, 2013 For full details and to enter students, visit: www.wmich.edu.honors/writing/

Urban Literacies Institute for Transformative Teaching

ULITT 2013: February 22-24, Michigan State University

In winter of 2013, CAITLAH will partner with the MSU Writing Center to sponsor the Urban Literacies Institute for Transformative Teaching. Expect more of everything--more speakers, more workshops, more performances, more transformative learning! ULITT, designed to support teachers, educators, youth organizers, community leaders and activists in cultivating social justice and hip-hop pedagogy, embraces the Freirian student-centered model and aims to explore critical issues affecting today's youth. Using the power of spoken word poetry and hip-hop as the lens to explore language and privilege, participants will learn best practices from professionals in key fields of urban education, youth development, and community activism.

Click Here To Register for ULITT 2013! Click here for the ULITT 2013 Schedule
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NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence Award

In November, Jared Morningstar - English teacher at Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy - attended the 102nd annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was presented with the NCTE High School Teacher
Celebrating Jared's award at the Tropicana in Las Vegas- pictured from left, CEE Executive Board member Doris Williams-Smith, and MCTE members Kia Jane Richmond, Jared Morningstar, Sal Barrientes, Dana Calloway, and Mary Anna Kruch

Jared, a proud MCTE member, teaches English Language Arts for grades 9-12 at Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy. He also is the co-advisor of ICONS - his school's art and writing publication, which has won numerous national awards. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing with a minor in History from Saginaw Valley State University in 2005. He later earned his secondary teacher certification through SVSUs ACE Program in 2007. Before teaching at SASA, he taught 9th and 10th grade ELA at Arthur Hill High School.

If you are a teacher of grades 9-12, your students are eligible to participate in the 51st Annual Michigan Youth Arts Festival Creative Writing Awards Program. The Michigan Youth Arts Festival Creative Writing Awards recognize English Language Arts Programs and showcase young writers in Grades 9-12. Teachers who are current members of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English may submit the work of any Michigan secondary student (grades 9-12), completed after February 3, 2012, in the genres of poetry, fiction, or drama. Submission deadline: February 4, 2013. For more information about how you can help your students to participate in the MYAF Creative Writing Awards Program, please go to this web site: http://www.michiganyoutharts.org/festival/participation/creative-writing Guidelines for this year's MYAF program can be found at http:// www.michiganyoutharts.org/pdf/2013CreativeWritingMergeGuidelines.pdf
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Education is about Learning; Not Testing

by MCTE Middle School Chair & Boyne City Middle School Teacher, Dan Polleys and Petoskey High School Teacher, Glen Young

While teachers in Chicago have returned to the classroom, the recent teachers strike has raised many educational issues. The most important and pressing is the universal reliance on standardized tests to evaluate the nations school children. Until assessments authentically evaluate students' abilities to creatively adapt to the shifting work environments they will inhabit, such tests are incapable of usefully gauging progress. Additionally, high stakes tests result in children doing less writing and critical thinking, while greater emphasis is placed on choosing the best multiple choice answer. Work skills for the twenty-first century demand students to write, think creatively, collaborate, and innovate, while standardized tests reduce thinking to the equivalent of soundbites. Teachers have never been opposed to utilizing useful data. Assessments have value when they are carefully written and replicate what students will find in the world outside of school. When this is the case, teachers do not object. When tests waste instructional time, however, teachers will resist to protect the learning environments of our children. What educators find most infuriating, as would workers in any field, are the slippery slopes of reform where what was championed last year is trumped by this year's version of necessity. Solid practices, like portfolio review or performance assessment, that provide useful results does not change with each new change in leadership. Simultaneously telling students that no one can fail and using standardized tests to evaluate teachers more critically than students is an exercise in Orwellian double speak. Certainly, educators need to do a great job and be held accountable. Smart communities have always realized that education is a partnership between parents, teachers, and students. When one of these pieces is compromised, children have difficulty achieving educational goals. Exemplary schools also realize that excellent teaching cant be evaluated by only one measure: school leader observations, community participation, colleague observations, and data collected by educators are also essential when considering the body of work that each educator does.

Dan Polleys

Unions sometimes get a bad rap because the public believes teachers mindlessly follow hollow dictates. As parents and as educators, our ideas are cut from decades in classrooms, as well as professional development seminars, where the goal is always whats best for kids, even when politicians sometimes forget what kids need. Bureaucrats void of these experiences are instead beholden to testing behemoths like Pearson, whose business model is built upon selling more and more to assess less and less.

Glen Young

Do Google and Ford need engineers who are math savvy? Absolutely. But they need employees who are collaborative and innovative, something not possible to measure on a test such as the MEAP or the Michigan Merit Exam. These exams instead serve only the business interests of companies such as Pearson and the like, which create these throwbacks. President Obama has championed almost $1 billion dollars to develop a new national test. Earlier national efforts also earmarked precious billions of dollars on such assessments. The truth is, the testing industry is being subsidized and wastefully sanctioned by the federal government. Are American taxpayers reaping a benefit from such expenditures? We dont think so.

Teacher Spotlight
Her name is Kathy Drake. She is a wife and mother to three-year-old Elizabeth. She wears various hats at Jonesville High School where she has taught Language Arts for 14 years. Kathy has also taught sociology, psychology, World History, and Social Injustices. And, if that isnt enough, she has been the National Honor Society adviser for 13 years and the quiz bowl adviser for 12 years, with her team going to State four different times. As you can see, she didnt waste any time jumping in with both feet at the very beginning of her career. Kathys biggest strength is her genuine kindness and concern for her students. She truly listens to them. She strives to infuse humor into her teaching because she says, So much of the literature I teach seems depressing. For example, this year my English 12 students were reading Hamlet, and while we discussed themes and literary devices,I also tried to get the students to see the lighter side of Hamlet and to appreciate the language, the innuendoes, etc. I feel like the students did a great job with the play. Have you ever tried a character scrapbook? Kathy likes to do this with different plays. She has also had students create books of satire, in which they find different examples of satire in the media. However, what Kathy really wants her students to learn before they leave high school is how to analyze, whether it is poetry, prose, or other forms of media. I find that if students can analyze poems, they can analyze other works as well. A new college freshman, Kayla, e-mailed Kathy and thanked her for the strategies she taught them, and for doing all the analyses. Kayla is using Kathys strategies in her college classes. An interesting strategy Kathy uses is called TPCastt. She learned this strategy from an AP workshop. If you are interested in this strategy, email me at pamburrell@dmcibb.net or Pamela.burrell7@gmail.com. Thank-you, Kathy, for your dedication to the high school students at Jonesville High Schoolour future.
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Whats new from NCTE?

You are invited to submit a program proposal for the 103rd NCTE Annual Convention: (Re)Inventing the Future of English November 2126, 2013
ONLINE PROPOSALS must be received by midnight, January 18, 2013. Surface mail PROPOSAL FORMS must be postmarked by January 11, 2013.
NOTE: Faxed proposals will not be accepted.

Invitation from Program Chair, Ernest Morrell

We stand at a crossroads where we must simultaneously champion and transform the discipline of English in a rapidly changing world. How do we effectively entertain the external pushes from political, economic, technological, and cultural forces to fundamentally reconsider what and how we teach without compromising our commitments and our values? Read more . . .
Visit the Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau to get familiar with the area.

ALSO from NCTE

Resource Kits

NCTE Resource Kits are one of many professional development opportunities offered by NCTE. Other options include the Consulting Network, Pathways Program and Web Seminars. Based on the NCTE Guideline, Principles of Professional Development, all of these work together to provide the tools, resources, and support that teachers need to make a positive impact on student learning.

What Teachers Leaders are Saying

This kit turned a two-day workshop into a year-long study group for me and my colleagues! NCTEs Resource Kits are ideal for study groups or professional learning communities wanting to explore important topics in English language arts instruction. Coaches, instructional facilitators, staff developers and other teacher leaders will appreciate the framing text that combines key questions with readings, activities, and classroom applications, all based on best practices in adult learning principles. The resources have been hand-selected by NCTE leaders and include journal articles, lesson plans, books, position statements, and more. The organizing materials help teacher leaders form study groups and then guide participants through the learning design. The Resource Kits allow participants to deeply explore, discuss, and investigate a topic to improve their knowledge and instruction and improve student achievement.
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More from NCTE

Dear MCTE Colleagues, It isnt too early to start thinking about next years NCTE Annual Convention, "(Re)Inventing the Future of English," November 2126, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. View the Call for Program Proposals, plan with colleagues, and submit your proposal online before the January 18 deadline. The full program proposal can be found using the links above. Below is page one of the PDF. Composed by our new NCTE President, Ernest Morrell, it is a stunning call to rethink and reinvent our pedagogy and curriculum in our rapidly changing educational landscape.
We stand at a crossroads where we must simultaneously champion and transform the discipline of English in a rapidly changing world. How do we effectively entertain the external pushes from political, economic, technological, and cultural forces to fundamentally reconsider what and how we teach without compromising our commitments and our values? How do we juxtapose our traditional commitments to teaching the greatest works of literature in the English language with newer challenges to incorporate informational texts, participatory media technologies, popular culture, the teaching of research, and oral language development to name a few? Our generation of English teachers, as others before us, must reevaluate what we do, how we do it, and why it is all still necessary. In a world where we are told the book is a dying relic and that the word is giving way to the image some of our pressing questions include: Why do we insist on teaching the novels, poems, and plays of people who are long since perished; works of fiction and drama written by people who may have held problematic and politically incorrect worldviews that implicitly demeaned the students who are now asked to read and cherish them? Why does the English classroom look so similarly to what it did a generation ago when the world of literacy is so rapidly changing? Should English teaching change as the population of students change? If we hold on to the teaching of literature as a primary focus, what literature should be taught and what approaches to literature should students be encouraged to undertake? Should we amend our priorities in English education as the communications technologies transform to make life utterly unrecognizable to the worlds that many of our canonized authors inhabit? And what in English is sacred and untouchable? What is essential at the elementary and secondary levels? How does it relate, if at all, to English as defined and taught in undergraduate and graduate level seminars at our colleges and universities? and, in the spirit of the Japanese concept of Kaizen, or continuous improvement, what can we can do to be more powerful, more relevant, and yet retain our character and traditions? In short we have to envision what powerful English teaching looks like in todays classrooms as we prepare to invent the future of the discipline. When thinking about these pressing questions I am taken back to an interview that I had during my senior year of college over 20 years ago. I was participating in an obligatory interview session as part of the application process for my universitys teacher education program. In response to the perennial question (why English teaching and why you) I offered all of the reasons that any relatively successful undergraduate English major of my era would provide; a love of the text, a love of writing, giving students the gift of language and I was stopped mid-flow by the interviewer who kindly reminded me, You dont teach English, you teach students English. That reprimand has stayed with me all these years and it informs my thinking as well as my practice. Truly powerful English must exist as a transaction between our students and the worlds of the past and present as represented through a myriad of texts and genres. our central task is to ascertain what our students want and need from us in this rapidly changing world and what, from the discipline of English, makes the most sense to give them? There are questions of what (curriculum), how (pedagogy), and why (college access, jobs, civic engagement, personal emancipation, or creative production) that need to be continually asked and answered by English teachers across the pre-K16 spectrum as we work together to understand our students, the changing nature of literacy, and the power of language in our moment in time. I look forward to receiving your proposals and continuing this rich and essential dialogue as we prepare to navigate our second century as an organization. Ernest Morrell National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 www.ncte.org

Responding to Tragedy in Schools: Supporting Teachers and Students

Response to Newtown, CT
On Monday Blog post by NCTE Member Kylene Beers No Ordinary Monday Responsive Classroom Resources: Talking and Teaching About the Shooting in Newtown, Conn. "The Learning Network," The New York Times, December 14, 2012 8 Ways to Show Your Support for Newtown edudemic.com

"Literacy teachers, working with community members and educators across a school system, have a special responsibility in the wake of school tragedy. They help students build empathy and understanding through reading literature, informational texts, and multimedia accounts of events in and around their school. They help students gain perspective by learning to place events in cultural, social, and historical contexts. And they help students organize evidence so they can write persuasively about changes that will promote safety, security, and healing. "In a time where violence and social disruption do not stop at the school house door, NCTE honors the vital work of literacy educators, and all who collaborate with them, to advance learning under the most difficult circumstances." -- Sandy Hayes, NCTE President

How Literature and Writing Support Healing

Difficult Days and Difficult Texts Voices from the Middle, Vol. 9, No. 2, December 2001 Writing Down the Grief Huffington Post blog written by NCTE Member Lori Ungemah, May 23, 2012 Teaching in a Time of Crisis NCTE Resolution

Lesson Plans
Responding to Tragedy: Then and Now Lesson plan from ReadWriteThink.org Reflecting on Tragedy in the Classroom NCTE INBOX Ideas, August 30, 2011 Stories and School Violence NCTE INBOX Ideas, April 17, 2007 Peace from Within: Teaching Texts That Comfort and Heal English Journal, Vol. 89, No. 5, May 2000 Writing through a Tragedy English Journal, Vol. 93, No. 6, July 2004 I Have a Dream: Exploring Nonviolence in Young Adult Texts Lesson plan from ReadWriteThink.org

Helping Students in a Time of Crisis

Helping Youth and Children Recover From Traumatic Events Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools, U.S. Department of Education Resources for Coping With the Newtown School Tragedy Education World Helping Kids during Crisis American School Counselor Association School Resources National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center Talking with Children Free Technology for Teachers

Working with Parents and Community Members

Doctor Advises Adults on How to Talk with Children about Connecticut School Shooting Cincinnati Children's Hospital News Release, December 14, 2012 Parent Guides National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center

Michigan Council of Teachers of English 2013 Spring Conference

Whats Common to Your Core?

Saturday, March 16, 2012
Shepherd, Michigan (4 miles south of Mt. Pleasant)

Supported by MCTE Region 6 & Shepherd Public Schools

A Conference to Spark Grand Conversations

Join us for an interactive professional development opportunity designed for teachers K-University to engage us in collegial conversations that will renew, refresh, and revitalize our commitment to teach. Please join us for five stellar presentations each followed by a round table conversation addressing critical issues facing Michigans teachers. Our inspiring speakers are nationally known Michigan teachers and scholars:
Jonathan Bush, Western Michigan University Director, Third Coast Writing Project
How might we understand the ELA teachers role in becoming a leader in writing and literacy for teachers in other disciplines in the era of the Common Core?

Cathy Fleischer, Eastern Michigan University Co-Director, Eastern Michigan Writing Project
Going public with our knowledge: Exploring the power and potential of teacher research and family literacy projects in action.

Diana Mitchell, formerly of Michigan State University Founding Co-Director, Red Cedar Writing Project
The Power of Story to Inform Our Choices: Our worldview is affected by the literature we read; how can story inform the classroom choices we make in the time of the Common Core?

Susan Steffel, Central Michigan University Founding Co-Director, Chippewa River Writing Project
Feed the Need: How do we as teachers address our own needsprofessionally, personally, politically during this time of the new Common Core?

Janet Swenson, Michigan State University Director, Red Cedar Writing Project
Engaged, Experiential Learning: Envisioning how connected learning helps us mine the potential of social and digital media domains during these challenging times.
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Please come join us for an engaging and affirming professional conversation:

Whats Common to Your Core?

When: Saturday, March 16, 2013 Where: Shepherd High School, Shepherd Public Schools (Directions below) Time: 8:00 am 9:00 am Registration and breakfast Program Begins: 9:00 am Program formally ends: 2:00 pm

Cost: $79.00 per teacher; Cost for College Students: $20.00 (for pre-service teachers) All teachers may register for SBCEUs on site for a cost of $5.00 per person. All Paid Participants will receive: Breakfast, luncheon, door prize drawing, conference materials, and an opportunity to shop for professional texts with Cornucopia Books
How to Register: Option 1: Online: Teachers may register on the MCTE ning: http://mcte.info/ Option 2: By mailing a check or money order: All teachers or students may pay by snail mail Please make your check out to: MCTE Please mail your check to Toby by March 1, 2013 at: Toby Kahn-Loftus 3741 Big Marsh Road East Jordan, Michigan, 49727 Students may register online with Toby at tobykahnloftus@gmail.com and arrange to bring their cash or check to Toby in person the day of the conference. Teachers who need to register late may also email or call Toby. Tobys Cell: 231-330-5804 Because we must prepay for food, there are no refunds. Where is Shepherd, Michigan? Shepherd is located just off US 127, Exit 135 Shepherd is one hour north of Lansing Shepherd is 4 miles south of Mt. Pleasant Shepherd is 2 hours from Kalamazoo: I-94 East, to I-69 North, to US-127 North
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MCTE Region Map

Locate the county in which your school district is located and note the Region Number. Then refer to the list on Page 13 to find your Regional Coordinator.

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MCTE Leadership
President President-Elect Vice President Past President Secretary Treasurer Elementary School Chair Middle School Chair Secondary Chair Urban/Diversity Chair College Chair LAJM Co-Editor LAJM Co-Editor LAJM Co-Editor LAJM Co-Editor eMET Co-Editor eMET Co-Editor eMET Co-Editor Membership NCTE Liaison Promising Young Writers Representative Student Representative (MSU) Student Representative (WMU) Student Representative (WMU) MDE Liaison Michigan Youth Arts Festival Liaison Literacy Representative Webmaster David Hammontree Stasha Simon Danielle Marsh Jennifer Swisher-Carroll Kathy Morcom Andrew Shoenborn Janice McGeorge Daniel Polleys Danielle Marsh Julie Mix-Thibault Samantha Caughlan Nancy Patterson Elizabeth Stolle Mary Fahrenbruck Vacant Toby Kahn-Loftus Rosie Nedry Gerald Browning Gerald Browning Kia Jane Richmond April Baker-Bell drhammont@gmail.com stashasimon@gmail.com daniellemrsh@gmail.com j.swisher.carroll@gmail.com morcomka@msu.edu aschoenborn76@gmail.com sjmcgeorge@parishonline.tv dpolleys@chartermi.net daniellemrsh@gmail.com j.mix@wayne.edu caughlan@msu.edu patterna@gvsu.edu stollee@gvsu.edu fahrenma@gvsu.edu tobykahnloftus@gmail.com rnedry@gmail.com gbrown05@baker.edu gbrown05@baker.edu krichmon@nmu.edu

Lynette VanDyke Vacant Robert Rozema

vandykel@michigan.gov

rozemar@gvsu.edu

MCTE Regional Coordinators

Region 1 Representative Region 2 Representative Region 3 Representative Region 4 Representative Region 4 Representative Region 5 Representative Region 6 Representative Region 7 Representative Region 8 Co-Representative Region 8 Co-Representative Region 9 Co-Representative Region 10 Representative Region 11 Co-Representative Region 11 Co-Representative Mary C. Cox Rebecca Hicks Kathy Morcom Davena Jackson Mitch Nobis Pam Burrell Amanda Moeggenborg Toby Kahn-Loftus Sara Matthews Kaye Michelle Marceau Rosie Nedry Toby Kahn-Loftus Tom Hyslop Lindsay Brindley cissycox@aol.com rebeccalouisehicks@gmail.com morcomka@msu.edu dymeadows@ameritech.net mnobis@gmail.com pamburrell@dmcibb.net amoeggen@gmail.com tobykahnloftus@gmail.com saramk113@gmail.com mmarceau_house@yahoo.com rnedry@gmail.com tobykahnloftus@gmail.com thyslop@nmu.edu brindley@eup.k12.us

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