Monday, November 26, 2007

NCTE Convention in New York City




Lori Vandervelde, Laurie Barth and I went to NYC the week before Thanksgiving to attend the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English. While there, we visited two independent schools in Manhattan, heard Jonathan Kozol talk about his new book, Letters to a Young Teacher, and attended various NCTE sessions. On top of all that we ate some delicious food, saw a very funny off-Broadway production and walked, on average, well over six miles a day! It was an extremely fulfilling experience.

Besides all the useful information we gleaned from the sessions and the books we bought that will aid our teaching, I think the best thing that came from all of it was the five-day-long conversation we had that covered everything from curriculum, to goals, to strategies and technology. I think we'll be remembering this trip, and referring to things we discussed while on it, for years to come.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The conversations that Hannah, Lori, and I began in New York this fall have continued into the spring. Since NCTE, the entire MS English department has been focused on integrating and streamlining our vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension pedagogy across grade levels. We have used several of the texts we purchased and the presentations we attended at NCTE to guide our investigation of vocabulary, grammar, and reading, and we have begun instituting some of the best practices we discovered.

Our trip to New York was an incredible experience, and it was a great opportunity for building our MS English team, defining our goals, and planning our curriculum.