#ncte14: NCTE 2014, 11/19 - 11/25, 2014

The National Council of Teachers of English had its 104th Annual Convention in Washington DC. (It's technically still going, but I was only there for four days.) The theme of the conference was "Story as the Landscape of Knowing," which wonderfully meant that many panels made social justice a focal point. Also wonderfully, some presenters had their students step in to give voice to their understanding of English language and learning.

This was my first time attending NCTE proper, and I was not wholly prepared for the massive scope of the conference. CCCC is equally huge, but NCTE included English teachers from all levels, starting at kindergarten and ranging all the way up into graduate English teacher education. Additionally, because literature is such a huge component in most English classes, publishing companies were there full-force, often bringing in their star authors for signings and presentations. (Authors I did not get to see include: Brandon Sanderson, Jerry Spinelli, James Dashner.) Free books showed up at all the general sessions, and at many of the panels. It was literally impossible to walk out of the exhibit hall without picking up an armful of free books. I tried and failed.

From a writing center perspective, NCTE was a weird fit, because nothing was particularly specific to writing center practice. That said, it was hugely educational for me. English teachers at all levels were talking about the effect of Common Core standards and large-scale assessment testing. Many panels, as mentioned, talked about social justice, as well as accessibility, multilingual challenges, and disability. Intersections between visual composition, technological advances, and student buy-in were present in most people's concerns. I tried to attend a variety of panels, so as to get a good sense of breadth. Hopefully, these are helpful. And, as one woman I chatted with said, "These conversations feed me. They feed me."

• #ncte14 #T01: Linking Young Adult Literature and Non-Fiction
  
  
• #ncte14 #Tgen: Thursday General Session: Sonia Nazario (a journalist who has written about child migration in South and Central America)
  
  
• #ncte14 #FriGen Part I: Friday General Session: Marian Wright Edelman (president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund)
  
  
• #ncte14 #FriGen Part II: Reshaping the Landscape of Story: Creating a Space for Missing & Marginalized Voices
  
  
• #ncte14 #A11: Fostering Student Voice and Creativity in Multimodal Mediums in University Classrooms and Beyond
  
  
• #ncte14 #D29: Reading Machines, Writing People: Examining Results of Automated Writing Placement
  
  
• #ncte14 #E16: "Sex It!" Defining Gender Stereotypes in Twenty-Five Years of Orbis Pictus Award-Winning Nonfiction
  
  
• #ncte14 #F29: Teaching Graphic Novels in the Classroom
  
  
• #ncte14 #G43: Histories as a Lens for (Re)Writing and (Re)Reading Our Communities
  
  
• #ncte14 #H35: The Navajo Kentuckians: Food Literacy as the Landscape of Home
  
  
• #ncte14 #2ndSLunch: Secondary Section Luncheon: Cory Doctorow (a science fiction author and journalist who frequently writes about digital rights and technology)
  
  
• #ncte14 #SunGen: Sunday General Session: Ernest Morrell (vice president of NCTE and director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education)

And that's all for NCTE! I think my next conference is CCCC in March. Huzzah!