An adaptation of a presentation at the 2024 MCTE Spring Conference On the first day of an artist-in-residence gig, I generally dodge the question: What is poetry? I’ve been a working poet for twenty years, was on two National Poetry Slam championship teams, performed everywhere from the Target Center to the United Nations, even contributed … Continue reading Speak Something Alive: Spoken Word Poetry in the Classroom by Kyle Tran Myhre
The Case for Teaching Climate Literacy in English Class by Abby Hartzell
Climate change belongs in the English curriculum just as much as it belongs in science. Last spring, I presented about my experiences teaching a climate literacy unit to my 9th grade English class. During the presentation, I encouraged audience members to consider the myriad ways reading and analyzing climate texts can engage students from any … Continue reading The Case for Teaching Climate Literacy in English Class by Abby Hartzell
Making Time for Teacher Candidates to Write in the Language Arts Method Course by Kay Rosheim, Freelar Htoo, Van Tuong Nguyen, Aisha Muhammed Warmahayye, Hermela Tibebe Solomon, Yorina Roh, Sagal Daad, and Azza Suri
How can writing teachers understand what they ask their students to do unless they do the work themselves? Effective writing teachers are, in some way, writers themselves. They model the different processes, behaviors, techniques, and pleasures involved in writing. This allows them to respond to learners’ written efforts in ways that promote learner reflection and … Continue reading Making Time for Teacher Candidates to Write in the Language Arts Method Course by Kay Rosheim, Freelar Htoo, Van Tuong Nguyen, Aisha Muhammed Warmahayye, Hermela Tibebe Solomon, Yorina Roh, Sagal Daad, and Azza Suri
Beyond Color: Strategies for Introducing Diverse Books, and Some Book Recommendations Too by Rosalind Hudson and Hiawatha Smith
Reflection Pause for a moment and reflect on your response to these thought-provoking questions: Introduction The world is rich in diversity, and it is crucial for students to learn about and engage with this diversity. Diversity encompasses much more than the representation of “color” and the well-known non-dominant groups; it reflects the broader pluralistic world. … Continue reading Beyond Color: Strategies for Introducing Diverse Books, and Some Book Recommendations Too by Rosalind Hudson and Hiawatha Smith
Two Poems by Patrick Hueller
Acts 2 & 3 Today in my overheated classrooma fight broke outbetween two girls.We were reading Romeo & Juliet—the balcony scene,which doesn’t actually take placeon a balcony: if you’re just reading the play, not watching it, the only stage direction given is Romeo sees lightcoming from an upper windowand, moments later, Juliet appears at the window.But then again … Continue reading Two Poems by Patrick Hueller
Teaching in the Age of AI by Jon Fila
First, some context: I’ve been an English teacher for over two decades. For about ten years, I’ve taught English online in an asynchronous setting. I’ve only taught in a traditional setting for one semester in my career and quickly gravitated towards student populations who struggle. I find myself always seeking out whatever challenging area in … Continue reading Teaching in the Age of AI by Jon Fila
Sitting in Community: A Circle of Secondary ELA Teachers by Alison Criss and Abigail Rombalski
Thank you to the attending circle for sitting in community with us last spring. Thanks to MCTE for the welcome and thanks to Burke and Lee for the invitation to write. Special gratitude to Ricardo Levins Morales https://www.rlmartstudio.com/ for how your movement ideas and art hold us up and push us together in thoughtful ways. … Continue reading Sitting in Community: A Circle of Secondary ELA Teachers by Alison Criss and Abigail Rombalski
Shared Context, Divergent Approaches: Examining Two Minnesota Teachers’ Beliefs and Instructional Decisions in Teaching Middle School ELA by Anna McNulty Taylor
As any English Language Arts (ELA) teacher could tell you, teaching our subject is challenging. ELA teachers are called on to equip their students with the diverse literacy skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing world. For ELA teachers this often means weaving together the teaching of literature, non-fiction reading, poetry, plays, memoirs, diverse … Continue reading Shared Context, Divergent Approaches: Examining Two Minnesota Teachers’ Beliefs and Instructional Decisions in Teaching Middle School ELA by Anna McNulty Taylor
Mirage or Memory: How Writing Prompts May Generate False Memories by Daniel Ruefman
“Our Memory has no guarantees at all, and yet we bow more often than is objectively justified to the compulsion to believe what it says.” — Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams Introduction In September 2023, I began a year-long research project intent on examining the impact that personal traumatic experiences (PTEs) have had on … Continue reading Mirage or Memory: How Writing Prompts May Generate False Memories by Daniel Ruefman
Surveying the Landscape: Minnesota’s English Language Arts Teachers’ Perspectives on Intellectual Freedom by Danielle Kubasko Sullivan and Lisa L. Ortmann
In the fall of 2023, when the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English (MCTE) board met to set priorities for the upcoming academic year, Pen America had released a report, Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights, which detailed its first comprehensive count of banned books. … Continue reading Surveying the Landscape: Minnesota’s English Language Arts Teachers’ Perspectives on Intellectual Freedom by Danielle Kubasko Sullivan and Lisa L. Ortmann
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