As I sit at home rummaging through my notes and photos from NCTE, I wonder how I can capture this amazing weekend in a single post. Then I wrote my title, “A Slice of NCTE.” I can do a slice, a snippet, a taste.
The overarching message that I came away with was equity.
From Katherine and Randy Bomer, as they accepted the NCTE award for Outstanding Elementary Educator, equity is communicated in their core values. Meet every child with an air of expectancy and listen with love. When I attended Katherine’s session “Appreciative Response for Writers: Words and Ways to Reclaim our Voices and Instill Agency in All Students,” once again the word equity arose as she and her teacher educators gave very practical ways to give students what they need in feedback to writing. I stopped by Corwin Books to buy Patty McGee’s new book Feedback that Moves Writers Forward. In the session, Patty showed us how to honor what students are already doing and yet, move them toward growth. I look forward to digging into this book.
From Jason Reynolds, the equity message was evident in his acceptance speech for the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award. The story of Ghost is based on Jason’s real life friend, Matthew. The real Ghost also loved to eat sunflower seeds. Jason challenged us teachers by asking us what kind of sunflower eater would we be. One who puts the whole seed in your mouth and sucks all the salt off to spit it out whole? One who chews the whole seed and spits it out? Or one who carefully finds the perfect place to crack the shell, hides the tiny seed in a safe place, then takes out the hard, cracked shell? #sunflowerseedchallenge.
From a panel of moving educators (Sara Ahmed, Katharine Hale, Jessica Lifshitz, Donalyn Miller, Katie Muhtaris, Pernille Ripp, and Katherine Sokolowski), all women who have a story, a story of inequity, a story of how they were called to stand up and stand out for justice. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I was more than moved by their stories. I resolved to be better, to do better. I resolved to carefully eat my sunflower seeds and offer a place a safety, a place of equity, a home for all student voices.
Wow. Even this tiny snippet was powerful to read. I can imagine the conference fifty times more inspiring. If even half of the participants made a resolution like you, the positive change ripples spread in many directions.
So true. Equity and let no voices be silenced. ❤ It was fabulous to spend time with you at #NCTE17. Enjoy your holiday break!
Words to remember, …because an ugly idea left unchallenged begins to turn the color of normal.
That’s the perfect thing to take away from the conference, Margaret.
So good to see you! BTW: I keep repeating “tesh…”
A beautiful post….I’m so glad you got to renew at NCTE.
Love reading this slice of your time at NCTE. I wish I could have heard the panel of educators who talked about their own stories of inequity. And I agree with Kathy’s powerful words to remember from the Adiche quote.
I am glad you enjoyed your conference. Your post featured some great book suggestions, a smattering of names and the stories they shared, and the larger goal of equity in which we all can and should move towards. Thanks!
Wow, Margaret! What a wonderful take-away. Thank you for sharing this slice of NCTE.
Thank you for sharing your slice of NCTE. I hope to go one day, but in the meantime will live vicariously through all of the wonderful thoughts being shared through the Twittersphere and beyond. Having kept abreast of the goings on over the weekend, while reading your post, I felt like I was right there with you as you attended the sessions that put the spotlight on equity. The message is resonating – loud and clear. Thanks again.
So glad you were able to take away something so simple that can weave its way through so much thinking. Sunflower seeds. Hmm, such a simple thought with so many more choices than one might initially think.
I appreciate your “take” on the conference, and was pleased to learn that equity was such a big topic there. I just did a big poetry project with a bunch of disenfranchised ENL immigrant high school students. It was rough to get them started, but when they began to realize that I and their teacher truly wanted them to use their “voices” to write a poem that expressed their feelings they began to trust the process and themselves. It was a challenging effort, but well worth it when I saw them claim their voices on the podium as they each read their poem.
Thanks for being the kind of teacher that sticks with it when it gets challenging. It’s hard but so worth it.
I am familiar with Treme but still haven’t watched it. That was a rough time in our state. I even have trouble reading a book about it.
By the way, Margaret, we just watched Treme, a series on Netflix, for the second time, and loved it even more the second time. Are you familiar with the series? It’s about the New Orleans just after the flood and follows the lives of certain characters as they deal with the challenges they were left with. I thought of you often.
It sounds like it was a terrific conference and the topic of equity is so on point.
Thank you for sharing these reflections, Margaret! I had major NCTE envy but couldn’t get there. That quote “An ugly idea left unchallenged begins to turn the color of normal” stopped me in my tracks. Powerful.
Margaret, you are so reflective, and you always find the meaningful heart of everything you read, see, and do. And thank you for coming to our session with Patty, Kayisha, and Shannon! I think you will really love Patty’s book!
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