NCTE Annual Convention

Today I received an email announcing my panel presentation at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention in New York City. Check out the link for the convention flyer.

October 2007

Dear Joe,

The 2007 NCTE Annual Convention is quickly approaching! This looks to be one of our largest Conventions to date, and I'd like to thank you for agreeing to be a part of it.

As educators, we historically have not called attention to ourselves for the many ways we share our expertise with others. At NCTE, however, we know that this is invaluable work and we would like to help you showcase it. Therefore, as a way to help you gain recognition for and/or promote the session at which you will be speaking, we've created a Convention flier for you:

Click here to view your Convention Flier:
http://www.ncte.org/proposals/annual101/speakers?pid=1597

Please feel free to print the flier out and post it on bulletin boards where you work, send a copy to your supervisor, or pass it out to your colleagues. You might even consider mailing a copy of the flier to your local newspaper.

Thanks again for your preparation and hard work. I look forward to seeing you in New York!

Best,
Jacqui

Jacqui Joseph-Biddle
Convention Director
National Council of Teachers of English

Tags: National Council of Teachers of English, NCTE, TALK, TEXT, AND TECHNOLOGY: REFLECTION IN THE WRITING CLASSROOM, Mapping Diverse Literacies for the Twenty-First Century

Return of the BLOG

I came across BLOGS at the 2003 National Writing Project Convention in San Francisco. The technology sessions focused on the use of blogs in the classroom. I brought those ideas back east to Jersey, where I had every intention of putting these new ideas into practice. I registered for a blog right away, and well, that was as far as it went- a good inention. Don't get me wrong, I did pioneer new uses of technology in the classroom, just never made it around to blogging. My initial enthusiasm became worn down by grad school, coaching, teaching, purchasing a house, guitar lessons, band practice, etc...

What a shame.

Then it happened. Blogs moved out of from the shadows of obscurity and into the limelight. The word popped up left and right- the word blog spread like wildfire. They were used for journalism, presidential campaigns, celebrity promotions, appeared in media events, etc. I witnessed as more and more of my friends, including my wife, catch onto the blogging fad. It was only a matter of time before I caught up with the times, again, and registered my own blog.

That is what brings me back here today. I completely forgot about ever registering for a blog in the first place. It was like finding a crumpled 20 dollar bill in a coat jacket that you haven't worn since a year ago. My initial reaction was, "Oh yeah, guess I did register a blog way back when..."

Well, here is the end to a blogging hiatus.

Cheers

PS. In case you were wondering, I never did present that workshop session on blogging. Maybe this year. Maybe...

Tags: blogs, National Writing Project, professional development