PCTELA!

I thought I'd take a moment to further expand on some of the stuff that I had the opportunity to be a part of this past weekend at the PA English Teachers Conference out in Pitt. First and foremost, I thought I could provide you with a few links of some interesting mentor texts or prompts we used throughout the weekend. I listed them below.
Also, I wanted to share with you some of the advice that so many writers, teachers, and friends gave me this weekend. The theme of the weekend was Building Community through Collaboration, so here's my small part in that. 1) Network! Don't be afraid to post ideas or comments on the English Companion Ning. I absolutely love that site and now after this weekend, a whole new group of people said they'll be looking out for me on there to help me out wherever possible. It's awesome knowing that strangers are willing to help us out. 2) Be prepared to show how technology can be used in the classroom. Regretfully, a lot of people that I encountered this weekend seemed afraid of using it, but part of me wonders how much it is because they themselves don't know how to use it. Educate others on all the stuff you know! 3) To be a good writer you have to write every day. I had the opportunity to sit down with Philip Beard this weekend and hear how he slowly began to develop a book. Hearing his story made me realize that he once started out at the same place I'm at! It takes patience and a lot of practice. 4) Connect with your students! Getting to hear Linda Christensen talk about connecting with her students was powerful. Meet them on their level and then help build them to where they needed to be / get going. 5) Chris Crutcher talked a lot about censorship during the time I heard from him. He made a really fascinating point about what we should and shouldn't sensor. In a brief summary he basically discussed how we should give kids the freedom to read about their own choices because for each of them, it'll mean something different. Instead of choosing what's best for kids, we should let them decide on their own. I included his article below.
* (I'll probably add more to this as I think of more, but I wanted to hit some key points for you now.)

Two prompts that Phillip Beard challenged us with:
Scenario 1: Have students write out a script of interaction if two characters were locked in a room together. Scenario 2: Have students write down the contents of their backpacks, purses, pockets, etc and then develop a few paragraphs with plot that incorporate every item they are carrying. (Think of The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien).

The article Chris Crutcher wrote for The Huffington Post: Young Adult Fiction: Let Teens Choose
A poem used by Linda Christensen: For My People
The Def Poetry Jam video Linda Christensen also shared with us: Knock, Knock
Mentor Text used in a small break out session: Girl


And finally I just wanted to address something that Eric also shared with you in class. After the four us presented our WPPs to the small audience we had, we received nothing but positive feedback. Like Eric said, the one woman in particular actually said that the future looked bright with us in it. This is our generation to create a change! I hope you're as excited and honored as I am to be a part of this time.