A new day. Typical.  Some leaving home. Some already arriving at their destination. Snow on the mountain pass.  Video from walking through the rainforest. And the ubiquitous, “Are we there yet?” Pictures of the first two arrivals at the airport: Kathryn arriving from MN and Justin from PA. They trickle in.  The #G2Great Cousins are arriving from literally across the nation and within 24 hours all attendees will be present.

First mini-gathering

And then the Gala Event . . .

#NCTE17 began with celebrations divided by grade levels:  elementary, middle, and secondary.  The Elementary session recognized many attendees for their current work as well as their past work.  First time attendees were equally applauded for their presence. The stars were aligned.  Ones that I saw and or spoke to included:

Yetta Goodman

Katie Ray Wood

Ralph Fletcher

Carl Anderson

Kathy Collins

Vicki Vinton

Dorothy Barnhouse

Mary Lee Hahn

Franki Sibberson

Ruth Ayres

Patty McGee

Dan Feigelson

Literacy Rock Stars!

The big, big crowd was there to honor and salute the work of Katherine and Randy Bomer, who in their own inimitable style rallied us to action after Kathy Collins’ hilarious introduction of the honorees because she has known and worked with them for year.  An interesting factoid is that their November interview is the most retweeted NCTE article. (link)

Critique and resistance are necessary.

What are our values in teaching?  How do we translate those into practice?

In a time of resistance, what are we ADVANCING into the world?

Katherine encouraged us to:

1. Meet every child with an air of expectancy: open heart, open mind with respect.  Awe, wonder, and love. (Maxine Green – TC – “Humans are never done becoming.)
2. Delight in students’ voices: “Does it bring joy?” “Student writing is the place where I know I am doing something meaningful.” “Best place to fall in love with student writing is in the notes you find in your room.“   From her mentors:  Lucy Calkins,  “Children can write, children have stories, and children can write with laser like vision”; and  Donald Graves “Children will write if we let them.” 

Randy shared that it’s not enough to resist.  It has to be part of an action. He proposed that we advance justice and respect.

•  Advancing Justice – Critical Lenses – Writing for Change

“Doing critical work is how we continually check the differences among people.  How we restratify our relationships.  Big concepts are:  Groups, Power, and Relationships.  Where do we find these in stories?”  Student voice, agency, and thinking about hard things in the social world. . . Advancing more critical perspective.  Reading our shared lives to see when we see something that someone should do something about – our actions, habits, and lenses. 

• Advancing Respect – Appreciative Stance – Critique of Deficit Stance

“Listen to a reader to understand them. Readers come with enough.”
“No deficit perspectives.This has fueled me.” Hold up a mirror to check for an appreciative stance.  Call people’s attention to injustices.  DO something about them! Polarization that may have begun on internet but have moved to the street.  Continue to resist injustice.  “White folks are obliged to do that!”  

You can hear more from both Katherine and Randy at 9:30 Friday, today, at NCTE.  Or check out #NCTE17.  Follow the hashtag through Sunday for the best and most important happenings from St. Louis, Missouri.

Final thought I tweeted out before we left the convention center:

“Do we tell teachers? . . .

You are enough!

You don’t need a basal.

You don’t need Pinterest.

You don’t need TpT.

You are enough.

Make decisions for the students in front of you!”

And with that the #G2Great celebration began . . .

Rumor has it that the Friday evening #G2Great meet up will include ukeleles.

How do you celebrate students? 

How do you celebrate your own learning? 

Who are your ELA heroes?