I wasn’t going to order any more teacher books this year, but yesterday I did it again. I was watching a Zoom Party with three amazing educator writers:

• Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Psychology at the Berklee College of Music in Boston (co-author, co-author of one of my favorite teaching books, Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning, and editor of a new book, Smart Teaching Stronger Learning: Practical Tips From 10 Cognitive Scientists)

• Michelle Miller, Ph.D. (​​Professor of Psychological Sciences at Northern Arizona University and the author of Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology: Teaching, Learning, and the Science of Memory in a Wired World and A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Student Names: Why You Should, Why It’s Hard, How You Can) 

• James Lang, Ph.D. professor of the practice in the Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Notre Dame and emeritus professor of English at Assumption University. Also author of a column on teaching and learning in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the author of six books, most recently Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, and Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty) 

James Lang is one of my favorite educator authors, so I was excited to learn from the video that he has a new book coming out this week: Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience. I almost didn’t buy it, though, because I did tell myself not to buy any more teacher books this year. Luckily, I remembered I had a gift card, so I clicked on the preorder button, and the book will be delivered later this week. 

In the Zoom Party video, Lang talked about the importance of writing to help us know our craft more deeply. He was speaking about writing a book, but it applies to writing articles, too:

Writing a book is the deepest way we can really get to know our discipline and get a really new idea. As you drive yourself into the writing, you really start to open your own thinking. We can get that same thing from our students when we teach a class. We all know that we learn something best when we teach it. [Writing] can be a form of teaching. The kind of slow process of doing it, the research, the wrestling with the words, all those things can really deepen your own learning in a subject matter. 

I love how he described writing as “a form of teaching” to “deepen our own learning.” It’s true. When I learned the most deeply about improving my teaching was when I wrote for articles for publication. My first was an article on teacher clarity published in the NCTE's English Journal. I was curious about teacher clarity, and working on developing it in my classroom. Writing about it helped me slow down and consider why I was doing what I was doing, and for a research nerd like me, created the opportunity to explore articles and books that supported my teaching choices with evidence. Since then, I've written articles for MCELA's Northwords on a variety of topics, each time, learning more about that topic through my writing.

I share these anecdotes with you today to encourage you to consider writing about something you do in your classroom or something you are exploring–to take the opportunity in the last few months of school to increase your knowledge of your discipline by teaching others through your writing. MCELA’s academic journal, Northwords, is the perfect place to publish your writing.

We are currently accepting submissions through June 30th for our fall publication. Would you be willing to write to teach us about something you do in your classroom? Click here for more information.

This month’s newsletter contains some wonderful summer PD opportunities to continue your learning, as well. We hope you’ll consider joining us with a summer reading program we co-sponsor. It’s called MCSTOYA Connects: Migration Reads. The short version is that you buy or check out from a library one or more of the books on the recommended reading list and read it this summer. Then, join educators at Colby College on August 11th for a day of speakers, workshops, book discussions, and a free bonus book all centered around migration—highlighting experiences of movement, resilience, and belonging. It’s a wonderful event that includes thoughtful discussions, delicious food, and contact hours! Scroll for more information.

This summer also includes an amazing new summer conference brought to us by Educate Maine’s Teach Maine Center. I know the folks behind the scenes on this one and am confident they will provide an incredible learning opportunity, including contact hours. Scroll for more information.

As we move towards closing out this school year and heading into summer, my hope for all is that you will do what works best for you to rejuvenate and continue learning.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as the president of MCELA. It has been an honor.

Patti Forster