MCELA Mattersprograms, ideas, connections |
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September 2022 I asked an experienced teacher new to my school what one word is her focus for this year. Her answer was "regenerate." She spoke of regenerating/recreating who she is in the classroom. As I think about this new school year, I think about how we are all regenerating–recreating our routines, our curriculum, our lesson plans, even our own presence–to adjust for ourselves and to this new group of students, particularly with how each of us have been developmentally impacted by the pandemic. MCELA is also regenerating. During the pandemic we shifted to all online programming. This year we are reducing our online programming to make space for our in-person conference. We'll do an online fall book study, continue our monthly email newsletter with new voices, and host an in-person conference. Save the date! March 17th in Portland. More details in this year's Northwords Journal with registration opening in late September. Join us at the conference to RECONNECT with the ELA community, RENEW your teaching and learning, and REVIVE yourself. It will be a much needed event to regenerate this year. There are also some wonderful articles and teacher spotlights in this volume of Northwords (linked below). We hope you'll take a peek for ideas as you regenerate for this year. Patti Forster, President maine.ela@gmail.com MCELA website: mainecela.org |
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| Join us for fall online book study of Sparks in the Dark by Travis Crowder and Todd Nesloney 5 weeks in October & November 4:00 - 5:15 via Zoom with an author Q&A the last week. |
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Save the date! In-person conference March 17, 2023 Poetry Night March 16, 2023 Portland, ME |
Reading, Writing, & Thinking Matters |
2022 Northwords Featuring: Articles on What Matters Most - Revisiting What We Value by Ryan Dippre, University of Maine
- Belaying Through the Pandemic by Kim Barnes, Caribou Middle School
- Poem: Your Constant Smile by John Emerson, Retired Educator
- Unpacking Cultural Competence by Cindy Dean, Ed.D., University of Maine at Augusta
- Classroom Cultivation by Patti Forster, NBCT, Camden Hills Regional HS
Brassil Award Winners & Finalists Spotlight - High School Winner Audrey Ennamorati, Medomak Valley High School
- Middle School Winner Margaret Adams, Kingsfield Elementary School
- High School Finalist Beth Carlson, Kennebunk High School
- High School Finalist Sara Cole-Pardun, Camden Hills Regional H.S.
- Middle School Finalist Nicole Matthews, Windsor Elementary School
- Middle School Finalist Todd McKinley, J.A. Leonard Middle School
- Middle School Finalist Meghan Rounds, Gotham Middle School
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The IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) Collective focuses on an important goal: Support Maine educators as they explore ways to develop materials and practices for inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. In particular, MCELA invites educators to think about, discuss, and take steps to address issues related to racism, income disparity, gender identity, environmental justice, equity, genocide, and indigenous sovereignty. Each month, the IDEA Collective of MCELA will share a resource for educators to explore and consider using in their practice and with their students. |
SAVE THE DATE! October 27, from 4:30 to 7:30 Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL) will be presenting a Dine and Discuss event at locations around the state.This event will feature a virtual presentation by Lawrence Alexander who will talk to us about identifying our personal biases and promoting and supporting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in school libraries. 
Registration information will be in the next newsletter. |
Intellectual Freedom Matters |
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For an annual membership, we are asking for a donation of $30. Membership benefits: - Free online programming like this fall's book study of Sparks in the Dark
- Discounted event registration
- Access to member's only content on the MCELA website including previous year's programming recordings and documents
Did you know you can put the cost of membership for your entire English department into your district budget? When it's time to request funds from your district for next year's budget, consider adding a line for membership for MCELA for all ELA teachers in your school. Membership is just $30 a person and will bring a year's worth of PD and a discounted rate for the annual MCELA conference. *We will be offering an exclusive author talk in the spring that will come with an additional charge. |
SpiritCorps We would love for you to explore partnering with SPIRIT SERIES Maine this year as we encourage students to dig more deeply into themselves, and pull out their best stories...for SpiritCorps! This three-week self-discovery, positive values and video storytelling initiative—developed after two decades of classroom experience with nearly 60,000 students--has been supported by the Maine D.O.E. so generously that we can offer the program for FREE to participating schools in this first year, and at a very reduced cost in the years to come. SpiritCorps augments what you do as ELA educators, helping students build the 21st Century muscles they will need to be career and college ready: self-reflection, higher level thinking, writing skills, teamwork, empathy, imagination, giving, receiving and applying constructive criticism, as well as sticking with a project through multiple iterations until it reflects their best work, to name a few. To learn more about the program, please take a few minutes to visit our SpiritCorps site and watch our short "Introduction to SpiritCorps" video. For further information, schedule a Discovery Session for your school. Just scroll down the page and make an appointment on our calendar, or email us directly at maine@spiritseries.org. We look forward to talking with you soon! |
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Here's what Patti Forster, MCELA President, is reading right now: |
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Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why--or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch--and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes.
Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a con-woman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive. ~Goodreads |
| The secret to giving better feedback isn't what we say - it's what others hear. Too often, people hear about a past they can't control, not a future they can. That changes with "feedforward" - a radical approach to sharing feedback that unleashes the performance and potential of everyone around us. From managers and coaches trying to energize their teams, to teachers hoping to motivate their students, to parents looking to empower their children, people from all walks of life want others to hear what they have to say. Through a lively blend of stories and studies, The Feedback Fix shows them how by presenting a six-part REPAIR plan that spreads feedforward across boardrooms, classrooms, and even dining rooms. Even with drastic changes in how we work and live, the experiences we create for others - joy or fear, growth or decline, success or failure - still hang on the feedback we share. The Feedback Fix makes a compelling argument for getting what we want by giving others what they need - all while rebuilding the way we lead, learn, and live. ~Goodreads |
| What sparks a lifelong love of learning?
Books have the power to shape the way we think. Stories—reading them, writing them, and sharing them—give us new lenses through which to view the world and the people we encounter. In short, words matter.
In Sparks in the Dark, Travis Crowder and Todd Nesloney share their experiences as educators who purposefully seek to spark a love for reading and writing in the learners they serve. The reason is simple: Writing and reading have the power to change the trajectory of a life.
Through the stories and real-life examples they share, the authors light the way to . . .
* Incorporating literacy skills in every subject in engaging ways.
* Empowering students and staff to ask and explore tough questions about the world.
* Encouraging learners at all levels to choose to read books that challenge them.
* Taking responsibility to seek and share learning for everyone’s benefit.
More standards, tests, and mandates are not the answer to improving literacy. Sparking a fire—a passion—for words, stories, and self-expression in learners is the surest path to instilling a lifelong love of learning. Let’s light up the darkness! ~Goodreads |
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