Day 1 of #NCTE16: Honesty, Hope, & Renewal

Hi, friends. I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I always start the school year with the best of intentions, and then the semester starts and undermines these intentions. Someday I'll figure out the school-writing-life balance. Additionally, the news of late has made it hard to write.

However, I am writing this from my hotel room in Atlanta, where I am for the 2016 NCTE Annual Convention. While I had a hard time to muster up my usual enthusiasm for the conference this year, today's events reaffirmed the importance of having organizations like NCTE. Today, I had the chance to see Shakespeare's First Folio and participate in a workshop led by some excellent scholar-teachers from the Folger Shakespeare Library. I heard Doug Hesse's moving and powerful speech regarding the importance of teaching writing and critical thinking during a time when these things might seem optional (or even unnecessary) rather than fundamental. I got to see Maureen Downey interview Diane Ravitch regarding the state of education and the possible changes that might be coming under the new administration in a way that was both honest and hopeful.

While there are too many great moments from tonight's speeches to include without making this post incredibly long, I wanted to hit some highlights:

"We need to insist there are such thing as facts." - @DougHesse #NCTE16

— Beth Shaum (@BethShaum) November 17, 2016

Personal & public worlds transcend work... We don't start building personal & public worlds only after we start work. @DougHesse #NCTE16

— Terri Suico (@terrisuico) November 17, 2016

We must make places for all kinds of writing. We need to build fuller textual neighborhoods. - @DougHesse #NCTE16

— Terri Suico (@terrisuico) November 18, 2016

"Let's construct a world with more hope than despair; less hate than inclusion." Language constructs worlds. @DougHesse #NCTE16

— Brian Wyzlic (@brianwyzlic) November 18, 2016

Hope. Play. Imagination. Creativity. And critical thinking. @DianeRavitch's advice to #NCTE16 attendees.

— Terri Suico (@terrisuico) November 18, 2016

@DianeRavitch #NCTE16 Teaching is the most rewarding job you can have- if you last. This is the front lines of democracy.

— juliegorlewski (@juliegorlewski) November 18, 2016

I'm tired and still concerned about the current state of things, but in the spirit of NCTE today, I wanted to end on a hopeful note. Last week, Broadway composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown wrote and debuted "Hope." While I haven't been listening to much of anything lately (the news is upsetting and music has seemed incongruous given my mood), this song has been on repeat on my computer.