On November 20, 2024, teachers Brandy Lindstrom and Melissa Minjares flew to Boston to attend the National Council of Teachers of English annual convention. The theme for the year was, “Hope, heart, humanity,” and all sessions were centered around the idea of finding the hope, heart and humanity in teaching English.
According to Lindstrom, she loved getting to hear Saturday Night Live alumna Kate McKinnon share about her creative process and the teachers who inspired her. Lindstrom was also blown away by Bryan Stevenson of the Eagle Justice Initiative. And ultimately getting to experience National Poet Laureate Ada Limón read her poetry and share her writing process was the chef’s kiss.
Lindstrom attending multiple breakout sessions regarding AI in the English classroom, but also balanced her time with more English pedagogy related content.
Lindstrom reflected on her experience at the NCTE convention. “As life long learners and as people who are called to be open to growth, I attended a standards based presentation, which gave me a lot to chew on and process. It is an interesting proposition, and I am looking forward to discussing this topic more in the department and across the campus. Ultimately my favorite breakout session was ‘Argumentative Writing as Restorative and Sustaining.’ We dove into the idea of viewing dialogic argumentation as both culturally sustaining and personally restorative. Part of the process I am interested in exploring more in the classroom is learning to argue vs. arguing to learn.”
