NCTE Conference
Nashville, Tennessee
Nov. 16-21, 2006 

            This, my second time to attend the NCTE conference, was just as rewarding and memorable as the first (Indianapolis, 2004) and even more spectacular as it was held in the Opryland Hotel, dressed up for Christmas no less.  Try as I might, I never did manage to savor all the sights but I did manage to attend 12 speeches and sessions during the three conference days and 19 presentations during the two-day ALAN post-conference sessions.  I considered “chunking” my notes but saw that I would lose continuity and probably omit some valuable stuff, so here’s the play-by-play: long, but worth sharing.

            The Thursday opening banquet featured Elie Wiesel, even though he’d gotten stranded in the airport at Baltimore and had to deliver his message via phone.  It was surreal, sitting in a huge banquet hall listening to his powerful voice while skimming the pages of his NIGHT.

            Friday began with James Patterson, who may be a best-selling mystery novelist but could have a second career as a stand-up comic.  He kept us laughing throughout with such lines as “There should be new legislation which I’d call NCLB: No Child left on his Behind.”  He said that as an English major in college he’d been advised by a professor that yes, he could write, but should stay away from fiction.  He noted that rejection is a badge of courage and that he had 31 rejections before his first book was accepted.  In fact, early on he’d had a book-signing where nobody came, and he used to follow people around in book stores to see if they’d buy one of his books. 

            He told of how when a long-time employee of Hallmark Cards died, the Kansas City Star carried a banner headline the next day: “Dear God, we loved you enough to send you the very best.”  He then shared some serious thoughts, such as how teachers have incredible power since they “own” the stories and books.  He ended with a quote from Flaubert:  “It is a delicious thing to write, to be no longer yourself, but to move into an entire new universe.”

            The next session was my first presentation at NCTE, joining my WIN team for a panel discussion on the collaboration between WIN and the SDE to provide staff development for under-performing schools.  We were very pleased with the response and hope to make repeat performances.

            I decided to stay close to the “Teacher Education Strand” and found the sessions helpful and inspiring.  The first was a presentation by Susi Long and 8 teacher-researchers who had been in Susi’s preservice classes at USC.  For six years this group has stayed in regular contact, sharing joys and agonies of beginning teaching.  The result is a new book, TENSIONS & TRIUMPHS.  They commented on such things as the disconnect between preservice programs and actual school conditions and how new teachers suffer when their high ideals and beliefs “slip towards the status quo” as they struggle to survive.  They noted the shock of meeting resistant learners, the challenge of building community, and the task of juggling work and home life.  As they gained experience they learned to relax their drive for perfection and to become more political by fighting mandates and standardized methodology that don’t benefit their students.  One declared, “Don’t take simple autonomy for granted!”

            They also stressed that the role of administrators is crucial for beginning teacher and older ones, and that “scripted programs clip our wings.”  Further, “High-stakes testing is damaging to teachers’ confidence.”  Posting test scores creates “false celebrities” who may compromise best practices in order to produce high scores.  One teacher noted, “We aren’t up against the system; we are the system!”

            Session 3 was entitled “School of Hard Knocks” led by Cynthia Furr of Winthrop and two of her first-year English teachers, now working in Rock Hill public schools.  Furr observed that generally interns know their content but struggle with the basics: discipline, parent conferences, grading, and collegiality, and that being a  good teacher is ¼ preparation and ¾ theater.  Advice given by her two teachers include how they learned to call parents in the very beginning to set the tone and make connections so they can be partners on the kids’ behalf; to never embarrass kids in front of their peers; to find out the kid’s outside interests and attend games, plays, etc.; to be consistent with rules; and to be yourself.  Both recommended reading THE EDUCATION OF ESME (first year teacher’s memoir) and Dale Pitts’ POWER OF CULTURE.

            On Day Two the ALAN breakfast starred Naomi Shihab Nye, who was described as one who exhales poetry that makes the world a better place.  She shared stories of hope that tell us “all is not lost” and shared the power of story to make connections, to “befriend and mend.”  She advocated teachers developing lessons around the “literature of empathy” by looking for books that provide an oasis of calm and beauty.  She quoted a Middle Eastern writer who said, “If we were all the same, we would offend God!” She also stressed that imagining each other’s lives is not a luxury these days and that every act of violence is a betrayal of language. She quoted David Grossman, an Israeli poet whose son was murdered during the Gaza Strip struggle, “It is all a waste.  I insist that all of you here imagine the Palestinian pain: if we only mourn our own, all is lost.”

            Nye urged teachers to “sneak” poetry in to the curriculum.  She noted that if you keep a notebook and write in it just seven minutes a day, you’ll be amazed by what comes out.  She stated that the reading life of the young is the most vital homeland protection policy of all, and making space for reading and writing is a key to staying connected. 

            Sharon Draper was the next speaker, vastly different in style from Nye but sounding the same call for empathy-building through literature.  She joked that English teachers are the only people who remember kids by their handwriting, and that we are the power people since we connect kids to books.  She urged us to find the new teachers in our schools and give them the best stuff possible since, “without them you cannot retire!”

She also stressed the value of reading aloud to little kids, since that pre-loads the rhythm of language and helps them learn to sit still and be happy.

            Draper then went on to decry how testing has killed the joy in school and quoted a wise man in Africa: “Here, if we wish an elephant to grow, we feed it; we don’t measure it!”  She also railed against leveling kids and told the story of JoJo, a “remedial” reader who apologized to Draper for having read her books, even though he was “just a regular.”   She said that teachers should read 300 YA books a year so they can connect kids to books they’ll love.  She noted that she started writing because she saw the need to get kids excited about books.

            She then spent time telling the background for her latest novel, COPPER SUN.  It was inspired by her first trip to Africa, where she saw “slave castles”: depots where 12 million souls were shipped from their native land to America and compared their experience to having been kidnapped by Martians.  She stated, “Slavery is not a race thing; it’s a human thing!”   In a sad parallel to NIGHT, she explained that only the young and strong were taken and the rest were killed.  She ended by saying that COPPER SUN is a story of hope since the protagonist survived, had kids, and paved the way for herself (Draper.) 

            The next session was a participatory workshop in which we practiced a strategy called “Quaker reading.”  We constructed a “heart map” (a la Georgia Heard) of significant moments in our teaching lives; we then wrote a passage about one of those moments.  We were asked to share with a partner, then to revise our passages.  Finally, we circled our favorite sentence and were told to read it aloud as the urge hit us, much like Quaker meetings.  What joy to hear the variety, power, and artfulness of our writing.

            The ALAN luncheon highlighted a talk by Alice Siebold, whose bestseller THE LOVELY BONES is being made into a Peter Jackson movie.  She told how huge an event is it for your novel to move from hardcover to paperback, as that keeps it alive.  She said she tries to respect her audience by not “dumbing it down” with a long introduction but just gets to the story.  She also explained that in her novel, Mr. Harvey gets away with the crime because she wanted to avoid the linear “who done it” structure where the criminal gets all the attention.  She knew that eventually he would get caught, and that leaving the ending open provided a stronger voice for the victim.

            A special treat followed when I attended Mary Styslinger’s roundtables made up of first-year teachers from the USC preservice program.  Three of the nine presenters had been my interns last year.  While I can’t take credit for their talents, I can feel pride in their accomplishments. 

            Saturday began with a dynamic presentation by the Nebraska Commissioner of Education, Doug Christianson, noteworthy for his standing up to NCLB constraints.  He declared that the vision of equity behind NCLB is laudable, but the actual program is disastrous.  He described NCLB as “mean-spirited and secretive” and explained that his anger towards the program has three levels:  what it could have been (a powerful force for social justice), what it is (poisonous), and what it pretends to be.  He noted that after 5 years of failure, it’s time to get rid of it.  He described NCLB as “1200 pages full of hammers,” and that since it depends on average mean scores, it is not an accurate reflection of student achievement and is not equitable.  He gave this example:  “Equity of opportunity is when all kids have shoes; equity of outcome is when all the shoes fit.”

            He went on to stress that testing does not equal assessment.  He said that test-based accountability assumes that high scores equal better learning, which is false.  Content knowledge doesn’t mean true literacy, and NCLB makes indicators (scores) the outcome: a faulty premise.  “We’re making a beauty contest out of learning.  It’s now more important to look good than to be good.”

            He then described Nebraska’s STARS, an alternative to the NCLB assessment program.  STARS puts classrooms at the top of the system, rather than the bottom.  He declared that “high stakes testing sucks the oxygen out of education” and that to achieve renewal/change we must restructure the system.  “Assessment should inform the system, not deform it.”  He also asserted that it is insidious to rank-order schools, since situations differ so dramatically, and that there is never an equal distance between #1, #2, and #3 rankings of schools. 

            He ended by declaring that the “silver bullet” is highly qualified teachers, and that we must focus our national efforts on developing capacity, not control.  He sees teaching as the most noble work, as it’s about kids’ lives, not ours, and it’s the legacy we leave that is of value, not immediate results.   For more information about Nebraska’s efforts and texts of his speeches, search Nebraska Department of Education on the web.

            The final session of the day teamed Linda Reif and Kyleen Beers.  Linda demonstrated her “drawing as thinking” technique in which kids construct “telling boards” by drawing simple scenes, getting feedback from peers, and then adding details.  This procedure helps them move to words and results in much richer text.  She also said that drawing is a powerful tool for analyzing and understanding difficult text, such as MACBETH.  She said that asking social studies students to draw in response to textbook material is a powerful way to reveal what they understand.

            Kyleen began her presentation by confessing that in recent years she’d been wrong in saying that today’s kids are less literate than previous generations.  In fact, they are more literate, not limited to traditional text but also able to read digital text and multi-task using lots of different devices (I-Pods, games, blogs, etc.)  She defined “digital literacy” as the ability to read what’s on a computer screen with ease, to engage in video games successfully, and to navigate, understand, and participate on the Internet.    She stated that digital text is multi-dimensional, while print is linear and static.  Digital test provides sensations of sound, color, and action simultaneously, calling for “parallel processing.”  Such text is also highly motivating.

            Why, then, are we older souls resistant to digital literacy?  She explained that kids today are digital natives, while we are digital immigrants who are still tied to print.  She warned that people were once just as tied to their scrolls, so we need to be open to change.  She also said that NCLB is trying to make literacy tiny (as per testing) while literacy is actually bigger than ever, thus we’re leaving many kids behind.

            She explained that the 4 principals of success in video gaming are practice, subsets, bottom-up structure, and transfer of skills.  She stressed that we do a poor job of using practice in schools, such as when we resist reusing novels over time.  The problem is not kids knowing the endings; it’s using the same lessons over and over!  She gave the example of presenting the Emancipation Proclamation with no instruction but the freedom to reread as much as needed (6-7 times) for understanding.  Students said afterwards how grateful they were to have been given time to “figure it out.”  This, she said, is the problem with benchmarks, in that kids reach understanding at different rates and times.  A good strategy after allowing kids to reread text is to ask, “What did you see or learn this time that you didn’t learn last time?”

            She then stated that struggling readers just don’t know enough words and that effective vocabulary instruction is essential.  However, linear definitions are much less powerful than letting kids drawing graphic representations of definitions.  She also explained that “copying is the first step in learning” and that when learning new words they should come from a text (not an isolated list) so they can copy the sentence using the new word, give a definition, a synonym, an antonym, and a graphic representation.

ALAN PRESENTATIONS

            While the conference had 6500 participants, the ALAN post-conference two-day session had 480, which is still the largest audience ever.  Each day provided a slate of twenty-minute presentations by authors, editors, and illustrators plus a “silent signing” opportunity for participants to have copies of books signed by the authors.  Following are memorable moments from the presentations I witnessed.

Will Hobbs (DOWNRIVER) gave his rationale and background for his latest YA novel, CROSSING THE WIRE, in which the protagonist is a young Mexican boy trying to enter the US to earn money to send home to his struggling family.  Hobbs said he felt compelled to write it to build empathy for the flood of emigrants, legal and illegal, forced to face horrendous conditions to survive.  He didn’t offer a right or wrong, but did place blame on both the US government (subsidies and NAFTA) and Mexican government (corruption and drug trafficking.)  He declared that only imaginative literature can help us know how other people feel and thus be wiser and more empathetic.  www.willhobbsauthor.com

Panel on bullying:  Three experts offered insights into the problem:  bullying is cruel behavior that happens repeatedly and over time; 3^rd grade bullies are 6 times more apt to grown up into criminals so we must work with bullies, not just victims; we must involve bystanders; generally 20% of a school population is comprised of bullies; indirect bullying is more cruel than direct bullying; cyber-bullying is the fastest growing type; the Columbine shooters were victims of bullying.  Nancy Garden, author of ENDGAME (a novel about a school shooter), stressed that bullying is not a natural part of childhood.  We don’t handle it well when we tell victims to ignore bullies, tolerate being bullied, or fight back.  She recommends that schools have a firm policy against bullies, be sure it is consistently enforced, provide counseling to bullies, educate bystanders, nurture a warm, accepting tone throughout the school, and provide books that are inclusive as they help build empathy to those seen as “different.”

Next Patrick Jones, author of NAILED, said his title came from how the nail that sticks out the farthest gets hammered hardest, just as kids who stand out most often suffer most.  “Nails” are often artsy reader types and “hammers” are often jock non-reader types.  He said we must challenge hammers and nurture nails.  Sanctuary isn’t enough; we must teach kids to value each other.  “Testing can’t measure or nurture humanity, but books can!”

Julie Ann Peters (LUNA and KEEPING YOU A SECRET) noted that “kids are resilient but also fragile.”  She read touching letters from her readers who are gay and who tell how hurtful it is to never be celebrated for being who they are.  She urged us to be good role models of tolerance and to stand up for all kids.  She quoted one kid, “Why does the world make it so hard for people to be happy being who they are?”

The next speakers addressed the value of romance novels for young adults.  Sarah Dessen (JUST LISTEN and SOMEONE LIKE YOU) www.sarahdessen.com noted that teen girls look for romance in books, but that her novels go further to deal with family issues and growing up crises.  She uses her characters’ experiences to show how relationships can help you grow.  She also believes in being a force for positivism: “It’s okay to have a happy ending!”  Those convey hope.  She also noted how celebrity culture has added to problems kids have seeing beneath superficial perfection and accepting themselves.

The second author on this panel was David Levithan (WIDE AWAKE and BOY MEETS BOY) said that all of his books are about connections.  He makes the point that you don’t have to change or even have a typical romance to be happy.  “Love is love!”  Referring to his own homosexuality and other novelists like himself, “We are political novelists who wish we weren’t political.”

Next up was Janet MacDonald (SPELLBOUND, and PROJECT GIRL) who is a successful international corporate lawyer, but had to fight to overcome her childhood poverty.  She said she always excelled as a student “to get out of the Projects and into books…wouldn’t you?”  She began writing YA novels in 2001 to write books she wishes she’d had when she was 15.

Now came a panel on fantasy and science fiction in young adult novels.  One author said that continued reading of fantasy is essential to our survival, as fantasy teaches us to be bigger than we are and contains idealism (honor, courage) that is too often missing in our rational modern age.  He said that the trend towards realistic fiction in English classes in place of fantasy has made our world poorer.  After all, JFK invoked CAMELOT to inspire us.  He also added how huge terrorist crimes that have actually happened have been predicted in fantasy for generations.  Most of what we read up to 4^th grade is fantasy, but then we are pushed into other genre.

Further, fantasy taps into universal myths that are part of our cultural legacy.  Fantasy and science fiction can provide a needed antidote to the antiheroes in realistic fiction and in real life.  He urged the audience to promote a balance in reading material that includes fantasy and science fiction, as teens need a break from their growing pains and that those authors truly unlock the imaginations of their readers.

A panel discussion on non-fiction in young adult books followed in which James Cross Giblin (WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION) explained the challenge of non-fiction writing: how to stick to the facts and yet have lively text. He looks for story lines in the facts and then applies fiction-writing techniques such as beginning in situ and flashing back to provide background.  He also stressed that gaps in information always occur and that you must be straightforward about what still is mystery and offer what is speculated to have happened.  Also, writing dialogue is a problem but you can use text from letters, speeches, and archival material to make the test lively and still truthful.  He finished by saying that pictures are a must for modern readers, but you must obtain permission to use them.  Marc Aronson (WITCH HUNT) discussed how “witch hunts” occur when societal change is impending.  An example is Arthur Miller writing THE CRUCIBLE as a response to the McCarthy hearings.  He observed that we have a similar risk today with invasive government spying in the name of national security. 

Terry Davis (VISION QUEST) next read his essay “Literature tells our family secrets.”  He said that those who don’t want to consider what it means to be human are those who try to ban certain important books.  He said, “The sorrow of being on earth is how short our time is.”  Reading, he noted, is a private act even though books are public.  He decried the effort to deny kids the chance to mine literature to learn what will help them deal with the complexities of life.  He offered Chris Crutcher’s novels (often controversial) as prime examples of texts that help kids.

Following was a panel of historical novelists.  Laura Malone Elliott stated that the value of historical fiction is that it helps readers open their minds to the human drama of history.  The best way to explain war, she said, is to focus on ordinary people rather than leaders.  She called the process of writing HT a treasure hunt and wondering how she would have behaved in those circumstances.

Edward Bloor (STORYTIME, TANGERINE) then discussed how family history touches world history usually in the context of a war.  Family members usually select what is told as family history and that what they leave out is fodder for novels.  His latest novel, LONDON CALLING, is meant to be an anti-war book.  He stressed that for war to exist, fathers must be willing to sacrifice their sons, and that they often provide exaggerated tales of their own nobility.  Because of that, young people need to know all the facts about both family secrets and history secrets.

The value of audio books for young readers was the next topic for a panel of experts.  The first speaker told how narrating for audio books goes beyond reading and acting but also must create a frame for the whole story.  “Full cast” audio books have opened doors for older actors and unknowns, and that such products provide both teacher and a symphony for the ear using human voices.  Tamara Pierce has just written the first book designed to be a full cast audio book.

A second speaker warned us that cassettes are a dying breed, that audio books are going to CD’s and digital downloads.  Audios are a big time commitment for teens and must be engaging and valuable.  Listening Library only does 90 books per year.  Fisher-Price has just produced an I-Pod designed for three-year-olds, and “Playaways” is a new device the size of a flash drive that can play an entire book.

Finally, Teri Lesesne www.professornana.com came to the defense of audio books as a tremendous tool for engaging all young readers, not just those with reading deficiencies or language barriers.  Teri, a self-proclaimed “Goddess of Young Adult Literature,” used her humor and expertise to make this panel memorable.

Day Two began with a panel of book reviewers of YA books.  One cited a 2005 Barnes & Noble report that YA sales for ’05 went up by 23%, while adult literature sales only rose 1%.  Also, in 2005 approximately 3000 YA books were published, making the job of providing timely book reviews a daunting task.

John Green (LOOKING FOR ALASKA and AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES) next spoke on “Why books need readers.”  He told of how he dislikes confrontation but has to take a stand against censorship.  As a kid, he was an avid reader but didn’t learn to read critically until he hit high school and was given a good balance between classics and YA.  He noted that a novelist’s job is to do what Emily Dickinson advised, “Tell the truth but tell it slant.”  His teachers showed him how writers use symbols to “tell it slant,” such as how in ETHAN FROME that sled was not just a sled.  Green also told how Irving’s Owen Meany changed his life.  He took a great dig at censorship by telling how he and some friends, while still in high school, saw ANGELS IN AMERICA.  The play’s theme of homosexuality and graphic sex scenes not only didn’t corrupt them but spurred those three eleventh-graders to spend the ride home discussing huge life issues.  The three grew up to be, in turn, a bestselling author, a Fulbright Scholar, and a publisher in NYC.  He said that literature provides a study of how to be a complete person.  He went on to declare that parents should not have control over books read in school or subjects studied, such as evolution.  Teachers, he said, must have the right to teach books they believe in.  Books, he concluded, need readers but teachers are the ones who unleash the power of books for kids.

A panel of authors who have written YA anthologies urged us to balance kids’ reading diets.  “YA literature speaks directly to kids” and therein lies its power and value.  They also need to study great writers of the past, as they show how artists tell huge truths artfully.

Two creators of graphic novels spoke next.  Marc Siegel (MAUS, TO DANCE) of First Second Publishers noted that graphic novels are not a genre but a medium or format.  He said that we are having a “perfect storm” of graphic novels due to the burgeoning number of readers with a visual vocabulary.  He said that such books can be more demanding to read than prose.  His fellow panelist was Gene Yang, author of AMERICAN-BORN CHINESE, the first graphic novel to win a national book award.  Yang is a high school teacher who has long believed in the educational value of comics as they make information visual and permanent (readers can choose the speed.)  The new comics (graphic novels) tie in smoothly with 21^st Century literacy skills.

Two sports novelists, John Ritter and Robert Lipsyte spoke next about the value of their genre.  They stressed that they write about characters who happen to be athletes, and address big issues such as acceptance of differences.  Lipsyte’s novel THE CONTENDER came out in 1967, as did THE OUTSIDERS, both part of the birth of YA.  His latest, RAIDERS’ NIGHT, came about as a result of what he has learned on book tours in high schools.  The novel is about a brutal hazing incident and is a fiery condemnation of what he calls “jock culture.”  He says that kids are being betrayed by adult society when they are victimized by pushy coaches and parents.  He warned that high school sports are the next “gusher” of interest for ESPN, etc. and will result in more abuse.  He learned that steroid use begins in the spring, when coaches suggest that players need weight-training to succeed in the fall.  He also decried the gap created between jocks and other kids, beginning in elementary school (sides-choosing, little league) and can create Columbine conditions.  He also said that he sees many young jocks who are aware of their situations but simply don’t know what to do.

Finally, Gary Schmidt (LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY) urged us to use YA novels to help kids value “otherness” and to grow up well rather than staying adolescent fodder for commercial profit.  “YA literature is about turning our faces from adolescence towards adulthood.”  He quoted Shakespeare’s JULIUS CAESAR: “Speak hands for me!” as the best explanation for what writers do. 

On a personal note, just as the Opryland Hotel was almost too much to take in, the NCTE conference was a huge dose of ideas, information, and inspiration.  These notes barely scratch the surface, but I hope I captured some of the best moments.

This page updated last on :  08/25/2007