How do I take my instruction to the next level?

Join us and veteran teachers Leila Christenbury and Ken Lindblom in answering this question in an unforgettable event that will advance your practice and transform your classroom! NCTE’s Summer Institute is informed by more than 70 years of combined classroom experience, a large body of research in the discipline, and the collective expertise of a broad network of English educators.

Held in the beautiful 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Louisville on historic West Main Street, this Institute is both a celebration of and a call to action for veteran English teachers, and will ensure that you

• reenergize yourself by rethinking your role as a veteran English teacher.
• discover advanced approaches to teaching reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
• develop a firmer understanding of how to responsibly navigate controversial topics without avoiding them.
• explore new technologies, including social media platforms, that can electrify your classroom in exciting, relevant ways for you and your students.
• meet like-minded colleagues from many states who can refresh your thinking.
• build a lasting professional network to strengthen your efforts (and sense of humor) as you walk this continuing journey called teaching English.

Most teachers give give give—to their students, to their school communities, to their friends and families. If this describes you, this summer give yourself the gift of renewal. Come to the 2020 CTJ Summer Institute and connect with veteran teaching colleagues from all over the country.  It’s your time: learn, share, and recharge.  

This year’s Institute is broken into two sessions which can be attended individually or together (content will not be duplicated between the two). Here is a brief description of the thematic focus for each session: 

Session 1—Literary and Informational Texts: Reading/Writing about Literature (June 25–27)

Come challenge yourself in an active, supportive environment of veteran teachers. Explore how to rethink your role in the classroom and how to intensify student engagement. Learn about effective approaches to classic literature—such as triangulated writing assignments, using primary historical documents, and adding informational nonfiction text sets to drama and fiction. Examine ways to teach new genres—such as memes, blogs, social media discourse, and new media and literary nonfiction. In small and large settings, share and learn from savvy, friendly colleagues from across the country and engage in hard conversations about teaching in today’s world: post-truth critical thinking, culturally responsive education for all students, and strengthening the courage all veteran English teachers need. Leila and Ken share their experience and facilitate engaging conversations and activities in a lively and collegial format. Some of Leila and Ken’s well-known friends in the field will also stop by to share their wit and wisdom to inspire us all.

All participants will take home a copy of Continuing the Journey: Becoming a Better Teacher of Literature and Informational Texts, Continuing the Journey 2: Becoming a Better Teacher of Authentic Writing, a comprehensive presenter handout packet, and a personalized certificate of attendance for 15 CPUs.

Session 2—Writing, Speaking, and Listening: Teaching Communication Today (June 28–30)

Audience-responsive communication means writing, speaking, and listening in ways that respect, honor, and follow the language traditions and expectations of real people. Too much of literacy instruction in the past has been based on laboratory models of what some authorities believe are the best ways to talk and write. Join veteran colleagues as we discuss effective approaches to real-world writing and speech, and learn about how language functions in today’s powerful formal and informal contexts. Explore with us how technology-enabled communication has changed what students need to know to be successful interlocutors; how to encourage respectful and yet still critical discussion; how to manage discussions on important, real-world topics that can be passionate, even heated; and how to value deep listening for intelligent learning and writing. Work with colleagues from across the country to understand how various forms of English function in the classroom and how we can ensure that our students can wield standardized English and other forms effectively to suit their own purposes. A few of Ken and Leila’s friends from the field will also present on specialized topics to help us energize our English classes.

All participants will take home a copy of Continuing the Journey 2: Becoming a Better Teacher of Authentic Writing, Continuing the Journey 3: Becoming a Better Teacher of Language, Speaking, and Listening, a comprehensive presenter handout packet, and a personalized certificate of attendance for 15 CPUs.

Why We Need This Institute Now

Teaching English well has always required bravery. To be relevant, teaching English today requires different skills than it did even just five years ago, skills that are critical to our students’ informed participation in society.

A literate population depends on the work we do and how well we do it within the changing landscapes in which we work. Now more than ever, the wisdom and insight of veteran teachers is crucial to our ongoing, effective classroom instruction.

It’s time to use your experience—and to share it with others—to go bold and try new things:

• Teach challenging texts.
• Engage with new media, a central facet of teaching critical literacy.
• Help students to apply ethical and critical thinking to the tools they use for composition.
• Broaden the genres, types, and intended audiences for which your students learn to write.
• Foster strong communication skills, both written and verbal, as well as the capacity for deep listening. 

These are hard, but necessary, things that we as veteran teachers must do.

This Institute will teach you how.

About the Presenters

Both Ken and Leila are veteran English teachers who are passionate about staying current with their teaching skills and helping other teachers improve their practices. They have successfully collaborated for some years on a number of projects and bring, between them, both a shared commitment to teaching excellence and different perspectives on a variety of topics.

Leila Christenbury is Commonwealth Professor Emerita at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, where she has taught English methods, young adult literature, applied English linguistics, and the teaching of writing. A past president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and a past editor of English Journal, her research has been recognized by the David H. Russell Award, the James N. Britton Award, and the Edward B. Fry Book Award. An active member of NCTE for more than 40 years, she has taught in Virginia high schools and universities for most of her career.

In his thirty-first year as a teacher, Ken Lindblom is Professor of English at Stony Brook University, where he teaches courses in English teacher education and rhetoric. A member of NCTE since 1989 (when he taught high school English in upstate New York), Ken was editor of English Journal from 2008 through 2013. He is coauthor of four books about teaching English and more than two dozen articles, book chapters, and peer-reviewed blog posts on the subject.

Special Guests

Coming Soon!