If you're on my mailing list or follow me on social media, you probably already know that the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) accepted my proposal, "Let Your Light Shine: Building Entrepreneurial Collaborations to Advocate, Share ELA Expertise," for the 2022 Convention November 17-20 in Anaheim, Ca.
I wrote this proposal because I see that English teachers with years of experience, advanced degrees, and active participation in NCTE possess a wealth of expertise much needed by newly certified, emergency, and alternatively certified teachers.
I also see, especially in today's political climate, that educators need to stop being afraid to shine a light on their work and start advocating for it.
Education is a communal practice and teachers can build communities to support their work and contribute to their financial futures at the same time.
Students also benefit when they see the real value of writing for a specific audience through their teacher’s publishing company or educational consultancy. By starting their own business, teachers are showing their students that someone they know can start a business, profit from it, and serve people through their work.
By building their own stages, teachers can shape their own professional learning community (PLC) and collaborate for the benefit of all.
In this session, I share my journey that started with a teacher blog, which I converted into an educational publishing company. I partner with teachers and writers on blog posts, podcast episodes, curriculum and lesson plans, and professional development courses. Teachers in this session will begin developing strategies to create a viable platform and discover their best audiences through writing prompts, small group collaborations, and scaffolding activities. Then they’ll be introduced to key concepts for building an automated online system that will enable them to share their lights while still teaching or even as a full-time vehicle for education advocacy.
To learn more about this presentation and the rest of our resources, join us on the reThink ELA mailing list.