Thank You #NWPAM15, Hello #NCTE15. The Greatest Part of this Work -- Investing in K-12 Teachers

I am so proud of Shaun Mitchell, Kim Herzog, and Megan Zabilansky for representing CWP-Fairfield and our participation in the LRNG Innovation Challenge work. Better yet, it means the world to me to have opportunity to bring Connecticut teachers to NWP and NCTE to showcase the handwork they do in their classroom. We too seldom showcase the handwork, diligence, and excellence of classroom instruction and curriculum.

This morning begins the NCTE part of our trip to Minneapolis and today there is opportunity to feature Ubuntu Academy, Young Adult Literacy Labs, Literacy4Life, and the political writing we did with the CT Mirror. We never know how many we'll get in a session, but we do know that the dialogue with our colleagues across the nation is immeasurable.

I am thankful for having a location where teachers can showcase the excellence of their pedagogy and celebrate the hard work of students who help them to push literacy to the next level. In truth, NWP and NCTE is about them and now, more than ever before, I'm a tremendous fan for building teacher leadership and advocating for what is possible if we invest in curricular excellence.

So, I'm celebrating the next three days of NCTE and riding the high wave of NWP and all the knew knowledge gained from being surrounded by like-minded, innovative educations. We Too Are Connecticut, but We Too Are English Educators in the United States. The work we do matters.