“I’m just telling you that I need poetry, that it is not an indulgence or a luxury for me, but the best antidote to mere despair that I can find at the moment, that it helps me to feel un-alone even way down deep where the loneliness would otherwise be absolute. I realize that I’m preaching to the choir here, but I need you to keep singing, so.” -John Green in Poetry Magazine, June 2020 When Lindsay Illich and Melissa Alter Smith, authors of Teach Living Poets, brought their poetic knowledge to the North Dakota Council of Teachers of English 2022 Summer Conference, they shared the above quote ..read more

First, the community poem: A Glimpse of North Dakota, a Random and Incomplete List Compiled by NDCTE members, Aug. 1, 2023 1. Walking into the chilly ballroom in the heat of July: blinded by the overhead lights, I cannot look above the horizon in fear of white spots creeping in the periphery, perhaps speeding me to early sight loss. When the light settles, people take shape: speech and debate coaches from teacher-me long ago forgotten, a colleague from year-one-me, friends that sing with me and create with me and breathe with me. They all sit around black tables--talking, testifying, tallta ..read more

May 21, 2022   Hello Teacher Friends, I hope these words find you well as this school year wraps up. This summer, the North Dakota Council of Teachers of English is hosting their annual summer conference July 19-20 in Mandan, North Dakota. One of the keynote speakers is Dave Stuart Jr., and you really should meet him. Dave Stuart Jr. is the author of the book These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most (Corwin, 2019) and co-author--with Matthew Johnson and Matthew R. Kay--of a quite new book Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Middle and H ..read more

Good news! You still have time to submit your breakout session proposal for the NDCTE 2022 Summer Conference. The conference theme is "Growing Together" and we need you to do just that! The breakout sessions are for one-hour each. We are seeking proposals for best practices in writing, reading, speaking and listening, and language. Submit your idea here: https://forms.gle/D2W9ZvRPCwxBipvf7 P.S. If you need a little extra courage to submit a proposal, here you go! You got this ..read more

Vertical Divider PaperMate Flair! Medium pens My favorite writing utensils, especially with teaching and grading, are the Paper Mate flair pens. As you can see, I love the variety of colors. They have such ease when writing and always leave a good mark. I like the flair pens because I always like to add flair to what I write, and I love the color variety and feel of the pen on paper. Nathan Kurtti teaches English II (Sophomore English), Honors Sophomore English, and AP Seminar at West Fargo Sheyenne High School. He is currently the head debate coach at Sheyenne High School and the newl ..read more

The contents of my snack drawer fall into three categories: breakfast, beverage, and emergency chocolate. First, I keep some sort of granola bar-type-thing because I sometimes get busy or distracted in the morning and forget to eat. I promise, I do check for allergies before I have anything with nuts! Next, since I think coffee is gross, I keep hot chocolate and tea in the desk. That Sweet and Spicy variety is awesome--kind of cinnamony, and it smells amazing. Finally, and arguably most importantly, is the Darth Vader tin of Emergency Chocolate. I usually keep Andes mints in there. Not to pro ..read more

Uni-Ball Signo Micro 207 Gel & Cross Calais Ballpoint & Pilot Precise V5 rt Gel Kelsey Johnson teaches ​English II, Theatre Arts, Creative Writing, and Dual Credit Speech at West Fargo High School.  She is the head coach for WF Sheyenne Speech and Student Congress. She also serves as President of North Dakota Council of Teachers of English and as a ND Roughrider District Committee member for the NSDA. She is also a current MFA-Forensics grad student with a hopeful December 2020 graduation ..read more

Greetings NDCTE Members,  As Kelsey so eloquently stated, I am here to help you navigate the terrain of this online PD opportunity.  This opportunity is available right away. All assignments must be completed by August 14th.  We want to reiterate that our intent is to provide an experience that allows for exploring new resources and perspectives and also invites you to discuss and connect with fellow educators of various grade levels across the state, all while being safe and snug at your own workspace. Let's learn! 1. How To Get The Credit We will be using Google Classroom ..read more

The National Writing Project is a hosting a virtual writing marathon this summer. #WriteAcrossAmerica has already stopped in Wisconsin, Arizona, Mississippi, and Kentucky. This coming week, they stop in North Dakota!  Come and write Tuesday, July 14th from 3:00-4:15 MST/4:00-3:15 CST. For more information about the virtual marathon and to register for the stop (you must register to get the Zoom link), check out: https://lead.nwp.org/writeacrossamerica-a-virtual-writing-marathon/Bring a friend and come write with us ..read more

By Donna Davidson, Northwest Director for NDCTE Connected Newsletter, April 2020 Will anyone notice if I just don’t do laundry for the rest of the month? Will I ever need to fill my car with gas again? Should I bother showering today?   These are the questions I’m asking myself in the Age of Corona. I would love to spend this time telling you about the amazing things I’m doing in class and the great resources I have to share, but I don’t have any. I frequently think about all the things I should have time for now. The books! The research! The projects! And then I spend the next 1200 hou ..read more