This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the SMCTE Spring Mini-Conference at Wooddale Middle School. I know… I’m a librarian and have never “officially” taught English, but they were very nice and didn’t kick me out or question my credentials. …and really, shouldn’t we all be teachers of English, promoting writing and reading throughout the school?

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. There were three breakout sessions and I chose one with a writing focus, one with a focus on reading, and one with more of a technology focus. The first session, presented by an English professor from the University of Memphis, stressed the five common grammar errors that students need to correct before they graduate: spelling, fragments, run-on sentences, pronoun/antecedent agreement, and subject/verb agreement. Strategies to help students learn these skills were provided. The second session I attended was a discussion of graphic novels and their relevance in today’s classrooms. My third session was a demonstation by two Wooddale Middle teachers about using blogs with their classes. Using blogs in teaching is still relatively new in our area and some great points were introduced and debated.

Consider attending local mini-conferences when you can. The cost is typically low and we all need to keep learning, don’t we?

Our school’s book club, which is open to all of our faculty, parents, students, and community members, recently read and discussed Teaching, Parenting, and Mentoring Successful Black Males: A Quick Guide by Mychal Wynn. This little book is based on another, more detailed Mychal Wynn book. Many of the 66 short strategies in this book are ideas we’ve all heard many times before.

The benefit we gained by reading this book as a group was in the discussion we had at our book club meeting. We heard opinions and additional suggestions from administrators, teachers, parents, community members, and even students. We appreciate all who read the book and participated in our book club meeting!