VATE-Virginia Association of Teachers of English

It’s our executive board retreat weekend! We are previewing the 2024 conference site - Hotel Madison! Register today to attend our annual fall conference - Unlocking Opportunities.

Registration link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclRVdrjeNKsyhbWuoSrfcfmRWpW5Gtj-rV2QG5Dz2chcamQQ/viewform

First time attendee? Apply for our NEW first time attendee scholarship - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOiKNczYpvijGJ6sYgP2zyyzROU4tZl0r_AIvpFIbxNE68yw/viewform

See you in October!

We are excited to announce our 2024 Fall Conference! Join VATE in Harrisonburg, VA at Hotel Madison October 18th - 19th! 🗓️Save the date! Registration info is coming soon.

We are currently accepting proposals for interested presenters - submit here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScoKQNyrOqWui5Ghsqkx0Hu9mt7lwB8rgeDpSxhsc0J2B2j_w/viewform

🎉Our newest Virginia English Journal publication is now available!

From the Editor, Cinde Wollenburg: Connection matters. This is why, perhaps even more than ever, the teaching of Reading and Writing matters. In this issue, authors were asked to consider how reading and writing builds connection: to the self, to classmates, to our neighbors and to our world. Within this issue, Josh Thompson, Clint Whitten and Karin Kaerwer share how “reading and writing can be sites of refuge and discovery” for rural LGBTQIA2S+ students. Amanda Blevins advocates for the removal of the scaffold of the five paragraph essay in order to gain more authentic student writing. Tracy L. Hough shows us that examining how characters use writing in literature can engage and inspire students. Tracy Spurlin-Saravanan shares how she inspired her students to find (and write about) creative solutions to societal problems. Kyle Trott reminds us that we are all teachers of reading and writing, and proposes solutions to more effective writing across the curriculum. Shannon D. Boone-Hurdle recalls the power of her experience teaching Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye while offering practical ideas to put into practice. Dr. Hollie Bergeron, Dr. Jenny M. Martin and preservice teachers review Brett Pierce’s book Expanding Literacy: Bringing Digital Storytelling into Your Classroom. Finally, Cheryl Golden gives us poems that remind us of our why and the power of sharing your writing with students.

Thank you to our Editor as well as all contributors and reviewers!

Check it out:
https://digitalcommons.bridgewater.edu/vej/vol72/iss1/

Reminder - sign up to join us virtually on Tuesday!

Join VATE for our 2nd annual virtual Book and a Beverage event! We will be discussing Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi. Grab your favorite beverage and hop on Zoom on Tuesday, February 27th at 7pm! RSVP at https://bit.ly/3SLwuQo

Join VATE for our 2nd annual virtual Book and a Beverage event! We will be discussing Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi. Grab your favorite beverage and hop on Zoom on Tuesday, February 27th at 7pm! RSVP at https://bit.ly/3SLwuQo

Check out VATE’s most recent advocacy work:
1) Letter to Rockingham County Public Schools urging the division to form a book review committee (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZMfSgGVNEdfSgs-_FNPMKnfhsW0SFQePwnp597yCG9s/edit)

2) Op-Ed submitted to the Daily News Record of Rockingham (https://www.dnronline.com/opinion/open_forum/let-s-talk-about-books/article_519d2dd9-b8a1-5c71-9d7a-c13d2a055359.html).

3) VATE President, Dr. Jenny Martin speaking at the Rockingham County Public Schools School Board meeting at 46:45 (https://youtu.be/a9oSW_7kZFk)

VATE serves, presents, wins awards, and connects at NCTE in Ohio! Come join us in Boston next year!

You may have noticed our social media presence has been slacking over the last few months. We are currently seeking interested individuals to fill our open Social Media positions! Send us a message or an email at [email protected] for more info.

Thank you to all who traveled to Virginia Beach last weekend to celebrate literacy and language arts with us! Here a few photos from the conference.

Our annual conference is coming up NEXT weekend, and it’s not too late to register!

Visit www.VATE.org for more information and to complete registration.

View our conference schedule here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m1W5_CVdklhG040ZQ2jQtWf1b8VLwqTH/view?usp=drivesdk

VATE will cover your cost for this unique visit to the in Richmond. Only 50 spots are available, so register now, and invite a friend today!

Edgar Allan Poe Museum : VATE Educator Workshop Join other English educators and the Poe Museum staff for an afternoon of guided tours, professional development workshops, and a happy hour!

The VATE Board met at this fall's conference site on May 6 - 7 for our annual board retreat. We had a productive meeting, and the conference center is divine! Save the date for the 2023 VATE Conference: October 6th and 7th!

Update: The researchers are specifically looking for teachers in the following rural districts: Bland, Buchanan, Bristol, Carroll, Dickenson, Galax, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Norton, Pulaski, Radford, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe.

A team of Virginia Tech researchers is asking secondary (6th-12th) English Language Arts teachers if they would be willing to complete an anonymous online questionnaire about the recent LGBTQ+-related legislation and/or policies in rural Virginia districts. This questionnaire should last no longer than 30 minutes. Once completed, participants will have the option to participate in a 15-to-20-minute interview and will receive a $10 Walmart gift card for their time. We are available to schedule those optional interviews at their convenience. Your involvement is totally voluntary, and we will keep your information confidential and not share it with any school personnel or other participants. School districts will not be named.

IRB-approved questionnaire:

English Language Arts Teacher Experiences with Educational LGBTQ+-Related Policies

Virginia English Journal Call for Submissions: Reading and Writing as Refuge and Discovery

Want to submit an article, but not sure how to prepare one? Come to the VATE conference in October and attend a session with the editor. Workshop your piece and get feedback from peers before you submit!

Please consider presenting at the 2023 VATE conference:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtOPyoyZ8OQLSrfrl20NT_iftHeT5o7Ve0khLK8V2WamtioA/viewform

VATE members: please check out ways you can get involved in Camp Curious:
Supply Letter- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AUxY296kcKs5ltMqIhYypUhuli-yyZ77ecayduxnIGY/edit
Book Donation Letter- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Tz-E3in4q1KAiqOCbo73SrxmDlxwaB-a4SUxQ4LZas/edit
Amazon Wish List- https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/23SFA2U4I755J?ref_=wl_share
Facebook fundraiser- https://www.facebook.com/donate/514418317312762/

Join VATE for our first African American Read-In in an evening with author, Amber McBride! We’ll meet on Zoom discuss her book, Me (Moth), and your favorite beverage - register now at https://tinyurl.com/VATERead2023

Attention VATE members:

Come join our leadership team!

VATE Executive Board Members Ashley Walker, Cynthia Nicholson, and Mary Davis attended the Affiliate Breakfast this morning! The speakers celebrated the work of affiliates and shared an opportunity to reflect on the conference experience.

Cheryl Golden, VATE Board Member, seen on promotion for the NCTE 2023 Conference - Conexiones! We have a superstar!

Congratulations to all awardees but especially Wanda Anderson (3rd from left), Richmond City Public Schools teacher and VATE Member, on being awarded as one of the 2022 NCTE High School Teachers of Excellence!

VATE was recognized at the Affiliate Breakfast by NCTE Executive Director, Emily Kirkpatrick, for our collaboration with NCTE, sponsors, and fellow affiliates for the Intellectual Freedom discussion event in September 2022.

VATE President and High School Member at Large are pursuing the light at Sueños 📚❤️

Presenters' resources and pictures from the 2022 VATE “Retreat the Write Way” conference are now available on the VATE website:

https://vate.org/events/annual-conference-2/

Check everything out!

Annual Conference 2022 Conference Presenters’ Shared Materials 2021 Conference This year’s conference focused on empowering and honoring student voices. We were excited to be joined by our keynote speaker, Julia Torres! Her keynote address about how to inspire students to learn inspired every attendee at VATE......

The Virginia Association of Teachers of English (VATE) recommendation statement on districts' required efforts to create policies for alerting parents about "s*xually explicit content" in classrooms:

School boards in Virginia, as directed by state government, are creating policies for notifying parents about curriculum materials containing “s*xually explicit content” (as defined in the Code of Virginia Section 2.2-2827). The Virginia Association of Teachers of English (VATE) recommends that school boards create policies that apply the definition of “s*xually explicit content” in ways that are precise and appropriately restrained. That is, VATE cautions school boards against creating policies that would categorize as “s*xually explicit content” any text that even mentions s*x, from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Instead, districts should create policies that identify texts that function, on the whole, as what the Code of Virginia’s definition calls “lewd exhibition.” Policies that identify “lewd exhibitions” will address the letter and the spirit of the law and will confirm that such exhibitions are almost entirely non-existent in Virginia’s classrooms.

VATE members enjoyed hot cider, s’mores, and live music alongside a campfire last night!

Dr. Joanne Gabbin of James Madison University shares the work of Furious Flower - an initiative to spread knowledge and share joy of African American Poetry. Added bonus: VATE Board Member Dr. Cynthia Nicholson reads aloud “Wade in the Water, a poem by Tracy Smith, in native Geechee Gullah dialect.

Penny Kittle reminding us to center joy and love in our classroom communities.

Books, wine, and chocolate hosted by Randall and Paige Horst. A VATE Conference tradition!