TCTELA wants to connect with you beyond the annual conference. Sections are patterned after our parent organization, the National Conference of Teacher of English, and provide the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues throughout Texas all year long. Groups meet during the year via online options to share best practices and develop various resources to support the needs of the section. Read below to learn about each section and what's happening this month. It's time to connect!

Writing can be an intimidating process. However, the process can become easier transforming into a beautiful relationship once you have found a solid support group. This is what we aim to birth this summer. All members are welcomed to apply and are encouraged to share with colleagues and student teachers.

The confab is a six-week experience in which members will work towards developing fruitful writing habits or routines, learn about publishing, hone in on craft and voice, and complete one targeted piece of writing.

The confab will meet on the following dates between June 13th- July 25th. All gatherings will be virtual. There will be a meet-up opportunity for those who live in the Houston area. That will result in a synchronous confab gathering. Zoom info will be emailed a week before meetings. See below for dates and times:

Sunday, June 13th at 11:30 am
Saturday, June 26th at 11:30 am
Saturday, July 10th at 11:30 am
Saturday, July 17th at 11:30 am
Sunday, July 25th at 11:30 am (Houston meet up/Synchronous gathering)

Currently, the HS section has lots of projects. Here are some of the work we are developing:

• TCTELA Section Podcast production
• Mentor Text Bank Development
• Membership Building

The mentor text bank is a collection of lessons grades 9-12 using mentor texts. We are compiling them now and hope to have a great resource to share with teachers in Texas. Members can access these in Google Drive and add their own lessons as well. Click the link to access and add lessons!

Upcoming Meeting Dates:

• May 10 - 5:30pm
• May 15 - 10:30am

Middle Section will attempt to meet every third Wednesday of the month at 7 pm, with the exception of this month which will be on the 24th because of Spring Break.

• May 19, 7 pm

We invite all middle school teachers to participate in our Middle Section Committee. Please email Liz Henson at lizghenson@gmail.com, with your name and email address so we can make sure you're included in our next committee meeting.

We are excited to build a literacy community where educators can learn, discuss, reflect, and just have fun together!

Upcoming Meeting Times:

• May 4th, 7-8pm (summer dates will be decided at this time)

Building an elementary literacy community through

• content discussions
• sharing/discussing new and exciting book titles to use in classrooms or for professional growth
• working on a professional development project to be able to share out with colleagues (quick videos/resources tips and tricks for teaching reading and writing).

PD2Teach is a project from TCTELA supporting teachers and curriculum leaders in the implementation of the new ELAR/SLAR TEKS for K-8 beginning in 2019-2020 and continuing with high school TEKS in 2020-2021.

A team of dedicated teachers and instructional coaches will gather to hold professional conversations about the new standards and will discuss how their classrooms will evolve under the new strands and the new standards. Grounding their discussion in literacy research, this team offers their classroom experiences as examples, will highlight student successes they are already seeing in their classrooms across Texas, and will outline how they are using the standards to create a stronger, literate Texas graduate on the path toward both college and career.

Want to learn more? Head to our website.

Go to our website to learn more!

Dr. Edmund J. Farrell - Lifetime Service and Achievement Award Nomination Form
This award recognizes Dr. Farrell’s profound impact on the profession of English/language arts education, commitment to excellence in the teaching of English, and continued dedication to service and support of the mission and purpose of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts. Beginning 2022, this award will be 'Lifetime Service and Achievement Award'. Nominations for 2022 are open until Monday, November 1, 2021.

Teacher of the Year Nomination Form
The TCTELA annual Teacher of the Year awards recognize outstanding elementary, middle school, high school, and college educators. The deadline for 2022 nominations are Monday, November 1, 2021.

Mercedes Bonner Leadership Award Nomination Form
The Mercedes Bonner Leadership Award (MBLA) is a special award given to a TCTELA member of a diverse background who has made a significant contribution to TCTELA or has actively and tirelessly supported our professional community or has advanced the awareness of multicultural issues. Nominations for 2022 are open until Monday, November 1, 2021.