Authors are the best. I emailed Nic Stone after NCTE to tell her how much my own kid loved Dear Martin and Dear Justyce and that he read them in record (for him) time. Also told her he was so mad he’d have to wait til March for the new one. SO SHE SENT HIM AN ARC! The best. He’s going to be stoked!

One of the random ways I’ve connected with students this year is through my clothes. Several kids (mostly girls) give me a “fit check” and troll me on what I’m wearing or tell me the outfit is acceptable. It’s pretty hilarious, but today I had a realization…am I Ms. Geist??

"I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually" ~ James Baldwin, who passed 37 years ago today, and whose voice is needed now more than ever

This is my first year teaching HS English. I love it and am figuring things out as I go. One of the things I’m thinking a lot about in the shift from elementary to HS is how to maintain the student choice and agency that felt so natural in ES. (This is now going to be a thread, I can tell 😂) 1/

Taking a cue from @natebyr0n.bsky.social…currently on hour 6 of what is turning out to be a 14-hour drive. 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 AMA!

Books. When buying books for gifts this holiday season, please don't buy from Amazon. Please shop at your local independent bookstore/bookseller. Ask for recommendations. If they don't have a particular book in stock, ask them to order it. Support creatives, local businesses, and your community.

This panel was poopendously fun! These amazing teachers have great tips for motivating reluctant readers and writers. #ncte24 @gracekchoi.bsky.social @chthompson.bsky.social @kassiaowedekind.bsky.social

So glad I got to end my #NCTE24 with this incredible panel about novels in verse! Stories do indeed help and heal us. 💙💚 @mrschureads.bsky.social @maerespicio.bsky.social @katemessner.bsky.social

We did it! We spoke about poop at length at a national conference. 😂 So much fun sharing about using “gross” topics in the classroom to connect to kids’ humanity, raise engagement, and give kids agency! #NCTE24 @chthompson.bsky.social @kassiaowedekind.bsky.social

Always my favorite part of NCTE!!!

And! This was such a fun announcement for Orbis Pictus! If this sounds like a book you’d want to read, too, come hear me, @kassiaowedekind.bsky.social, and @chthompson.bsky.social talk more about poop books at 4:15 in Room 252A!

And, so special that I got to announce @andreaywang.bsky.social ‘s Summer at Squee as an honor book! Loved, loved this one and am so happy for you, Andrea!! #NCTE24

Hooray to the winner of this year’s Charlotte Huck award! The Last Stand is beautiful and so necessary. Read it! Share it!! #NCTE24

So thrilled to hear from Sarah Everett, winner of the 2024 Charlotte Huck Award! If you haven’t yet read it, you NEED to!

Y’all. I finally, finally met @profhsieh.bsky.social in real time and it was everything I thought it would be and more. Somehow her heart is even bigger and brighter in real life 😭💛

Love love love reconnecting with favorite authors at #NCTE2024! @soontornvat.bsky.social is the best! 💙💙

Is anyone else so so lost in this giant convention center? I am literally walking in circles. 🙃 #NCTE2024

So full of hope after this session on intergenerational resistance. Glad to be reminded that in this time of grief and turmoil and often helplessness, we can look to our elders and ancestors and remember that “they did a lot more with a lot less.” @maggietokudahall.bsky.social Ready to do more.

Book clubs as a way to retain choice, agency, responsiveness and a focus on developing a depth of understanding at #NCTE24 with @sarakugler.bsky.social @amandadey.bsky.social 🔥

“The question of our time is, are we going to be ruined by our greed or saved by our ingenuity?” -Kate McKinnon #NCTE

“The times when I have had the courage to be authentic have been met with more love than when I have pretended.” Kate McKinnon at #NCTE24 bringing truths and making us cry 😭

On a more uplifting note, please attend some of these amazing #AsianAmAF sessions at #NCTE24

Here all day…wish us luck!

Taught for most of the day, flew to Boston, got picked up by my bestie, stuffed our faces, and I’m now officially ready for #NCTE24! So excited to be in community in person! 💚

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. Each year, the trans community loses too many lives, especially trans women of color, to hate and violence. More than ever, we must stand by our trans family and support them, hold space for them, and insist the scapegoating and targeting stop. Now.

(Re)introduction time! Hi! 👋🏼 I’m Grace, originally from NJ, but have been outside DC for a while now. This is my 23rd year in education and I was a long time Kinder & 1st grade teacher before becoming a literacy coach. After that, I was a district level coach in our county’s Title I office. 1/5

I have been blessed to present a lot of great things at #NCTE, but this session is going to be absolute 🔥🔥🔥. I am stoked to be presenting with my friend, the brilliant @heymrsbond.bsky.social. Join us as we unpack how Audre Lorde helps use humanize pedagogy, texts, and people #NCTE24

I’m really proud of the work Scott and I have done in this session. It’s going to be INCREDIBLE and I’m so, so excited. #NCTE24

It’s just… so nice to reconnect with people here. 🥹 I was at NCTE22 when things started to implode on the bird. Over that next year, I still kept up with it because of the incredible community there. It wasn’t the same, but we tried. The following year was way worse and I barely even signed on.

Hiiiiiiiiii 💙 Leaving the dumpster fire and hoping to connect with people here. If you’re heading to #NCTE24, I hope to I see you there! I’ll be presenting on Saturday about all things 💩!