BCTELA

The list of student pieces selected for publication in the most recent Student Writing Journal are now posted under the Resources tab.  The individual pices themselves will follow shortly.

Congratulations to all our student writers!

Please see the most recent issue of English Practice (also under the Resources tab) for the entry form for this year's competition.

Check out this contest for your students:

"The Mathieu Da Costa Challenge (MDC) is an annual writing and artwork contest open to youth between the ages of 9 and 18. The Challenge encourages young Canadians to embark on their own personal voyage of discovery by learning about the contributions that Canadians of different backgrounds have made in building our country."

We have started a wiki for BC English Language Arts teachers.  It's kind of a digital incarnation of the novel title collection project we used to do. The difference this time is that a wiki updates immediately and is easily accessable to everyone.  If you've never used a wiki, come have a look.  We'd love to have participation from all over the province.

First, we're collecting Canadian texts that you teach.  Next may be comics and graphic novels....

The BCTELA AGM will be held at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre in Burnaby (the site of our conference) on Friday, October 23rd at 3:45 pm.  Information as to the specific room will be available from an executive member at the hotel on Friday.

At the AGM, executive members will report out on this years activities and there will be elections/allotments of next year's portfolios.  We welcome any interested members to attend.

Our conference is mere days away!  We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday (or Thursday, or Saturday).  Online registration is now closed.   If you have not yet registered, we welcome you to come early on your day of choice and register on-site as a walk-in.  There are spots left in the Thursday and Saturday institutes and in some sessions on Friday.  We'll see you there!

Here are two examples of the passion and drive that our students can embody:

The first is a poetic inspiration for the future.

The second is a perfect example of what students can do when inspired by authentic inquiry.

Over the past twelve months the BCTELA executive has reflected on BCTELA and its role. We identified our current "tent poles": our journal (English Practice), our annual conference and our student writing journal (Voices Visible). We also realized that we needed to re-think our website to better reflect 21st century Literacies.

Members of the BCTELA executive and representatives from ERAC (Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium) have met several times in the past few years to explore ways of working together to best serve the needs of BC teachers and students. Click here to view the results of these meetings.

As an affiliate on NCTE, BCTELA is participating in the National Day on Writing coming up on October 20th.  We invite any and all teachers and students in BC to contribute an example of their writing to the BCTELA Gallery. The purpose of this event is to celebrate the variety of writing we do every day.  Submit something today!

Celia Brownrigg has been chosen by BCTELA to receive the 2009 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Affiliate Leadership Development Award supported by a partnership between NCTE and Pearson Education. The award recognizes her as an early career teacher who has demonstrated a capacity for professional leadership.