I’ve never been one to quickly embrace technological advancement - particularly if I don’t see the benefit of the update or don’t understand how the tech actually works.  Example? I miss the days of installing a carburetor kit or using a timing light to tune an engine: carburetors and distributors made sense to me - they made sense to many of us, as a matter of fact. But those were the magical ‘80s. Since then, sensors and more sensors and computers and more computers have turned a motor into a mystery machine. I cannot argue the benefit of these tech updates - certainly, the modern automobile engine is more efficient and more reliable, but when the inevitable happens, and a warning light comes on, what do the vast majority of people think at that moment? 
        I’ll tell you what they think: they think, Huh? or I wonder what that light means? and What do I do now? and I guess I have to take this to the dealership. And the dealership mechanic will then plug the automobile computer into the dealership computer, and the dealership computer will “talk” to the vehicle computer, and the dealership computer will then “tell” the mechanic what electronic sensor or computer module is faulty, and then the dealership computer will go on to “tell” the mechanic how to remove and replace the part, step-by-step. Brilliant! Right?
        But wait… Who’s “brilliant” here? Who recognized and diagnosed the problem? Who has the know-how to make the repair? When the engine timing was off in my ‘74 Vega back in 1983, I knew it.  When the carburetor would act up on my 12-year-old Blazer in 1988, I knew that too.  When I needed to adjust the timing and twist the distributor, I would grab a timing light, a socket, an extender, a ratchet… When I replaced the parts in a carb, I knew what I had to do and what tools I would need (including a magnet to recover the screws I would drop). Hmmm. I cannot help but think that today’s mechanics are the tools; computers are reaching for us to unplug and replug modules and sensors because they cannot complete the task on their own (yet).  Apparently, this is an acceptable situation - at least in the consumer motoring world.
        My hesitant and guarded attitude regarding AI and education is rooted in this fear: that the continuing development of a more efficient and reliable machine will reduce learners to tools, doing only what they’re told to do by the ChatBot, to complete only the simple tasks that the machine cannot complete on its own: “Learner, go to the printer, collect your assignment, and submit your assignment to the tray.” Perhaps that is hyperbole, and I apologize - I’m only human.
Tony Wan, writing for EdSurge earlier this year, shares a perspective that reflects my automobile engine analogy conclusion:
        If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If a student uses AI to write and nobody notices, does it matter?  I’ll admit: the latter question is hard for me to ask, as a former journalist here at EdSurge who built a career on writing. But AI writing is proliferating across professions. Marketers use it for advertising copy; financial analysts for synthesizing information. More than 4 in 5
 teachers have used ChatGPT. Even in industries with stringent standards for human originality, AI is making inroads. The winner of a prestigious Japanese literary award used ChatGPT to write a portion of her novel.
        So what?  We have no idea how an engine works or how to diagnose and repair problems. Is this situation a cause for concern? Have we lost an ability that minimizes us somehow? Apparently not.  So what if we don’t write anymore? If machines contemplate and write for us, does that somehow stunt our thinking, minimizing who we are and what we are capable of?
         “So, what do we gain and lose when students use artificial intelligence to write?” Wan recognizes that writing via generative AI is here to stay, and that educators will have to prepare learners for this reality. However, his article hammers on the concerns educators should have as they embrace the application of AI in their classrooms, challenging them to recognize the benefits of writing, all aspects of writing: 
        For many people, writing is the most brutal exercise in thinking. It reflects and tests our assumptions, pushing us to refine our ideas and uncover new ones. It leads us down rabbit holes that we have to crawl back from. It requires us to connect the dots and think about what makes sense or doesn’t, to transition between ideas and evidence, and to consider what makes the cut and what doesn’t. When AI is used as a shortcut, we lose some of these muscles, as painful as they are to build. 
              We have some decisions to make, beginning with the answer to this question: How crucial is the process of thinking and writing to our learners and their development? If the answer is “not very,” then I reckon it’s open season on OpenAI. But if the answer is still “very important,” then we really need to take a step back and make certain we are not initiating practices that will leave our learners with no choice but to trust the intelligence of the machine.

Don Hollister                November 10, 2024  
 
Check out Tony Wan’s Article:
What Do We Gain and Lose When Students Use AI to Write?
By Tony Wan     Apr 24, 2024

At NDCTE, we are the choir of North Dakota’s English teachers. Sometimes that choir is more metaphorical—sometimes it is quite literal. And if we are literally the choir, we can be found singing parodies that have been inspired by the conference gathering. Sometimes the parodies are written prior to the gathering and sometimes from the content that was shared.

Thus, without further ado, here is a list of the parodies (complete with links to the lyrics) that “the choir” has both written and sung:

1. “Let it Go” parody: This parody was written and brought to life at the 2016 NDCTE Conference by Angela Hase and Erika Dyk. They were presenting a session entitled "A Space to Heal," which addressed the topic of teacher grief. The song was sung after participants had written what they needed to let go of on dissolving paper and “let it go” by placing the paper in bowls of water on the table.

2. “We Can Open the Doors": This parody of "A Whole New World" was written with the inspiration of Donalyn Miller’s keynote address in 2018. The words were written Angela Hase and Erika Dyk. Lisa Gusewelle inspired the song idea; the song was dedicated to Bridget Ryberg. The song was shared at the end of the conference.

3. Imagine. Make. Believe. Parodies: These parodies were written by Lisa Quintus for the 2021 Conference, which had the theme of Imagine. Make. Believe. Lisa Quintus shared her theatrical background (and flair) by providing costuming to go with these parodies.
       *Imagine: Donna Davidson (on her guitar) and Erika Dyk (on her ukulele) brought this parody of "Imagine" to life, complete with some costuming.
       *Make: This is a parody of Green Eggs and Ham. Lisa Quintus and Erika Dyk recited the poem, complete with whimsical costuming.
      *Believe: This parody of "Don't Stop Believin'" was sung as a sing-a-long at the end of the conference.
4. "Ready to Thrive": This parody of “Part of Your World” was written by Angela Hase, Erika Dyk, and Sherry Lind. Angela Hase and Erika Dyk led the song acapella (Erika’s attempt to retrieve her ukulele was thwarted by a most fierce storm) to start the last afternoon of the 2023 NDCTE Summer Conference.
 
Songs have been sung. Songs will continue to be sung. So, come sing with us. We gather on the Facebook group "NDCTE Connects" asynchronously. We gather at our annual conference synchronously. We would love to have your voice join our metaphorical and sometimes literal choir.


Share your voice at the October 25, 2024, NDCTE Conference by submitting a proposal to present. We would love to hear your voice, and maybe you will help write the next NDCTE parody!

​

First, the community poem:


A Glimpse of North Dakota, a Random and Incomplete List
Compiled by NDCTE members, Aug. 1, 2023

1. Walking into the chilly ballroom in the heat of July: blinded by the overhead lights, I cannot look above the horizon in fear of white spots creeping in the periphery, perhaps speeding me to early sight loss. When the light settles, people take shape: speech and debate coaches from teacher-me long ago forgotten, a colleague from year-one-me, friends that sing with me and create with me and breathe with me. They all sit around black tables--talking, testifying, talltale-ing--beckoning me in.

2. The ballroom at the Baymont Inn where I witnessed the creation
of a strong friendship– laughter, vacations, banter, separation– 
From then on, I knew the power of theater.

Gentle waves whisper a rhythmic reassurance
the universe is greater 
than any weight we carried here.

3. Just outside the Baymont,
the air changes with a blast of warmth
cooling, calming wind while the birds chirp and the cars rush past.
Off in the distance, patches of quilt and rolling horizon
bring peace in the chaos.

4. I feel warm under the light of a wide open sky. 
I am wide open. 
My hair moving in the wind. 
Cotton blowing in the wind. 
The noise of cars zooming by. 

4. The guys in the truck wave. They ride down the country road,
wind pouring into the rolled-down window of a 1974 Ford truck, 
​the back end open. When cars rush by, ​they whip away the humidity blanketing my body. 
           Sunshine sweeps the sidewalk everywhere you look. 

5.  The boat dock parking: a meeting place, a parking lot,                
​the God-made-world meets humans. Straight ahead,
                teenagers listening to music too loud, 
                 two cars down, a potential drug deal,
                 one couple on a romantic walk, starting their journey, 
                 another ending theirs.    

6.     The lights as seen from North Hill: 
streetlights cascading the river of main street,
    flecks of foam cast from the river’s flow.
    Sitting on the triplex roof, fireflies out in the calm, hot summer air.

7.     The road into Cannonball as seen from the Furry Friends rescue van: 
dogs in the road barking greetings as they band together. 
    
8.    Crisp, white farm houses standing like tall ships in full sail
gliding over the oceans of undulating wheat. 
The forever sky stretching over fields of bowing sunflowers; 
golden light on golden petals.

9.     The table is set, the meal prepared–
the conversation settles on us– 
expanding and filling the voids of loneliness and the unknown. 
For a moment the only thing that exists is us and them, 
the clicking of the little chihuahua feet on the floor. 
At grandma and grandpa’s house, where there will be, always,
cards and desert. 

10. At the edge of the petrified forest, my teenage daughter and her friend 
sit in a patient protest against the heat and this hike, 
while my youngest son runs ahead like an antelope. 
No forest except sparse, fallen trees– once mighty 
bark and beating sap, root, fiber, green-needled–
now distilled, hardened, in ruins. 

11.    Then and now, wind and wild
settling into the North Dakota soil
branching into the North Dakota sky.
Home and possibility.

12. Since music relies on wind
North Dakota is alive with notes
dancing in the air, inspiring us, moving
beyond us.
 
(Find this poem as a Google doc here.)

Second, the process to create the poem:
1. The English teachers of North Dakota created from this writing prompt document, containing the mentor text "Reasons Why I Do Not Wish to Leave Chicago: An Incomplete, Random List" Excerpted from The Book of My Lives (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25) by Aleksandar Hemon

2. The English teachers shared on their writing digitally or via paper on the North Dakota map wall.

3. Candace compiled them into the community poem and gave it a title: 
"A Glimpse of North Dakota, a Random and Incomplete List."  She recommends a shared Google document as a place for students to upload their stanzas, rather than the teacher typing it all up. 

Third, an invitation:
Leave your glimpse of North Dakota stanza in a comment, adding to the community poem. 

May 21, 2022
 
Hello Teacher Friends,

I hope these words find you well as this school year wraps up. This summer, the North Dakota Council of Teachers of English is hosting their annual summer conference July 19-20 in Mandan, North Dakota. One of the keynote speakers is Dave Stuart Jr., and you really should meet him.

Dave Stuart Jr. is the author of the book These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most (Corwin, 2019) and co-author--with Matthew Johnson and Matthew R. Kay--of a quite new book Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Middle and High School ELA  (Corwin, 2022). 

Go to his website and his  bio reads: 

Did you catch that term "long-term flourishing"? It is truly the heartbeat behind who Dave Stuart Jr. is and his work. 

Terri Egan, a North Dakota English teacher and fine arts coach, shares how Dave Stuart Jr. has assisted her on her teacher journey:   ​

Terri's invitation is a meaningful one, and I join her in inviting you.

Dave Stuart Jr. will be keynoting the second day (July 20) of the conference and also speaking at two breakout sessions. His titles alone help to guide the way to long-term flourishing:

• "The Will to Learn: How to Cultivate Student Motivation without Driving Anyone Crazy" (keynote)
•  "Doing More Isn't Doing Better: How to be an English Teacher and Have a Life" (breakout session)
• "We Teach from Who We Are: Practical Methods for Reducing Pressure Inside Ourselves so that We Teach from a Fuller Self" (breakout session)

This summer, I hope you can meet Dave--whether through his writings or in person at the conference. If you haven't already registered for the conference,  follow this link to do so. Let's journey together to grow and to flourish.

Hope to see you soon,
​
Erika
​NDCTE President
​

May 29, 2021

Dear fellow North Dakota English teachers,

Congratulations! We have made it through a year to be remembered for so many reasons.
It was difficult. It was challenging. It was tech-filled.

We normally have to wear many hats, but this year we acquired some new ones, like Google Meet or Zoom hosts! 

After this unique school year, this conference will be a chance to connect in-person with your colleagues across the state, gather new information and resources, and have a structured work space and framework to turn your ideas into action.

The theme of our conference is Imagine. Make. Believe. On the first day, our imaginations and minds will be fed from Hugh Hunter, Poetry Out Loud, and C3WP (College, Career, and Community Writers Program). The second day will be about making a plan for our classrooms in the fall. Darcy Bakkegard will be leading "The Educator's 'Innovation' Lab Turning IDEAS into ACTION."

So.

Imagine coming. Make that happen by registering here. Believe next year will be filled with much growth.

Hope to see you there,

Erika, wearing her NDCTE President-Elect hat (literally)

My favorite writing utensils, especially with teaching and grading, are the Paper Mate flair pens. As you can see, I love the variety of colors. They have such ease when writing and always leave a good mark. I like the flair pens because I always like to add flair to what I write, and I love the color variety and feel of the pen on paper.

Greetings NDCTE Members, 

As Kelsey so eloquently stated, I am here to help you navigate the terrain of this online PD opportunity. 
This opportunity is available right away. All assignments must be completed by August 14th. 

We want to reiterate that our intent is to provide an experience that allows for exploring new resources and perspectives and also invites you to discuss and connect with fellow educators of various grade levels across the state, all while being safe and snug at your own workspace. Let's learn!

1. How To Get The Credit

We will be using Google Classroom to get the credit. Almost everything you will need to do to obtain the credit is on Google Classroom, including videos, discussions, tech tools, labs, reflections and surveys. You will not need to complete everything on the Google Classroom. It is piecemeal completion until you accrue 15 hours for each credit you seek. 

2. Where To Sign-Up

Before you can access the Google Classroom, you will need to complete a couple preliminary sign-up steps. The class title is "Weekly Webchats, pt. 4 NDCTE."

a. Go to this link to pick an institution listed (NDSU, VCSU, UND, or DSU) 
b. Email Tim Willenzien to be added to the Google Classroom. 

3. What You Need To Do Via Google Classroom

Once you have access to the Google Classroom, there are a couple required parts to the PD and other optional parts that you can complete to get the credit hours you need. Tim has composed an excellent welcome post on the Google Classroom. I encourage you to read it thoroughly. 

Basically, you will be required to introduce yourself, complete two surveys (one pre- and one post-survey), write a 2-page reflection, and complete 15 hours for each credit you seek. 

The 15 hours can be earned by watching  the pre-recorded videos and reflecting on them via the comments section, replying to other comments, experiment with tech tools, or completing a "LAB" assignment. 

I hope you try out this resource. The NDCTE webchat videos are a part of this course, and so are other video series'. Our board members really explored a diverse range of English topics and opportunities to reach students in meaningful ways. Please let us know if you have any further questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, or ideas concerning signing up to the PD or anything related to it. 

Be safe; be well.

Your NDCTE Board