The 2010 edition of Teacher as Writer will be published online this month

In June 2010 we will be seeking proposals for the fall conference.

Applications are due on March 15, 2010 for the 2010 RICTE Student Writing Awards. Please go to this page for information and an entry form.

The Student Writing Contest will take place this spring. Entries will be due March 15, 2010. Please watch this space for further information and entry forms!

We are also planning a conference in Fall 2010!

The Rhode Island Council of Teachers of English is pleased to announce the 2009 Winners of the Student Writing Contest

Division Two (Grades 7 &

1^st place, Poetry
Kathleen Radigan, St. Mary Academy-Bay View

2^nd place, Poetry
Julia Feeley, Mount St. Charles Academy

3^rd place, Poetry
Tess McKee, Mount St. Charles Academy

1^st place, Fiction
Wyatt Horan, The Wheeler School

2^nd place, Fiction
Rachel Ford, Lincoln School

3^rd place, Fiction
Errol Danehy, Martin Middle School

1^st place, Essay
Isabella Nappa, Lincoln School

2^nd place, Essay
Joshua Santoro, Mount St. Charles Academy

3^rd place, Essay
Gregory Iovanel, Mount St. Charles Academy

Division Three (Grades 9 & 10)

1^st place, Poetry
Marissa Campbell, Mount St. Charles Academy

2^nd place, Poetry
Sophie Rao, The Wheeler School

3^rd place, Poetry
Christian DiMare, Mount St. Charles Academy

1^st place, Fiction
Tiffany McClay, Westerly High School

2^nd place, Fiction
Diana Alsabe, The Wheeler School

3^rd place, Fiction
Jiawen Tang, The Wheeler School

1^st place, Essay
Dylan Sehaffer, Mount St. Charles Academy

2^nd place, Essay
Jessie Connaughton, Mount St. Charles Academy

3^rd place, Essay
Chrissy Montani, Mount St. Charles Academy

Division Four (Grades 11 & 12)

1^st place, Poetry
Allyson Even, The Wheeler School

2^nd place, Poetry
Taylor Dalton, St. Mary Academy Bay View

3^rd place, Poetry
Rachael Medeiros, St. Mary Academy Bay View

1^st place, Fiction
Kelsey Petrie, St. Mary Academy Bay View

2^nd place, Fiction
Sophie Whitin, The Wheeler School

3^rd place, Fiction
Karan Takhar, The Wheeler School

1^st place, Essay
Katherine Silvestre, The Wheeler School

2^nd place, Essay
Gina Roberti, St. Mary Academy Bay View

3^rd place, Essay
Alexis Sampson, Charles E. Shea High School

Division Five (College)

1^st place, Poetry
Julianna Parker, Johnson & Wales

2^nd place, Poetry
Anna Holbert, Johnson & Wales

3^rd place, Poetry
Emily Hedgepeth, Johnson & Wales

1^st place, Fiction
Manuela Echeverri-Herrara, Johnson & Wales

2^nd place, Fiction
Christina Rivero, Johnson & Wales

3^rd place, Fiction
Rob Sweet, Johnson & Wales

1^st place, Essay
Michelle Rose, Johnson & Wales

2^nd place, Essay
Allison Pruonal, Johnson & Wales

3^rd place, Essay
Chelsea Sutton, Johnson & Wales

Via Glenn Close, via John Maeda:

Art has the power to rearrange you.

Freegeek Providence and SoftICE at Johnson & Wales are teaming up to present NewBCamp, a conference/workshop for people to learn about technology and social media.

See the NewBCamp website for more info!

Proposals are now being accepted for the 2009 Spring Conference, to be held on March 28 at New England Institute of Technology in Warwick. Our keynote speaker is Padma Venkatraman, young adult novelist, children’s author, science writer, and professor at University of Rhode Island.

The deadline for proposals has been extended to January 31, 2009. Click here for a submission form.

One of my favorite teaching tools when I teach the research paper is Delicious. Delicious is a bookmarking tool and a form of social media. First, its bookmarking aspects: Delicious allows users to bookmark web sites and access those bookmarks from any computer. Second, its social aspects: because all bookmarks are stored online in a central place, they can be shared with other people quite easily.

Bookmarks are assigned tags. The metaphor I give when explaining tagging is doing away with the file cabinet. When you file a piece of paper, you have to file it in a folder. But not all pieces of paper belong in only one folder. With tags, you can get rid of the filing system. If a piece of paper (or a web site) can be filed under “teaching” and “immigration” and “argument,” then you can just assign the bookmark those 3 tags. It’s like dumping your files into a big garbage can. When you need all the files having to do with “immigration,” you just wave your hand over the garbage can and all the files magically whoosh upwards into your hand.

One of the problems I always have when teaching the research paper is that students don’t search very far. So, in my intro to composition course, I often have students explore one topic while we’re in the computer lab. They use Delicious to bookmark various sites and sources of information, and I give the students a special “tag” to use so we can find them easily (usually the name of the course, like “english101″).

I also explain that Delicious is a great source for researching a topic. They can find the websites other people have saved using particular tags.

The hard part is that all the students have to set up accounts, and to show them how to use the service effectively, I have to show them how to install the Delicious buttons on the favorites/bookmarks toolbar. Not all university computer labs (and certainly not mine!) give students the kind of administrative access to install Delicious buttons.

Here’s a blog entry of someone who has collected several links about using Delicious in education.

Get ready for the Cassola Conference, to be held at Johnson & Wales University’s Harborside campus on Friday, April 3. Contact Eileen Medeiros at emedeiros@jwu.edu for registration information.

Student Writers/Editors Needed!

The Cranston YMCA, serving the communities of Cranston, Johnston, Smithfield, and Scituate, is looking for a few English students interested in helping to write, edit and publish a member newsletter.  There is no payment involved; this is strictly a volunteer opportunity.  Perhaps you have a high school English student who could use such a project for his or her senior portfolio work or who is interested in writing and publishing as a future career.  Perhaps you have a college student interested in the same career goals, or perhaps you know of a college or high school student interested in using this as a community service opportunity.  If so, please have your student contact Sonia Thomas, Membership Coordinator, or Mike Norklun, Executive Director, at sthomas@gpymca.org or mnorklun@gpymca.org, respectively.  Thank you!