Thank goodness I’m not alone trying to get teachers writing about their work for the larger community. Peter Smagorinsky, at the University of Georgia, provides another voice urging teachers to speak out. Visit the website “Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care” to read his suggestions on getting your words out there. Peter describes how he got started submitting articles for Maureen Downey’s Get Schooled blog, with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and lists a number of venues for getting oneself heard/read.

Peter will be keynoting a session I’ve organized for the NCTE National Convention Nov. 22-24. In line with the goal of maximizing teacher voice, Peter’s talk will be followed by discussion tables at which teachers can dialogue with leaders who have actively promoted teacher advocacy. We’ll also ask everyone those at the tables to start writing their own pieces about their work, right there on the spot, to make sure that this effort begins to get some legs. We’ll have a great lineup of table leaders, and I’ll tell more about them in another blog, shortly. So if you’re a teacher s planning to attend the Convention, join us at our session, early Saturday morning — 8:00-9:15 Nov. 23rd — and you’ll have a great time helping to explain the great work we do in our classrooms.