It Was a NEATE Nor'eastern Literacy Conference Host by Eastern Connecticut State University the Past Two Days

I've never attended NEATE, but when teacher-leaders put in proposals, you can't help but join. Max, Emmi, and I presented on translanguaging with language learners at a National Writing Project site and we got a fortunate crowd who was extremely engaged. I love how Emmi and Max created the presentation and offered their perspectives from elementary to high school, and the power of NWP opportunities to work with language learners in the summer. 

I got to meet authors Ann Braden and Elly Swartz, see Dr. Brooke Eisenbach in action with mental health and YA novels, and see the brilliance of Dr. Shawna Shapiro, who was a coeditor of a book where I shared data from working with Sudanese-background youth. The sessions were top notch, the conversations extremely producing, and the company warmer than the temperatures of the building where we presented. 

It was an hour and a half each way, two days in a row...basically a tank of gas...a little more than driving to Syracuse, although so much closer to home mileage-wise (it's the traffic that is the time-killer.

This morning, I want to stare in space and veg some before grading, planning, reviewing an article, and cleaning the house some. We shall see. 

Congratulations to the planners who put in all the hardworking for the conference. Although I am exhausted, I imagine they can't even describe their fatigue. Wonderful to work with educators from Maine to New Hampshire to Vermont to Massachusetts to Connecticut and to Ohio and Indiana (OI, a little beyond the northeast).