Here’s the hotel, brilliantly decorated for the holiday season.

The convention was held at the Gaylord National Resort.

I packed my suitcase and headed to National Harbor, Maryland for the past few days. I  participated in The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention! A convention is an event where participants gather and hold programs and other events, meet experts, famous personalities, and each other.

You may have noticed that comic conventions have risen in popularity over the past decade, most likely due to increasing social media presence. Well, the convention I attended was similar to a comic-con because I am a huge fan of all things English Language Arts-ish. Instead of thousands of comic book fans wandering around a convention center dressed as their favorite superhero or villain, just picture hundreds and hundreds of English teachers walking around geeking-out over popular authors, beloved leaders in the English teacher field, and complimenting one another on their cardigans, comfy yet stylish loafers, and colorful scarves. I had a blast!

But the real reason we were all gathered together, is YOU. Because you are important to us and you are our future. We want to learn the best ways to motivate, engage, and coach you into being the best student you can be! Sometimes teaching can be really exhausting and stressful and getting together with other grownups who have a lot in common can be ENERGIZING. That’s how I feel tonight–energized!

Check out our class Instagram and Twitter accounts for some more photos from my trip. Starting tomorrow, I will be sharing new books, ideas, and stategies for reading, writing, and thinking with you–all because of my time at NCTE.

Meeting Jon Scieszka, author of our class read-aloud, Knucklehead! What a funny, down-to-Earth guy he was!

Mrs. Smith, another 6th grade English Teacher at ERMS, also attended the conference. One night we enjoyed a fine dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant.

I volunteered at the registration check-in and helped teachers from all over the country get the information they needed to start the conference. Many ERMS teachers did the same.

Teachers had to wait in long lines to meet our favorite authors! Totally worth it!

Here’s author Andrea Davis Pinkney, the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of many books for children and young adults, including picture books, novels, works of historical fiction and non-fiction. She’s signing a copy of her new book The Red Pencil for our class.

I attended sessions that I thought would benefit our classes the most! Here’s a poetry one that I loved.

Of course I had to meet Gingi from Shrek! Oh what fun!