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Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending my very first National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention (#NCTE12) at the MGM Grand Conference Center in beautiful Las Vegas, NV. There were many interesting and exciting panels to choose from. My program is about an inch and half thick. My favorite panel, however, was "Connecting Lived Experiences and Literacies with Urban High Schools: Lessons for Pedagogy." Here is the program entry: B.41 CONNECTING LIVED EXPERIENCES  AND LITERACIES WITH URBAN HIGH  SCHOOLS: LESSONS FOR PEDAGOGY (S) Room 107, Level One Teachers experience pedagogical struggles while students interact in academic spaces that challenge their multiple lived experiences through the narrowing of curricula. In this session, presenters will critically analyze their educational research contexts, which often miss rich opportunities to consider students’ multiple identities, positionings, and languages. Chair: Timothy San Pedro, Arizona State Universi...

Thanksgiving is always a good time (despite the awful ties to colonization and violence) to remember that there are things in this life that we should not take for granted. It is a time to say "thank you," a small phrase which has a tendency to get swept away in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. So, with that said, rather than my intended post (which I'll share later in the week), I thought this would a good time to give thanks. As a graduate student, I am thankful for: My dissertation committee: I have the distinct pleasure of working with three scholars who I admire greatly, both as academics and as people. They have taken the time to answer my questions, encourage me to think more deeply, and calm my fears and frustrations. They lead by example, showing me how scholarship is more than just intellectual work by living according to the values that they profess in their work. My chair, in particular, never had me as a student, but despite that, she reached out to me...