Publication Opportunities
The Future Is Now, a column published in NCTE's English Journal
Column Editors:
Melinda McBee Orzulak, Bradley University
Danielle Lillge, Illinois State University
Call for Manuscripts:
In November 2023, the “Future Is Now” roundtable sessions at the NCTE Annual Convention will celebrate a decade of providing opportunities for beginning English teachers to present their scholarship. Building on the strength of these sessions, this column shines a light on the inquiries of beginning ELA teachers, who are navigating the early stages of their professional learning journeys as preservice or inservice teachers with one to four years of teaching experience.
Acknowledging that none of us—beginning and veteran teachers alike—have arrived, we invite submissions that foreground a genuine question which drives beginning teachers’ inquiries through teaching, research, or creative activity. We encourage authors to illuminate the origins of their question in relation to their own experiences as well as in relation to other voices—whether students, colleagues, mentors, researchers, parents, authors, creators, or other stakeholders. And we urge authors to explore layered considerations that lead to possibilities for future learning, teaching, research, or creative activity. Instead of easy fixes, simple solutions, or truisms, let us highlight what we gain from assuming an inquiry stance in scholarly conversation with others as we look to the future by celebrating the nuance and complexity of ELA teaching.
We seek to support beginning teacher authors who, through their writing, will join and shape the conversations in our field of ELA. Toward that end, we invite single-author submissions as well as those coauthored with colleagues, mentors, or students. Please send submissions of 1,200–1,400 words as a Word document to the editors, Melinda McBee Orzulak and Danielle Lillge, at [email protected]. Include in your email your full name(s), school affiliation(s), and the main email contact for the lead author, if the submission is coauthored. Inquiries about potential submissions are also welcomed.
Sample Column:
Calling for Change through Activist Poetry
Sydney Schaedel, Northern Guilford High School, Greensboro, NC
Alan Brown, Wake Forest University
Column Editors:
Melinda McBee Orzulak, Bradley University
Danielle Lillge, Illinois State University
Call for Manuscripts:
In November 2023, the “Future Is Now” roundtable sessions at the NCTE Annual Convention will celebrate a decade of providing opportunities for beginning English teachers to present their scholarship. Building on the strength of these sessions, this column shines a light on the inquiries of beginning ELA teachers, who are navigating the early stages of their professional learning journeys as preservice or inservice teachers with one to four years of teaching experience.
Acknowledging that none of us—beginning and veteran teachers alike—have arrived, we invite submissions that foreground a genuine question which drives beginning teachers’ inquiries through teaching, research, or creative activity. We encourage authors to illuminate the origins of their question in relation to their own experiences as well as in relation to other voices—whether students, colleagues, mentors, researchers, parents, authors, creators, or other stakeholders. And we urge authors to explore layered considerations that lead to possibilities for future learning, teaching, research, or creative activity. Instead of easy fixes, simple solutions, or truisms, let us highlight what we gain from assuming an inquiry stance in scholarly conversation with others as we look to the future by celebrating the nuance and complexity of ELA teaching.
We seek to support beginning teacher authors who, through their writing, will join and shape the conversations in our field of ELA. Toward that end, we invite single-author submissions as well as those coauthored with colleagues, mentors, or students. Please send submissions of 1,200–1,400 words as a Word document to the editors, Melinda McBee Orzulak and Danielle Lillge, at [email protected]. Include in your email your full name(s), school affiliation(s), and the main email contact for the lead author, if the submission is coauthored. Inquiries about potential submissions are also welcomed.
Sample Column:
Calling for Change through Activist Poetry
Sydney Schaedel, Northern Guilford High School, Greensboro, NC
Alan Brown, Wake Forest University
Literacy and NCTE Blog
Blog Editor:
Lisa Fink, NCTE
Sample Blog Post:
Engaging Student Interests by Using New and Diverse Texts
Amanda Blay and Carolyn Brown, Michigan State University
Scholarship presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention
Write for the NCTE Blog
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their blog entry: This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
Blog Editor:
Lisa Fink, NCTE
Sample Blog Post:
Engaging Student Interests by Using New and Diverse Texts
Amanda Blay and Carolyn Brown, Michigan State University
Scholarship presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention
Write for the NCTE Blog
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their blog entry: This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
Fringes
Editors:
Morgan Blanton, Appalachian State University
Damiana Gibbons Pyles, Appalachian State University
Journal Description:
Fringes, the NCETA Journal, is a space for current and pre-service English Language Arts (ELA) teachers, as well as ELA teacher educators, to share ideas for teaching primary and secondary ELA. Specifically, Fringes is a peer-reviewed journal published annually and features articles that address innovative classroom practices, important and timely educational issues, pedagogical methods, classroom activities, and curricular materials. We welcome a combination of both practice-oriented and research pieces, grounded in the various interests, assets, and contexts experienced by North Carolina teachers. In particular, we want to hear about the practices and research that educators are doing that are unconventional and peripheral, what we call fringe.
Submission Guidelines and Call for Papers
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their blog entry: This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
Editors:
Morgan Blanton, Appalachian State University
Damiana Gibbons Pyles, Appalachian State University
Journal Description:
Fringes, the NCETA Journal, is a space for current and pre-service English Language Arts (ELA) teachers, as well as ELA teacher educators, to share ideas for teaching primary and secondary ELA. Specifically, Fringes is a peer-reviewed journal published annually and features articles that address innovative classroom practices, important and timely educational issues, pedagogical methods, classroom activities, and curricular materials. We welcome a combination of both practice-oriented and research pieces, grounded in the various interests, assets, and contexts experienced by North Carolina teachers. In particular, we want to hear about the practices and research that educators are doing that are unconventional and peripheral, what we call fringe.
Submission Guidelines and Call for Papers
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their blog entry: This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care
Blog Editors:
Sarah Donovan, Oklahoma State University
Charlotte Land, Penn State University
Brady Nash, Miami University
Denise Neal, Our Lady of the Way RC School, Belize
Margaret Simon
Amy Vetter, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Gail Harper Yeilding
Sample Blog Post:
How Writing Workshop and Conferences Support Student Writers
Blog Description:
The blog is organized and maintained by members of the Commission on Writing Teacher Education, a working group of the English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE), part of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Our purposes for this blog stem from our passion for authentic student writing in K-16 schools. We believe that writing instruction is essential for students across grade levels and content areas and that writing is a way to help students change their worlds. We are teacher educators, classroom teachers, students, parents, and community members, and we have created this blog to speak to these five audiences. Collaboratively, we hope to:
1. Spotlight and celebrate the powerful writing work that teachers and students currently do, and illustrate how that work could potentially be affected by certain educational and / or political policies.
2. Circulate information about teaching practices and policies, so that our audiences can advocate strongly for students and teachers.
3. Address how research affects writing in schools and communities, based on our experience in the field of writing instruction.
4. Strengthen the connections and community among universities, K-12 schools, teachers, parents, and students.
By working together, as well as with others who advocate for the teaching profession, our audiences can learn about writing, the teaching of writing, and the power of engaging young writers in craft and story. We will offer our informed advocacy and arguments, so that others can advocate and speak loudly as well.
Submission Guidelines
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their column:
This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
Blog Editors:
Sarah Donovan, Oklahoma State University
Charlotte Land, Penn State University
Brady Nash, Miami University
Denise Neal, Our Lady of the Way RC School, Belize
Margaret Simon
Amy Vetter, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Gail Harper Yeilding
Sample Blog Post:
How Writing Workshop and Conferences Support Student Writers
Blog Description:
The blog is organized and maintained by members of the Commission on Writing Teacher Education, a working group of the English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE), part of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Our purposes for this blog stem from our passion for authentic student writing in K-16 schools. We believe that writing instruction is essential for students across grade levels and content areas and that writing is a way to help students change their worlds. We are teacher educators, classroom teachers, students, parents, and community members, and we have created this blog to speak to these five audiences. Collaboratively, we hope to:
1. Spotlight and celebrate the powerful writing work that teachers and students currently do, and illustrate how that work could potentially be affected by certain educational and / or political policies.
2. Circulate information about teaching practices and policies, so that our audiences can advocate strongly for students and teachers.
3. Address how research affects writing in schools and communities, based on our experience in the field of writing instruction.
4. Strengthen the connections and community among universities, K-12 schools, teachers, parents, and students.
By working together, as well as with others who advocate for the teaching profession, our audiences can learn about writing, the teaching of writing, and the power of engaging young writers in craft and story. We will offer our informed advocacy and arguments, so that others can advocate and speak loudly as well.
Submission Guidelines
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their column:
This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
Journal of Language and Literacy Education (JoLLE)
Editors:
Cris Barabas, Principal Editor
Faith Thompson, Managing Editor
Sample "Voices from the Field" Piece:
“But Isn’t the Teacher Supposed to Tell Us?”: Illuminating
Transactional Reading Processes Through Transmediation
Journal Description:
The Journal of Language & Literacy Education is a double-masked, peer-reviewed, open access, scholarly journal housed in the Department of Language & Literacy Education in the College of Education at The University of Georgia. JoLLE publishes two issues each year: one in the fall and one in the spring.
JoLLE provides a space for scholars to engage readers in a broad spectrum of issues related to the field. As an online journal, we encourage submissions that incorporate multiple modes (e.g., photographs, artwork, video, and graphics). Specifically, our Voices from the Field section includes articles from practitioners in any genre focused on any aspect of their work. These are typically shorter reflections on practice as teachers and teacher educators.
JoLLE understands “language and literacy” to include not only reading and writing, but other elements such as the social, cultural, and historical contexts of language and literacy learning and teaching; ongoing changes in communication tools and practices in the 21st century; and issues involving first and multiple language acquisition and use, regardless of semiotic systems involved.
Submission Guidelines
Call for Papers
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their column:
This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
Editors:
Cris Barabas, Principal Editor
Faith Thompson, Managing Editor
Sample "Voices from the Field" Piece:
“But Isn’t the Teacher Supposed to Tell Us?”: Illuminating
Transactional Reading Processes Through Transmediation
Journal Description:
The Journal of Language & Literacy Education is a double-masked, peer-reviewed, open access, scholarly journal housed in the Department of Language & Literacy Education in the College of Education at The University of Georgia. JoLLE publishes two issues each year: one in the fall and one in the spring.
JoLLE provides a space for scholars to engage readers in a broad spectrum of issues related to the field. As an online journal, we encourage submissions that incorporate multiple modes (e.g., photographs, artwork, video, and graphics). Specifically, our Voices from the Field section includes articles from practitioners in any genre focused on any aspect of their work. These are typically shorter reflections on practice as teachers and teacher educators.
JoLLE understands “language and literacy” to include not only reading and writing, but other elements such as the social, cultural, and historical contexts of language and literacy learning and teaching; ongoing changes in communication tools and practices in the 21st century; and issues involving first and multiple language acquisition and use, regardless of semiotic systems involved.
Submission Guidelines
Call for Papers
"Future Is Now" participants are encouraged to include the following description at the bottom of their column:
This scholarship was presented as part of the “Future Is Now” session at the [YEAR] NCTE Annual Convention. For more information about this session for undergraduate and master’s level students, see the session website at <https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com>.
LGBTQIA+ Intersectional Identities
Column Editor:
Stephanie Anne Shelton, The University of Alabama
Call for Manuscripts:
The acronym LGBTQIA+ incorporates ranges of identities and expressions related to genders and sexualities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual individuals. LGBTQIA+ youth are present in classrooms world-wide and are among the most vulnerable; however, substantial research demonstrates that supportive teachers make incredible differences in LGBTQIA+ students’ lives and school experiences.
LGBTQIA+ students’ needs are shaped by more than gender identity, gender expression, or sexuality. Students navigate assigned, assumed, and self-asserted social categories, for example, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, ablebodiedness, and language usage. They also live and learn in specific geographic and cultural contexts. Their LGBTQIA+ identities constantly intersect with these many factors; efforts to provide equitable, respectful, and effective learning spaces necessitate intersectional understandings of LGBTQIA+ issues in schools.
This column seeks to share English educators’ stories on how they learn about, recognize, and affirm intersectional LGBTQIA+ identities. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, instructional strategies that explore LGBTQIA+ issues as intersecting with other identities or contexts; case studies of efforts to engage students or colleagues in intersectional considerations of LGBTQIA+ issues; and reflective narratives that explore how awareness of intersectional LGBTQIA+ identities has shaped teachers’ professional identities.
Inquiries, submissions, or suggestions for future columns should be directed to Stephanie Anne Shelton at [email protected]. Submissions of approximately 1,200 words should be sent as attachments.
Sample Column:
Everyday Reflections and Addressing Racism and LGBTQ+ Issues
Stephanie Anne Shelton, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Tamara Brooks, Escola Americana de Belo Horizonte, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Column Editor:
Stephanie Anne Shelton, The University of Alabama
Call for Manuscripts:
The acronym LGBTQIA+ incorporates ranges of identities and expressions related to genders and sexualities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual individuals. LGBTQIA+ youth are present in classrooms world-wide and are among the most vulnerable; however, substantial research demonstrates that supportive teachers make incredible differences in LGBTQIA+ students’ lives and school experiences.
LGBTQIA+ students’ needs are shaped by more than gender identity, gender expression, or sexuality. Students navigate assigned, assumed, and self-asserted social categories, for example, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, ablebodiedness, and language usage. They also live and learn in specific geographic and cultural contexts. Their LGBTQIA+ identities constantly intersect with these many factors; efforts to provide equitable, respectful, and effective learning spaces necessitate intersectional understandings of LGBTQIA+ issues in schools.
This column seeks to share English educators’ stories on how they learn about, recognize, and affirm intersectional LGBTQIA+ identities. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, instructional strategies that explore LGBTQIA+ issues as intersecting with other identities or contexts; case studies of efforts to engage students or colleagues in intersectional considerations of LGBTQIA+ issues; and reflective narratives that explore how awareness of intersectional LGBTQIA+ identities has shaped teachers’ professional identities.
Inquiries, submissions, or suggestions for future columns should be directed to Stephanie Anne Shelton at [email protected]. Submissions of approximately 1,200 words should be sent as attachments.
Sample Column:
Everyday Reflections and Addressing Racism and LGBTQ+ Issues
Stephanie Anne Shelton, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Tamara Brooks, Escola Americana de Belo Horizonte, Belo Horizonte, Brazil