This document contains information about the upcoming Virginia Association of Teachers of English (VATE) annual conference to be held in Staunton, Virginia from October 14-16, 2011. The conference will feature sessions on challenging students, using young adult literature in the classroom, Appalachian themes, and Shakespeare. It will also include opportunities to tour the American Shakespeare Center and Blackfriars Theater. The conference aims to inspire and renew teachers. Additional articles provide details on renaming the VATE newsletter, upcoming publication workshops, and using podcasts in the English classroom.

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Virginia Association of Teachers of English
Volume 31 Issue 3 September 2011
Voices from Our Past…Creating Our
Future
The Needle’s Eye
VATE 42nd Annual Conference
97th Anniversary
October 14-16, 2011
Stonewall Jackson Hotel
Staunton, Virginia
Natural Beauty, “Cutting Edge” Sessions, Shakespeare, Sophisticated
Charm, and Down Home Hospitality: 2011 Conference Has It All!
By Chuck Miller, VATE Executive Secretary
Voices from Our Past…Creating Our Future is the theme of the 2011 VATE annual
conference in Staunton, Virginia, October 14-16 at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel. There is still
time to register online at www.vate.org, or you may register by printing out the registration form
and mailing it in. Either way, it will be a conference to remember and we hope you will be there
to participate, see old friends, and relax.
On Friday afternoon, we will celebrate the culture of the Valley with a special opening session
at The Frontier Culture Museum. Participants will have the opportunity to wander at their
leisure around the museum property and view authentic English, German, Irish, and African
farmsteads, which have been relocated to the FCM, as well as an early American farmstead. At
the conclusion of the museum tour, we will gather at the octagonal barn reception area for a wine and cheese social.
There we will hear from pioneers of a different sort, as Dr. Delores Brown and Ms. Patricia Godbolt White share their
experiences as members of the Norfolk 17, the brave young who were the first to cross the color line in previously all-
white Norfolk public schools.
On Saturday, we will have two of three very timely presentations scheduled for the 2011 conference. At the luncheon,
which will serve as our centerpiece meal function this year, Carol Jago, literacy specialist and current NCTE past
president, will challenge us to challenge our students, regardless of ability, to aim for high levels of achievement in the
classroom. Her message to us will be one of her first presentations since the publication
of the second edition of her highly acclaimed, And Rigor for All.
The second ―cutting edge‖ session on Saturday will feature VATE’s own Kathryn
Erskine, who won the 2010 National Book Award for young readers for her novel,
Mockingbird. Kathy also had a new YA novel, The Absolute Value of Mike, come out
back in June. In her session, she will not just discuss her own writing, however. She will
be commenting on some of the latest YA titles and providing project ideas and
classroom applications for those books. This session promises to be of great practical
value for experienced and novice teachers alike.
Our Sunday brunch speaker, New York Times best-selling author Sharyn McCrumb,
will hearken back to the Appalachian themes evoked during our Friday event at the
Frontier Culture Museum. When she joins us at the VATE conference, she will literally Blackfriars Theater

2. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
have just stepped off the plane from a whirlwind promotional tour for the latest novel in her Ballad series, The Ballad of
Tom Dooley, which just hit the bookstores in August.
Shakespeare wrote in Henry V: ―There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in all things,‖ which leads us to one
reason that Staunton was chosen as the site for our 2011 conference. The American Shakespeare Center’s faithful
reproduction of Blackfriars Theater is literally next door to our conference hotel, and we are partnering with ASC to
present several events for the Shakespeare aficionados among us. On Saturday morning, we will have the opportunity to
attend a workshop presented by ASC actors who will provide practical tips on how to make Shakespeare come alive for
our students. There will also be an opportunity for a backstage tour of the theater. Our culminating event at Blackfriars
will be a production of Henry V with a special talkback session with the cast following the performance. Prior to the play,
we will have a reception with ―ye olde pub faire‖ and a host bar. Our guest speaker at the reception will be Rena Berlin,
the education director for the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Play tickets must be reserved by September 24, so please
register early. After September 24, they will go on sale to the general public.
But, Staunton is so much more than just Blackfriars. Our conference hotel is
the historic Stonewall Jackson, recently restored to its former grandeur
and outfitted with a modern conference center. Our meal functions will be in
the beautiful original ballroom where we can ―party like it’s 1924.‖ Downtown
Staunton awaits just outside our hotel’s doors, and it is very walkable and
visitor- friendly. There are a number of unique specialty shops and boutiques
within steps of the hotel. And, there are number of outstanding restaurants
within two blocks of the hotel to please even the most discriminating palate.
From fine dining to down home cooking to gelato to gourmet pizza, there’s
something for every taste. VATE encourages you to explore downtown
Staunton when you are not attending conference sessions or meal functions.
Though I reside in a town in the Piedmont foothills of the Blue Ridge, I claim the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia as home. I
was born and raised down the Valley (like the Nile, the Shenandoah flows south to north) in Winchester. And for those of
a certain generation for whom this question matters, I was a city kid and attended Handley, not James Wood, though I
hope that won’t turn away our friends from Frederick County. My son and his fiancée live in the Valley, and my wife and I
often make the short drive across Afton Mountain to Staunton to socialize, shop, and go out to eat. I am always struck by
the beauty of the Valley, no matter what the season, but especially in the fall. And views such as the one above await you,
no matter from which direction you arrive.
So, welcome to my ―home,‖ the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, for the 2011 VATE conference. I know you will enjoy your
stay and the beauty and hospitality for which the Valley is known. And what better way to spend your time in the Valley
than with like-minded colleagues who have come together to share ideas and be inspired to return refreshed and renewed
to their classrooms? See you in Staunton, October 14-16.
New Name and New Format Planned for Needle’s Eye
By Sara Zeek, Editor
Say good-bye. The VATE newsletter, Needle’s Eye, will have a new look
following the state conference. Our new name, VATE Voices, suggests our
vision for the newsletter and for VATE: to create a community for language arts
teachers in Virginia. While we plan to continue to publish at least two print issues
each year, our new electronic format using Wordpress will make VATE Voices
interactive and allow members to enter a conversation with others about issues
facing language arts teachers locally and in the nation. Articles will be published
on the left side of the page with a sidebar for member input and discussion.
Members will receive an email from vatepublications@gmail.com with the link for
the online issue, starting in November following the VATE fall conference.
Daniel Woods, editor of the Virginia English Bulletin, and I will present a publication workshop at the annual conference
in Staunton. We hope you will join us. Please continue to email your submissions to me at vatepublications@gmail.com
and note in the subject line ―article for VATE Voices.‖ Thanks to everyone who gives their time to submit to our
publications.

3. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
George Herring Chews a Book: the downlow(d) on podcasting in English classrooms
by George Herring, English Department Chair, Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, VA
This is just a guess, but I think that for as long as English teachers have assigned books, they’ve also assigned book
reports. Over time the assignment evolved. Some brilliant teacher eventually thought, ―Boy, it’s really quite boring to read
120 essays on Tom Sawyer. I should have them all write essays on different books.‖ Progress, thy name is Bored Silly!
So maybe your students are all writing papers on different books, but what then? Beyond your own classroom, what
happens to those reports? Those lovely, paragraphed nuggets of insight? Who else enjoys them besides you?
I am lucky enough to be able to answer that question. I can say from January to August of this year, my students’ book
reviews have been enjoyed 32,512 times. OK, OK…let me stop here. You’ve seen me use ―enjoy‖ twice already. It’s not
just reckless enthusiasm. I generally agree, ―enjoy‖ is not a word I would use to describing reading a book report.
However, I can also tell you that 897 people are ―subscribers‖ to my students’ book reports. This means that they are
interested enough in the writing that they want to get their hands on new book reviews as I release them to the public. So,
are these people, on some level, deranged? Perhaps. I really can’t comment on the mental state of our fan base. But it’s
also an indicator, on some level, that what my students create generate enjoyment.
I know all this data because, as you may have guessed from the article’s title, I am involved in podcasting. In fact, I have
been podcasting in my classroom for three years now. Don’t know what podcasting is? Stop reading this. Go to Wikipedia.
Look it up. Go to iTunes. Listen to a sample. A good one…like Grammar Girl. Maybe check out mine. It’s called Chews a
Book. I’m not ashamed to promote. OK? We good? Great!
To be up front, I do have technology in my background. But I swear, podcasting
is super-easy! Just like anything else, regardless of your background, good
implementation relies on an iterative process. You will learn as you succeed and
fail. I know I did. My first year with it was insane! We went, as we like to say in the
country, hog wild. Without testing our own process, we agreed to review all the
summer reading books for our school (there were around 40 as I recall) so we’d
have an instant audience of over a thousand students (if you included the 8 th
grade classes feeding into our high school…which we did). We built a website.
We did three rounds of review through the year to learn the process. I spent my
whole spring break editing podcasts! That is not hyperbole. But in our fervor, little
things were sacrificed in order to nail a really good review of The Hunger Games.
Little things like classroom management. That is hyperbole. Sort of. Is my
principal going to read this?
Dan Moneghan, Class of 2011,
In my second year we didn’t try hard enough. I scaled back the program. The website takes a break after recording
rough cuts of podcasts.
died. Our podcast service provider also died. Well, he went bankrupt, which could
have been because he died. I don’t know. We weren’t close. Additionally, I thought
that, with successful samples, the students could ―run with the project.‖ I was wrong. I watched, helpless, as 60% of our
completed reviews that year fell into a category I can only describe as ―stinky.‖ Were they OK for a school project? Sure!
Would I ever put them on air? No way!
Last year, though, we hit the sweet spot. Things clicked. It was like I was coming into work with Survivor’s ―Eye of the
Tiger‖ playing on the intercom. On second thought, I think that actually happened. A key improvement was that I had ex-
students come back and serve as teaching assistants. We found a more reliable podcasting service provider. I’m pretty
sure that person is alive. We committed to fewer reviews, but we also committed to doing them well.
So, if you use metrics to assess progress, here’s a different way to tell the story of the last 3 years:
YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3
Completed Reviews 150 70 77
Reviews Acceptable for Broadcast 60 15 70
So, as they like to say in the city, I’ve been around the block. That is, in truth, what they say about me in the city. But I
actually meant that in relationship to my experience with podcasting. I can give you tips, but you’ve already heard the best
one:

4. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
Life is Iterative
You have to get comfortable with failure. Know that you will fail. Know that you are taking a long-view. Enjoy it!
Get Real
You can make this a classroom project if you want. You can use the cheap microphone in the computer. You can have
kids record their voices over the din of ambient classroom noise. You can do that and be lame. Or…you can treat the kids
like the intelligent sources of review that they are! These kids want to be a voice in the chorus. In fact, most of them
already are. Still, they’ve probably never taken themselves seriously either. They never had anyone pushing them for high
production value. Here are some things I did to help push:
 We use royalty free music to help lift the emotion of the review. Go online and check out Imcompetech. Kevin
Macleod, the creator, only asks for donations. Please donate. He’s beautiful for doing it the way he does.
 We initially used book reviews from Entertainment Weekly as our professional models. Their big reviews are
really only 4 paragraphs. Now we use our past productions as models, but EW still helps.
 Quality is often only as good as the gear you use. We were lucky enough to get $800, which we used to buy 2
sturdy flash recorders with mixers, professional microphones, XLR cables, and portable drives. To most of you
this is gibberish. It’s like listening to an episode of Star Trek. Just collaborate with your Tech Coach or ITRT.
 We value our close partnership with our library. The class comes in and works quietly on a few assignments
(writer’s workshop, independent reading, etc…) while, in a breakout room, I am working with 4 or 5 students.
Every two minute edited recording requires about 10 to 15 minutes of raw production time. So you can reliably get
three quality reviews recorded in a 40 minute session. Lesson plan around that metric.
 We record opening and closing ―bumpers.‖ This gives the review a professional feel. It is often me doing the
intros/outros; however, over time, that is a job I offload to a student.
 It is important that the students edit their own product. I bought a class set of flash drives. The drives are
numbered and assigned. I can only talk about this with jargon. My apologies. I refer to editing as ―post
production.‖ I refer to recording as ―production.‖ I refer to reading and writing as ―pre production.‖ So, at the end of
production, each flash drive will contain (1) a rough cut of a review, (2) the intro / outro bumps for that review, and
(3) the music choice that will lift up the emotion of the review.
 We go to post using a free program: Audacity. This is another opportunity for you to call your lonely Tech Coach,
your neglected ITRT.
 Have an audience in mind. For me the audience is on iTunes. I really can’t see it any other way. That is the place
people go for podcasts. To get onto iTunes I use a provider called Podcast Revolution. They cost $15 a month.
The upside is that you can create lots and lots of podcasts through the account, so you can justify the cost to
administration by saying you will serve as the hub for anyone that wants to podcast in your school.
Workshop, Collaborate, Cross-train, and QA
There has been so many times where the students didn’t do their part that I always…always…worry about the classroom
experience falling to pieces. So my default is to control. As much as we want to track and control the process so that we
know they are all moving in a particular direction, the real deal is in the foggy mess. It’s in the ―let’s see what tomorrow
brings‖ mentality as you work through that fog. Kids are reading different books. The books vary in length and complexity.
Kids are writing at different times. Their writing experience is different. They complete and revise at different times. Some
kids want constant feedback. Some are afraid to show you anything but their very best. Here are some tips to keep the
chaos controlled:
 I use the writer’s workshop approach (though I must admit I didn’t call it that until I attended the Central Virginia
Writing Project Workshop this summer…amazing!!). We write a number of reviews throughout the year. The kids
only need to embrace one of these for the revision process. This revelation has taken me a long time to embrace.
The whole ―I wrote it and hate it‖ mentality is very much a part of us. As I mentioned earlier, failure is very much a
part of the process. Allow them to hate work that falls short of their intended vision.
 I encourage collaboration as much as possible. In the writer’s workshop, the students share evolving drafts. They
constrain their revision comments to what is working and what they’d like to see more information about. We
avoid the grammar, spelling, word count conversation at all costs. That’s really conversation for the end of the
process.

5. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
 I train students on podcasting with an eye toward cross-training. I pick students purposefully. I’m looking for the
kid who can work well with others. I’m looking for the kid that can be frank without being cruel. These students
become leaders. They run the technology. They read the bumpers. They offer commentary to students on how to
make their reading more effective. They help edit. These students are kind, humane, with-it, and smart. We are a
team. We are a family. They know that, as equals, we are going after things that go way beyond the standards of
learning. I love them for it, and hope the feeling is mutual.
 One of my biggest lessons learned is to build in some redundancies. It’s not just one student and me running
quality assurance checks on the final product. This last year I buffered in four students. Four students had the
power to say, ―Yo Bobbie, this is crazy! I can’t even hear you over your music. You need to fix it.‖ I pick kids who
are tech savvy, or at least passionate. If you want to know why my numbers were so better in year three, this is
the reason.
Promote
This sounds self serving. Believe me, the bigger gains from promotion are to be had where it is most important: the
students who are looking at you. The students love to hear that they are part of something big. I mean, don’t we all! The
point is, the more you make your program amazing, the more the students coming into the program will buy into whatever
crazy scheme you’ve hatched. Here are some things I do:
 I go to conferences and present. It feels like bragging. It especially felt that way in year two. However, it’s a great
chance to promote your brand. Viewership will go up. That comes right back to the classroom. You should have
seen their faces when I told them we crossed the 10,000 download threshold last year. When I return to school I
get to tell them we’ve crossed 32,000! What effect do you think that has? It’s amazing!
 I email my faculty when updates occur. Ninety-eight percent of them probably delete them by now. I am not
deterred by my imaginary rejection. I am very careful to mention the student and the book in the email. If a
teacher cares about a student, I believe they will take the time to listen to their work. I am constantly amazed by
that! Students have no idea how much some of these teachers love them. Their work is a semi-professional
product that almost 1,000 people in eight months have come to expect every week. That is important. To them.
To all of us.
 Whenever I can, I email students when their podcasts are released on iTunes. I get a response back 100% of the
time. Facebook is a great resource for this. You don’t have to friend them; you can often just email them through
Fb. The students are always gracious and encouraging in their response. Why? Because, despite my flaws, I am
passionate in the vision of what this class does…and passion wins the day. Care about what you’re doing. They
will remember.
Remember, when things go wrong, always refer back to the first step. And don’t forget to subscribe to Chews a Book on
iTunes. To download Chews a Book, please visit the iTunes store and search for Chews a Book. . I think you will find it
something you will…enjoy!
George Herring attended the Central Virginia Writing Project SI in 2011 and is a changed man. He
has no website and fears for the life of his podcast service provider. In 2010, George was named
Hanover County’s Teacher of the Year. You can talk with George when he presents a seminar on
podcasting at the Virginia Educational Technology Leadership Conference in Roanoke this
November.
What I Know for Sure: Curriculum for Gifted Students is Misunderstood
By Helen Pryor, Ruffner Middle Academy, Norfolk, VA
One of the most complex, perhaps the most researched, and quite possibly the most vague area in education is
organizing programs and curriculums for gifted students, as well as meeting the social and emotional needs of these
students during instruction. The main purpose of a gifted program is to provide a structure that will meet their educational
needs that they do not receive in a regular classroom environment. These opportunities for enrichment serve the purpose
of enabling a child to develop to their fullest potential, but the creation of the frameworks for these types of programs are
more difficult than they appear. Specific plans for each student, or cluster of students, is dependent on not only their
assessments, but the types of services which will be made available. The unfortunate reality is that more often than not,

6. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
these plans are seldom comprehensive, and effective personnel and resources are provided on an inconsistent basis.
This situation usually leads to decline or loss of abilities within the students, which becomes obvious during assessments;
therefore, these structures need to become more stabilized and consistent, particularly in the creation and implementation
of the gifted curriculums.
Reason would dictate that you would develop the same model for atypical or regular learners at the upper end of the
intelligence scale as you would for those at the lower level; however, it is the sublevels that provide the inconsistency in
this reasoning. The curriculums provided require that they are differentiated for the students needs, not only academically,
but socially and emotionally as well. This differentiation is normally broken down into three categories: moderately gifted,
highly gifted, and profoundly gifted. Moderately gifted students are normally clustered in groups of at least five students in
the regular classroom, and the teacher provides differentiated instruction for them including flexible grouping and higher
scaled assessments. Highly and profoundly gifted students have more demanding needs, which requires accelerated
pacing, more advanced resources, and higher level critical thinking lesson plans.
In creating the curriculum for these classrooms, the following requirements should be met for maximum academic impact,
thus providing an effective, stress-free pace and nurturing environment:
 team teaching, with at least one member of the team knowledgeable of gifted needs, and planning the
appropriate modifications for the program;
 regularly scheduled meetings with gifted students to provide support in meeting the needs for their academic
challenges, social interaction, emotional exploration, and growth;
 program placement opportunities in higher grade levels in subjects in which the gifted learner is even more
accelerated;
 extra-curricular, community-based, and service projects that can be accomplished on an independent, small
group, or mentorship basis.
 lesson plans designed to effectively meet the cognitive needs of the student per Bloom’s
taxonomy through instruction and assessment.
Although there is some support for gifted programs at the state and national level, many administrators
and teaching professions have argued that whether the current test-driven mentality of the nation is
actually ―gifted-friendly.‖ For the last several years, funds for gifted programs have remained mostly
static, and have declined in some states – even to the point of virtual elimination in the most profound
cases, mostly due to declining student population or issues in successfully identifying gifted students. In Helen Pryor,
most cases, high-stakes testing manages to make the minimum requirements the maximum score; Norfolk, VA
therefore, emphasis is on the mastery of only the most ―basic skills.‖ This approach forces a gifted
student to fit into an environment of ―minimalist education‖ where schools appear to mistake mediocrity for excellence.
In retrospect, the question that must be asked is whether or not there is intellectual meaningfulness existing in gifted
curriculums so that every child, whatever the limit or extent of his or her gifts, is challenged and encouraged to pursue the
potential of his or her own possibilities. School boards and administrators are left with the challenge of putting the money
where their philosophies are, therefore taking into consideration the need to hire more personnel and the need for
updated gifted materials and resources. Those who teach the gifted will also need to take responsibility for what is
rightfully theirs: to accommodate their curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of gifted students, as well as
addressing their social and emotional needs.
What Do You Know for Sure?
Past President Adria Merritt noted, “Reflection is a powerful tool educators possess. It allows us to question our
instructional choices as we strive to engage our students in the learning process, while further developing their reading,
writing, and critical thinking skills. Reflection often yields surprising results, like much of what we are already doing really
is working despite the barrage of “new, improved” methods and strategies that overwhelm some practitioners compelling
them to throw out the tried and true for the next best thing. Reflection also pushes us to make simple, yet profound
changes.” What I Know for Sure is a regular column in Needle’s Eye. We encourage members to reflect on their
classrooms and beliefs and share their thoughts with us. Please email your contributions to vatepublications@gmail.com
.

7. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
Poetry Society of Virginia Announces Poetry Contest
By Judi Bragg, President, Poetry Society of Virginia
From Dr Seuss to Shakespeare, from Taylor Swift to Billy Collins, poetry is all around us whether we
recognize it or not. Very young children love poetry for its rhyme and rhythm, but it’s often difficult to
reach older students with the value of something so important, so elaborate, and so subject to
change. ―I don’t get poetry,‖ is the refrain in high school classrooms when poetry is introduced as the lesson for the day.
Fortunately, there are outside resources available to come to the teacher’s rescue.
One of these resources is the Poetry Society of Virginia, and one of its promising programs is the annual Student Poetry
Contest. Cash awards are available in several categories, covering first grade through college, and winners are invited to
attend the Society’s Awards Presentation to read their poems before an appreciative audience. The contest opens in
November, and the entry deadline is always January 19, Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday. Brochures are available to provide
entry guidelines and other details.
Appreciation of poetry is extremely difficult to teach, yet even in this math-and-science, high-technology age, it is a highly
important skill for development of a well-rounded, well-educated life. Learning to find, or arrange, ―the right words in the
right order‖ is an ability which carries over to studies in communications, psychology, advertising, religion, philosophy and
law, and knowledge of a civilization’s poetry is vital to understanding its history and anthropology. Reading and writing
poetry can delight, fulfill, and educate an individual for a lifetime; poetry can create bonds and bridges among its followers,
regardless of age, gender, race, religion, socioeconomic standing or physical limitations.
We are hoping more Virginia students will participate in the contest, learn the pleasure of ―playing with words,‖ and be
able to step up to the lectern at our next Awards Presentation in April 2012. Please visit us on the web at
www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org for more information.
Virginia Writing Project News
Funding Cuts Threaten Future Programs for Local Educators
By KaaVonia Hinton-Johnson, Director, Tidewater Writing Project
The Virginia Writing Project has offered teacher professional development programs for rural, urban, and suburban
teachers for over thirty years. In the past, each site in Virginia (along with the host institution and other agencies) has
matched financial support from the U.S. Department of Education to conduct these institutes. Now, the sharp loss in
federal support for the NWP will put pressure on local sites to replace this funding in future years. The Virginia Writing
Project is actively working with the NWP and home universities to seek alternate funding to continue this important work.
As the over 3,000 of teachers who attended National Writing Project (NWP) professional development institutes this
summer start school this fall, they will be returning with new ideas and strategies to help students improve their writing.
They will also be better connected to a professional community—and therefore better equipped to teach their students
how to write in this digital age.
Enthusiastic teacher-leaders from all grade levels and disciplines attended professional development institutes held at 200
university-based Writing Project sites across the country. In spite of this success, the future looks uncertain given the
deep cuts in federal support for these and other important literacy investments."Thousands of teachers will return to
school this fall with more than their batteries recharged," said Dr. Sharon J. Washington, NWP Executive Director. "These
educators have enhanced their knowledge of theory, research, and practice to help students become better writers and
learners. Going forward, without financial support from the U.S. Department of Education that local communities had been
required to match, it will be very difficult for NWP to continue to provide the funding for these summer institutes."
Virginia Writing Project teachers are not only taking new ideas and strategies back to school: they're also returning to their
schools with resources from a network of national colleagues from pre-kindergarten through university, across content,
discipline, and state lines. These professional relationships will be maintained through online professional conversations,
using tools like Twitter, Facebook, Nings, and blogs, which are important tools for teachers and their students in the digital
age.

8. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
Join us in supporting the NWP and all Virginia writing project sites. Contact your representatives to let them know your
feelings about continuing to support literacy in the U.S.
Contact Kaa Hinton-Johnson at khintonj@odu.edu to share information about Virginia Writing Project activities with VATE.
Working for Real Educational Reform: The Future of the Northern Virginia Writing Project
By Paul Rogers, Director, Northern Virginia Writing Project ,George Mason University
Standing in the baking heat at the recent Save our Schools March in
Washington D.C, my two year old daughter Estella (who was lathered
in sun screen, wearing a pink sun hat, and playing with a cold bottle of
water) looked up at me and said, ―Hot, Hot, Hot!‖ I had to laugh. Not
only was the temperature near 100 degrees, but the rhetoric from the
podium was scalding too. At the rally before the march, speaker after
speaker (including Alfie Kohn, Barry Lane, Matt Damon, Linda
Darling-Hammond, and many more) came to the podium making the
case for the profession of teaching and public schools. Pedro
Noguera, a champion for teachers and professor at NYU said it best,
―After over 10 years of No Child Left Behind … all the international
indicators show that we are falling further and further behind, and that
is because we are using testing in the most destroying way ever
imagined.‖ As we all know to well, the erroneous conflation of high stakes testing with learning has led to many destructive
consequences, not the least of which has been corruption and cheating, an increase in high school drop out rates in urban
areas around the U.S., extremely high attrition rates among new teachers, and a wide-spread demoralization of teachers
across the country.
In spite of these pressures, and the loss of federal support for the almost 200 sites National Writing Project, here at the
Northern Virginia Writing Project we remain committed to our mission of improving writing instruction, writing practice, and
learning at all educational levels; to developing teacher leaders across the disciplines and elevating their professional
standing; and providing support for young writers and their families. In late June our site leadership gathered for an
Advanced Summer Institute to reaffirm our roots and plan for the future. What clearly emerged from our conversations
and work was the belief that the need for Writing Project style professional development has never been greater, but our
capacity to deliver that professional development has never been stronger.
As we push forward our professional development work in schools and expand our work with young writers, our priority is
on nurturing our network of amazing Teacher Consultants throughout Northern Virginia. Because everything in our
experience as teachers suggests that true educational reform takes place when one teacher-leader does great work at the
local level. We are also writing grants, talking with our contacts in Richmond, and reaching out to our colleagues in the
other sites of the Virginia Writing Project, but supporting these teacher-leaders is the heart of our mission. If the relentless
pressure on teachers continues, the value and need for professional networks like VATE and the National Writing Project
will only increase. There is no doubt we need each other now more than ever! We celebrate all that the teachers
associated with VATE are doing to support their students and each other, and we look forward to working together with
you in fostering real educational reform.
Central Virginia Writing Project Summer Institute at UVA
By Jane Hansen, Director, CVWP
The Central Virginia Writing Project is excited about our Summer and Fall 2011 endeavors. We held a great 4-week
Summer Institute at UVA for 17 teachers, a one-week Institute in Hanover for 22 Hanover teachers, and a one-week
Young Authors' Camp for rising 3rd-5th graders at St. Christopher's in Richmond. Plus, two of us attended the ELL
workshop in Cleveland sponsored by NWP, and are working to strengthen our work with local ELL teachers throughout
this year. Also, some of us are engaged in other professional development efforts in a few school divisions during 2011-
12. This fall our Leadership Team is busy recruiting 20 teachers for our next summer's Institute, we are hosting a
Teachers as Writers Retreat this fall, and we look forward to a daylong workshop for teachers of grades 3-5 on October 6
sponsored with the Virginia School University Partnership. Finally, a small contingent of us looks forward to the NWP
annual fall meeting in Chicago. Our new website, which is still under construction, is at www.cvwp.org.

9. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
VATE Announces Our First Literacy Explosion
By Adria Merritt, VATE Past President
The Literacy Explosion, which will be held in the spring, encourages and rewards Virginia students' excellence in reading,
writing, speaking, presenting, filming, drawing, and acting. It is a language arts festival designed to celebrate and promote
the integration of literacy and 21st century learning skills. The categories showcase students' expression and expertise in
their use of language, communication, and digital media. All Virginia students in grades K-12 are invited to participate in
this opportunity to share their language arts talents and abilities.
Competition Information
 The Virginia Literacy Explosion is a statewide competition for students in grades K-12.
 Participants receive awards for outstanding products in eight categories related to language arts.
 The competition will be held at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Saturday, March 17,
2012.
How to Enter Your Students
 Registration forms may be downloaded and printed from www.vate.org.
o School Registration Form (due January 30)
o Student Registration Form (due February 15th)
 There is a $5 per student OR a $30 per school entry fee (whichever is less), payable to: Virginia Association of
Teachers of English.
 Mail your school registration and fee by January 30 or your student registrations by February 15 to:
Adria F. Merritt, Literary Explosion Chair
Crittenden Middle School
6158 Jefferson Avenue
Newport News, VA 23605
Event Schedule
 Check-in: 8:30-9:15
 Set up: 9:15-9:45
 Judges Meeting: 9:15-9:45
 Explosion Showcase and Judging: 9:45-11:45
 Break/Snacks: 11:45-12:20
 Award Winning Showcase and Presentation of Awards: 12:20-1:15
Awards
1. First, second and third place medals will be awarded in each category.
2. The school with the most students entered will receive a Highest Participation Award.
Contest Categories
 Click on the description of each event to view a copy of the scoring rubric.
 Each entry will be scored using the project scoring rubric and the participant’s interview.
 Students may submit entries individually or as part of a collaborative team.
*Both fiction and nonfiction texts may be used to create the products. Texts may include, but are not limited to narratives,
plays, poems, essays, informational texts, and students’ original writing.

10. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
1. BOOK COVERS
 Entrants will design a book cover for a text of his/her choice with the intent to entice readers or market the
text. The cover must be created using desktop publishing.
 Entrants will participate in an interview.
2. BOOK TRAILER
 Entrants will prepare a video trailer of his/her chosen text. The trailer should be at least two minutes in
length, but no more than four minutes long. The trailer must be a positive presentation of the subject. The
trailer's purpose to persuade the audience to read the text. The trailer must contain original footage and
should not contain music from a motion picture soundtrack, if applicable.
 Entrants will participate in an interview.
3. PHOTO ESSAY
 Photo essays will depict themes/main ideas or scenes/essential details from a text. Essays should have a
minimum of six original photographs and may include quotes or phrases taken from the represented text.
 Entrants will participate in an interview
4. GLOG IT!
 Entrants must use Glogster to depict essential components, including but not limited to theme/main idea,
organizational structure, text features, viewpoint, and writer’s craft.
 Entrants will participate in an interview.
5. PICTURE PERFECT
 Entrants must create an image that captures the essence of a text. Entries must be students’ original
digital artwork.
 Entrants will participate in an interview.
6. THE NEXT CHAPTER
 Entrants will use video tools like Animoto or Photostory to creatively tell what might happen if the text
continues.
 Entrants will participate in an interview.
7. PODCAST
 Entrants create a podcast that creatively interprets the text. Ideas include, but are not limited to having a
radio interview of the author or a debate about an idea that is presented in the text.
 Entrants will participate in an interview.
8. SCENE IT
 Entrants will pick a pivotal scene from a text to dramatize. Record the scene using digital technology.
Props, musical instruments, prerecorded music, costumes, or any other objects of any kind may be used.
Performances may be no longer than five minutes.
 Entrants will participate in an interview
Check www.vate.org in November for entry forms, rubrics, and interview questions.

11. Needle’s Eye, Volume 31, Issue 3
Call for Manuscripts
Virginia English Bulletin Fall / Winter 2011, Vol 61, #2
Great Teaching Ideas
Call for Manuscripts
Virginia English Bulletin
GREAT TEACHING IDEAS
The Virginia English Bulletin invites you to submit articles of two to ten pages describing great teaching ideas. Chosen
submissions will be featured in our great teaching ideas column, which appears in each fall and spring issue of the VEB.
No one teacher possesses all the knowledge required to teach the ever widening range of topics and students that we
face from year to year. Yet there is a solution. We can learn from each other. This column asks you to share with fellow
teachers the activities, materials, or assignments that have worked for you and your students. By sharing ideas and
borrowing ideas teachers work together to develop repertoires of strategies that work. We invite your submissions.
Virginia English Bulletin is a fully refereed journal. In addition to publishing full length articles on English language arts
teaching and learning, we feature teaching ideas in our Great Teaching ideas column.
Deadline: October 1, 2011 (November 15th for conference presenters)
Authors should submit their articles electronically as e-mail attachments, preferably Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect;
however, other formats and word processing programs are acceptable. We do not accept simultaneous submissions.
Please include your mailing address, as well as a short biographical sketch including the name of your school,
position, courses taught, and a brief statement about your professional life; also include a statement of
submission noting that the work has not been submitted elsewhere simultaneously for publication.
Send to drwoods@radford.edu, for the attention of Daniel Woods, Radford University, P.O. Box 6935, Radford,
Virginia 24142. The editor reserves the right to modify manuscripts to fit length and language considerations. Please
include ―VEB Submission‖ in the ―Subject‖ line of your e-mail. Alternately, interested individuals may call the Editor at
540.831.5097.
The Needle’s Eye
Editor, Sara Zeek
801 Douglas St.
Please contact Chuck Miller at cmillercrz@gmail.com Clifton Forge, VA. 24422
to update your email and post office address so that Email: vatepublications@gmail.com
you will not miss a publication or announcement. Phone: 540-862-2581 (home)
The Virginia Association of Teachers of English is
Encourage others to join VATE online at www.vate.org.
committed to enhancing the quality of the teaching of
English and language arts in the Commonwealth.