Nationally:
The National Council of Teachers of English is the professional association of educators in English studies, literacy, and language arts. They have four distinct “chapters”: elementary, middle, secondary, and college level.
The NCTE has many social media outlets. Here are hyperlinks to their
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, and Instagram pages.
If you want to become a member of the NCTE, you can visit their membership page and learn more about applying online, by phone, mail, or fax. There are also seven different type of memberships, ranging from an individual membership to a lifetime membership and the cost of membership ranges from $25/year for students to $750 for a lifetime membership.
With your membership type, benefits change and vary. I decided to focus on the student membership because that is what I would consider if I were to join the NCTE.
According to the NCTE website, with the student membership, you “are not eligible to vote in NCTE elections but receive many other benefits and can add journal subscriptions and register for conferences at reduced prices.”
The NCTE holds an annual convention and this year it will be held November 19-22 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. To register for the conference, early registration costs $250 for a member, $325 for a nonmember, and $100 for a student. Late registration is more expensive respectively.
The NCTE mission statement is really interesting and I think sums up the entire point of the council:
“The Council promotes the development of literacy, the use of language to construct personal and public worlds and to achieve full participation in society, through the learning and teaching of English and the related arts and sciences of language.”
Michigan:
The Michigan Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1924. According to their website, it is an “organization for K-16 English language arts teachers and English educators in Michigan. [The] MCTE provides professional development for English language arts teachers and English education professors throughout the state. [Their] goals are to disseminate current English education scholarship and assist English language arts teachers as they make decisions about pedagogical practices, student populations, and teaching philosophies.”
If you would like to become a member of the MCTE, you can join here and download the application. The cost to join is $40/year. You can also find the MCTE on Facebook.
The MCTE holds an annual conference and this year’s conference will be held October 30 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
The MCTE’s website is a bit tough to navigate and it is difficult to find information regarding pricing for the conference and other publications that the MCTE produces.
However, one of my past professors, Robert Rozema, is a coeditor of one of the journals for the MCTE, so that’s pretty cool.
Education Endeavors 