Check Out the 2022 New Jersey English Journal!

Co-editors Lauren Zucker, Katie Whitley, and Susan Chenelle are pleased to announce the publication of the 2022 issue of New Jersey English Journal, “What’s Working? What’s Not?” The issue features articles on timely ELA topics such as climate change, goal-setting, and culturally responsive texts. Thanks to writers and reviewers for their hard work on this issue.

We also invite ELA teachers, preservice teachers, teacher educators, and researchers to write for our 2023 issue, “Reviving Engagement in ELA.”

This year, we ask writers to consider ways to revive both student and teacher engagement in English Language Arts. For students, what strategies and content can promote their love of learning and literacy? For teachers, what practices can schools adopt or abandon to reduce burnout, reignite passion, and attract and retain new educators?

Click here for the full call for submissions. Due date is Wednesday, December 28, 2022.

Our journal welcomes submissions from new and experienced teachers, including pre-service, in-service, undergraduate, and graduate students. We seek research and practitioner-oriented pieces (1000-2000 words), as well as personal essays (700-1000 words) and other creative responses related to the theme and geared towards an audience of P–12 and postsecondary English Language Arts educators.

Some of our student writers have adapted ideas from university coursework for publication, and/or co-authored pieces with their professors. Previous writers have also successfully adapted content from conference presentations for submission. 

Writers do not have to live or work in New Jersey to submit to the journal. We are also seeking reviewers, which can be a great way for new writers to familiarize themselves with our publication.

New Issue of New Jersey English Journal Is Live!

We are proud to share the 2021 issue of New Jersey English Journal (NJEJ). This year’s theme is, “Course Correction: The Adaptive Nature of English Language Arts.”

In this issue, we hoped to create an opportunity for reflection on how the pandemic has changed the course of teaching English Language Arts. In our call for submissions, we asked authors, 

• How did teaching and learning change during the COVID-19 pandemic? How did teachers and students adapt, both personally and academically? What lessons will we carry with us into future teaching and learning?
• How did the shift to remote instruction raise awareness of inequities within and across our schools? In what ways can educators create more equitable learning opportunities?
• In what ways do teachers respond to curveballs—both large and small—from their students, in their own lives, at their institutions, in their communities, or on a national level?
• In what ways has the ELA classroom or the role of ELA teachers evolved during 2020, and how might it continue to change in the future? How can ELA teachers adapt their methods—for example, by considering issues such as social-emotional learning, social justice, and/or new technologies—to respond to students’ evolving needs and make space for new voices, texts, and approaches?

This issue features work in three genres: poetry, reflective pieces, and research articles. Our authors include current teachers, teacher educators, and literacy leaders. 

One set of articles from teacher educators focused on the importance of preparing pre-service teachers to adapt to quickly changing circumstances (Emily Wender, “Training Adaptive Teachers”) and to be “flexible” (Elizabeth Leer, “Learning to Teach in a Pandemic: Qualities Contributing to Success”). 

During a time of great turmoil and danger to our physical selves, several of these articles remind us that it is ok to “let some things go” (Sheila Benson, “Maybe Elsa’s Right: We Need to Let Some Things Go”) and instead, that it is critical to care for our own and our students’ mental health and social/emotional needs. (See, for example, Latasha Holt and Teesha Finkbeiner’s piece, “Uniting in a Reading Education Course to Support Mental Health Awareness During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Kathleen Adler’s “Reading: The Key to Addressing Students’ Social Emotional Needs in the Time of COVID-19,” and “In Praise of Poetry: Using Poems to Promote Joy, Community, and SEL During the Pandemic” by Jordan Virgil and Katie Gallagher.) 

Additionally, many of our pieces offered guidance and reflection on how to use technological tools to foster student connection and engagement during remote teaching, such as Annie Yon’s piece on Padlet, “How Padlet Encouraged Student Collaboration and Engagement in My Virtual Classroom,” and Maria Geiger’s piece on the flipped classroom, “Flip Your Way Into the Future of Learning.”  

To read the full 2021 issue and access back issues, visit: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/nj-english-journal/

2020 Issue of New Jersey English Journal Available Now!

We are thrilled to announce the publication of the 2020 issue of New Jersey English Journal, the journal of NJCTE, the New Jersey affiliate of NCTE. We are proud to share work from writers in New Jersey and across the country, including practicing and preservice ELA teachers, as well as teacher educators. Writers responded to the theme, “What’s Next? Embarking Upon a New Decade of English Language Arts,” in research articles, poetry, and reflective pieces. In response, writers addressed a variety of topics, including:

• Young Adult literature
• social justice
• artificial intelligence
• climate change
• mindfulness

All pieces are open access and free to read and download! Thank you to our authors, reviewers, and the editorial board for them help in bringing this issue to life!

2021 Call for Manuscripts 

Check out our call for manuscripts and consider submitting a research article, personal reflection, or poem to our 2021 issue, “Course Correction: The Adaptive Nature of English Language Arts.” We seek submissions related to the current pandemic.

Welcome New Board Member Lauren Zucker

Please join the NJCTE board in welcoming its newest member, Dr. Lauren Zucker!

Dr. Lauren Zucker (@LGZreader) teaches English Language Arts at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, NJ, and has taught education courses at Fordham University and Drew University. Her research lies at the intersection between technology and literacy; for example, her dissertation explored the practices that teens use when they read online outside of school. Learn more about her teaching and research at laurenzucker.org.

She earned a master’s degree in English from Rutgers University, and earned a doctorate in Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research at Fordham University.