November 2025
In this issue:
It's hard to believe November is already here. I remember the blistering August heat like it was just yesterday! By now, you and your students have hopefully found a nice rhythm, and the school year is moving along nicely. This month's newsletter highlights past and future professional development opportunities as well as some contests.
I am thankful that you choose to be an English teacher in Oklahoma!
Cheers,
Jason
The ELA Framework is a helpful website created by Oklahoma ELA teachers for Oklahoma ELA teachers that supports educators with resources that promote implementing the standards with fidelity. Over the years, this resource-rich website has grown to include objective analyses, literacy progressions, proficiency levels, universal design for learning, exemplar lesson plans, writing resources, and engagement strategies. The project managers of ELA recently created a new overview video, explaining all the resources and where to find them. Spend a little bit of your planning period to see all the amazing supports!
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During September and October, Oklahoma English language arts teachers had the opportunity to attend a free workshop "Harnessing the Power of GenAI in the ELA Classroom," led by Jason Stephenson, the program manager of secondary education at the OSDE. "ChatGPT has raised lots of questions about how things work in the ELA classroom, but teachers can leverage artificial intelligence in effective ways," said Jason. The fall regional workshops took place in Atoka, Oklahoma City, Muskogee, Chickasha, and Enid. There was also a condensed virtual workshop.
The three-hour workshop began with an introduction to generative artificial intelligence, including an example of a song-creation tool called Suno. Participants considered the importance of involving students in all stages of the writing process instead of only focusing on a final product. Teachers also reflected on the AI Use Scale provided in the OSDE guidance document on AI and determined how to adopt or adapt it. At the Oklahoma City workshop, one middle school teacher said she would use only levels 0-3 with her students.
 At the Enid workshop, a high school teacher shared that the newest edition of the MLA handbook explains how to cite the output from a generative AI tool. An example follows:
 During the workshop, Jason also showcased how he uses GenAI to help him reflect on his own writing in order to improve his drafts. Participants also explored Google's Notebook LM tool, which synthesizes provided sources and can also create resources like audio overviews, flashcards, and more. Teachers and students alike can use NotebookLM as a springboard for research.
 Reflecting on the workshop, one teacher said, "I learned that it is okay to use AI in the classroom with guidance and ways to help my students navigate AI."
"I loved the perspective, the application tips and examples, and the chance to hear from people who are not afraid to implement AI in their classrooms!" said another teacher.
Workshop Resources:
 Photo courtesy of Aharen Richardson
English teachers from around the state recently traveled to Quartz Mountain this fall for an all-inclusive, extended weekend workshop retreat at the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute. Taught by nationally renowned artists, workshops were offered for all skill levels and were held at the beautiful Quartz Mountain State Park & Lodge in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma. Unlike other workshops, all meals and lodging are included in tuition.
Thanks to partnerships with the State of Oklahoma and generous private donors, scholarship funding is available to cover the tuition costs for Oklahoma PK-12 public school educators.
Joan Hagy, 8th grade composition teacher at Deer Creek Middle School in Edmond, attended the workshop "Photographic Poems" with poet Richard Blanco from October 2-5.
"Using old photographs from our own lives, Richard Blanco taught us to look deeper and find a story under the layers of color (or black and white) and feelings and history," said Hagy. "He began the workshop with a picture of his own and showed us how to use leading questions to delve deeper into the photo and explore its margins and meaning. I’m looking forward to using this method in my 8th-grade classroom. I appreciate having another tool to add to my toolkit. Also, meeting Richard Blanco was an incredible privilege!"
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Andrea Thomas, ELA teacher at Newcastle High School, attended "Photography: Landscape Stories" with photographer Laura McPhee from October 9-12.
"I recently attended Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, and I can truly say this is one of the most valuable learning experiences I've ever had, and I will be able to pass on this excitement about this arts program to my students," said Thomas. "The instructors at OFAI are experienced professionals, well-known in their fields."
Thomas originally intended to take the poetry workshop, but since it was full, she took the photography class. "We use other arts to inspire poetry in my creative writing class all the time. I think my students would love to take pictures and write poetry or stories about it. Or even use some of mine to inspire writing! The idea of using photography to tell a story intrigued me and I feel like my students could learn from that as well!"
 The photograph instructor tasked the participants to create a collection of their best work that tells a story of the landscape. Thomas focused on the theme "Hard Work: An Oklahoma Tradition."
"The photos I took reminded me of the tough, yet beautiful stories my grandparents told about growing up and working in Oklahoma," Thomas explained. "I got to go home with four prints of my work. OFAI has many class options to choose from, and they have a summer program for students. I truly believe this program would be life-changing for young artists, and I will definitely be encouraging my students to apply!"
Kenzie Pratt, ELA teacher at Classen School of Advance Studies Middle School, attended "Nurturing Story: Writing for Young Readers" with author Sarah Week from October 9-12.
"I hope every Oklahoma educator gets to experience the Fall Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain at least once," said Pratt. "It’s PD that feels like a retreat. This was my second time attending, so I thought I knew what to expect, but the reality surpassed my expectations."
The idyllic setting immediately put Pratt at ease, and time slowed down. She was so relaxed that she was almost an hour late to her first session, but as she tiptoed into the library, my classroom for her workshop, she quickly felt at ease. People were already sharing their writing. She listened.
"Our teacher, award-winning author Sarah Weeks, had this amazing ability to almost instantaneously create a safe space in which participants felt comfortable being vulnerable," said Pratt. "Within fifteen minutes, I was writing from the heart. Tears welled as others bravely shared powerfully raw writing. We built a cozy little nest in that library, each piece of writing weaving us together, drawing us closer."
For the next few days, Pratt paid close attention to Sarah Weeks’ moves. She wanted to bring some of that magic back to her classroom. Weeks knew exactly the right amount of feedback to give. "Everything she said felt both encouraging and gave room for growth and movement within the writing process," said Pratt. "Over the weekend, I wore my student hat and experienced the art of good teaching. I bore witness to other’s stories. I sat by the fire pit and worked on a creative project I have ignored for far too long. Time slowed down. Time is a gift."
The Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute will take place in Summer 2026 with a creative writing class for students. Applications become available later this school year and will be highlighted in this newsletter.
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On Friday, October 24, the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English held its annual conference in Oklahoma City at the MetroTech Springlake campus. Teachers from around the state convened to "Dream Boldly with Technology." The conference had twenty breakout sessions throughout the day, such as:
- Gamifying your ELA Classroom [slideshow]
- Building a Community of Readers: AI-Enhanced Digital Book Talks with QR Codes Across Campus [slideshow]
- Verses & Voices: Exploring AI as a Poetic Partner in the Classroom [slideshow]
The keynote speaker was Kristen Ziemke, author of Read the World, among other titles. Explore the keynote slideshow and other resources from Kristen on her webpage.
You can also see the carousel of photos from the conference on the OKCTE 2025 professional learning page.
The poet George Bilgere will give a reading on Tuesday, November 4, at Oklahoma City University as part of the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Poetry Series.
Bilgere is the author of numerous poetry collections and co-host of the Wordplay podcast. His chapbook, Cheap Motels of My Youth, is the 2023 Rattle Chapbook Prize Winner.
The poetry reading begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Kerr McGee Auditorium at the Meinders School of Business, NW 27th & N. McKinley Avenue in Oklahoma City.
Community members are also invited to come early to the evening reading and share their own poetry at the open mic, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The evening reading will be followed by a book signing. Admission is free!
National Shakespeare Competition
The ShakeFest 26 competition will take place on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, in Tulsa at Union High School's auditorium. Check in is from 9:30-9:45 a.m. The contest begins promptly at 10:00 a.m. and should be completed by 11:30 a.m.
In this contest, high school students from across Oklahoma perform a 20-line monologue and a sonnet. The 1st place winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City to perform in the National Finals, tour the city, and attend an acting class and a Broadway show. Cash prizes are awarded to the 2nd ($200) and 3rd place ($100) winners. Participation is free.
The competition webpage includes many resources, including a Teacher’s Handbook, Student Handbook, monologue packet, and sonnet packet. To sign up your school to participate, complete the online form & indicate Tulsa as the ESU branch.
If you have questions, contact Paul Stevenson, paulwstevenson75@gmail.com.
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Oklahoma ESU Shakespeare Festival
 After the national competition, the non-competitive ESU Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students from grades 6-12 will perform scenes, monologues, or other creative performances using Shakespeare’s language (Maximum of 2 minutes X the number of actors with a limit of 6 minutes). They will also participate in a short performance-based activity.
By design, this festival is also geared not only toward drama students, but also English classes and students who may have never acted before. For this organization, performance is a means to an end: making Shakespeare's language come alive.
To register for the non-competitive Shakespeare festival, send an e-mail with the title of your performance to paulwstevenson75@gmail.com.
 Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English's annual Young Writers Contest for students in Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12 is now accepting submissions. A new category this year is literary/critical analysis. The deadline is January 13, 2026. Teachers must be members of OKCTE in order for their students to participate. Past anthologies are available to peruse for mentor texts.
The Oklahoma Writing Project (OWP) is sponsoring its annual statewide Write To Win contest for students and teachers.
Winners in each division will be invited to an OWP Spring Celebration & Writing Conference and will have their writing published in the 2026 Anthology of Winning Writing and on the OWP Website. Winners and their teachers will receive free anthologies of winning writing.
Students and teachers will be competing against others in their own divisions and genres. Divisions are determined by grade: Primary (pre-K though 2nd); Intermediate, (grades 3-5); Middle School (grades 6-8); High School, (grades 9-12), and Teacher.
The contest webpage provides expectations for the following writing contest genres: descriptive paragraph, personal narrative, poem, short story, flash fiction, essay, writing across the curriculum, sentence, and comic.
There is no entry fee, and the deadline is January 21, 2026.
Questions? E-mail owpwritingcontest@gmail.com or janiscramer@att.net.
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 Letters are rolling in for this year's My Favorite Book contest! Give your students a chance to show off their writing skills and the books that touched their lives in this rewarding statewide competition.
Students from grades 4-12 are asked to write a personal letter to the author of their favorite book, series, or story. The letter should go beyond summarizing the plot and instead focus on the student’s own experience as a reader. Students are encouraged to describe how the writing influenced them—whether it inspired new ideas, offered comfort during a difficult time, or opened their eyes to a different perspective. The goal is to reflect on the power of literature and how it can shape the way we think, feel, and see the world around us.
Winners receive a cash prize and present their letter at the State Capitol. First-place winners will also be able to donate a $1,000 prize to the public or school library of their choice.
The Center for the Book is now accepting submissions through December 12. Help us share this valuable program with the young readers and writers in your life and encourage them to submit their letter soon!
For information on eligibility and how to enter, visit the My Favorite Book webpage.
The Ozarks Writers League sponsors a yearly contest for students in grades 7-12 who are residents of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The writing categories are fiction, nonfiction, and poetry with specific prompts below. Submissions are due December 1, 2025. Students must complete this form to participate.
Category 1: Fiction Short Story
Theme: THAT RINGS A BELL
Word limit of 2,000 words.
Prompt: Sound is an integral part of our lives. For many people, sound has been central to their stories and customs since before someone came along and started writing history down! One sound that we seem to come back to again and again is the sound of bells - church bells, cow bells, alarm bells, tambourine bells, and so many more. What rings a bell for you? Write us something where a bell is central to the story. What sort of bell it is, what the characters do or think about the bell, and if the bell even actually shows up "on screen" is up to you.
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Category 2: Non-fiction
Theme: WELL, THAT WAS EMBARRASSING
Word limit of 2,000 words.
Prompt: Let's face it, you've probably said, done, felt, or seen something embarrassing. So have we. So have a lot of people throughout history and so will plenty of people in the future. In fact, there's probably someone doing something embarrassing right this very minute! Whether public, private, funny, or just downright sad, there are plenty of embarrassing stories to go around. Perhaps you have the perfect story of a historical figure being embarrassing. Maybe you have a strong and fond memory of accidentally calling your teacher "Mom" or "Dad". Whether past or present, silly or just plain tragic, share with us a non-fiction story where embarrassment is central.
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Category 3: Poetry
Theme: FORCES OF NATURE
Limit of two poems that are each 1 page in length (or shorter) or one poem that is two pages in length (or shorter)
Prompt: The Ozarks are home to a variety of plants, animals, hills, seasons, and weather. They can be beautiful, terrifying, confusing, helpful, protective, dangerous, or some combination of all of the above. Your job, as a poet, is to capture something about nature and share it with us through your eyes. Take us on a journey along a rainbow, on the trail of a wild animal, or through the gusts of a thunderstorm. Show us a force of nature through your eyes.
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Writing Prompt
Review the three prompts from the previous section (That Rings a Bell; Well, That was Embarrassing; Forces of Nature) and pick one. Spend 1-2 minutes brainstorming or researching. Then write for 5 minutes.
Reading Quote
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