MCTE’s Spring Conference
Take Me Outside
Thursday, May 1, and Friday, May 2, 2025
2100 Arrowwood Lane NW, Alexandria, MN 56308
MCTE is excited to invite you to join us along the shores of Alexandria’s Lake Darling for the 2025 Spring Conference.
As English teachers, we spend much of our time inside, literally and figuratively. We invite you to step outside with us–in every sense of the word–as we celebrate our rewarding work, reconnect, reflect, refresh, and recommit to the future of teaching English.
We invite all English educators, whether they be tenderfoot to the seasoned guide, to share their expertise, insights, and innovations in response to this theme. Let’s take ELA learning outside–precisely and imaginatively.
Nafeesah Muhammad
Thursday Morning Keynote Speaker
Muhammad is an adjunct professor at Metro State University and an education pathway teacher and coordinator for Minneapolis Public Schools. She will be presenting on the topic of repurposing ELA for flourishing and well-being.
Justin Grinage
Thursday Lunch Keynote Speaker
Justin Grinage is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education in the Department of
Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota. With a focus on Black education, critical whiteness studies, critical literacy, and neoliberal multiculturalism, his research examines race in school and classroom spaces, alongside explorations of how curriculum and pedagogy can engender anti-racism. He is co-author of the book, Reckoning with the Whiteness of English Education: Transformative Pedagogies in English Language Arts and Beyond (Teachers College Press, 2023). His recent publications have appeared in journals such as Race Ethnicity and Education, Whiteness and Education, Harvard Educational Review, English Education, and Curriculum Inquiry. Grinage is a NAEd Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow, NCTE Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color Fellow, and NCTE Janet Emig Award winner. A former English teacher, he has taught in multiracial high school classrooms in the Twin Cities area for more than a decade.
Amanda Montgomery & Rob Montgomery
Friday Morning Keynote Speakers
Amanda Montgomery is a reading specialist at Park Street Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia. She has also taught 3rd and 4th grade and specializes in working with struggling readers and writers. Rob Montgomery is Professor of English and English Education at Kennesaw State University. A former high school English teacher and fellow of the South Coast Writing Project (Santa Barbara, CA), his research interests include place-based writing and multigenre research. He has also participated in curriculum development and teacher training with the Georgia Film Academy. Together, Amanda and Rob have co-directed the Summer Institute of the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project, and they are the co-authors of A Place to Write: Getting Your Students out of the Classroom and into the World (NCTE, 2021) and co-editors of Place-Based Writing in Action: Authentic Opportunities for Writing in the World Beyond the Classroom (Routledge, 2024).
Payal Doshi
Friday Lunch Keynote Speaker
Payal Doshi has a Master’s in Creative Writing (Fiction) from The New School, New York. Having lived in the UK and US, she noticed a lack of Indian protagonists in global children’s fiction and one day wrote the opening paragraph to what would become her first children’s novel. She was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and four-year-old daughter. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family, you can find her nose deep in a book with a cup of coffee or daydreaming of fantasy realms to send her characters off into. She loves the smell of old, yellowed books. Her debut middle grade fantasy novel, Rea and the Blood of the Nectar is the recipient of the IPPY Gold Award. Her young adult short story will be published in the forthcoming YA Anthology, My Big, Fat, Desi Wedding by Page Street Kids in Spring 2023.
Thursday Breakout Session topics include
Connecting the ELA classroom with the Outdoors — Narrative Video Games as Anchor Texts — Teacher Wellness and Managing the “Grind” — Amplifying Voices in Poetry and Narratives — Connecting Literature to Nonfiction — Intellectual Freedom Panel Discussion — Implementing the READ Act — Science of Reading — Middle School Literacy Institutes — Using media and AI in the ELA classroom — Contending with Evil and Exploring Social Justice —Classroom Dialogue Across Differences — Engaging in Group Work — Assessment through Oral Exams — Teaching Readers through Inquiry
Friday Breakout Session topics include
Curriculum Innovation — Supporting Multilingual Learners — Using Nature and Environmental Literature in ELA Classrooms — Unpacking the MDE 2020 ELA Standards — Creating Changemakers by Learning about Injustice — Connecting Hip Hop to Literature — Composing with AI and the Elderly
| Tentative Schedule Thursday | Tentative Schedule Friday |
|---|---|
| 7:45 – 8:45 – Registration and breakfast 8:45 – 9:45 – Opening Keynote: Nafeesah Muhammad 10:00 – 11:00 – Breakout Session 1 11:10 – 12:10 – Breakout Session 2 12:15 – Lunch 1:00 – 2:00 – Lunch Keynote: Justin Grinage 2:15 – 3:00 – Breakout Session 3 3:25 – 4:25 – Breakout Session 4 4:30 – 5:30 – Happy Hour | 7:45 – 8:45 – Registration and breakfast 8:45 – 9:45 – Opening Keynote: Amanda & Rob Montgomery 10:00 – 11:00 – Breakout Session 5 11:10 – 12:10 – Breakout Session 6 12:15 – Lunch 1:00 – 2:00 – Lunch Keynote: Payal Doshi 2:00 – 2:30 – Prize drawing and closing |
Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center reservations can be made using this link, or by calling the hotel directly at 866-386-5263. Refer to the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English block for a room rate starting at $129 per night (plus taxes & fees) Note: our room block sold out the last two years of the conference, so don’t delay!
