MCTE’s Spring Conference
Changing Landscapes
Thursday, May 2, and Friday, May 3, 2024
The landscape of the English/Language Arts classroom is in the midst of change. Teachers are navigating classrooms where students are relying on artificial intelligence to write papers. Pressure is coming from outside sources regarding what can and cannot be taught. Commitment to teaching diverse literature is met with resistance. New legislation, such as the READ Act and new ELA standards, forces adaptation and curricular change. Teaching positions are vacant because of a shortage of teachers, a shortage that grows because of lack of public support and increased political pressure. All the while, we face urgent calls from within our profession to change the landscape for the better—to diversify the texts and perspectives we engage, to change entrenched patterns of access, to work toward anti-racist pedagogy, and to support students’ whole selves.
With this year’s conference, we come together to navigate and make change as a community of committed educators. As we take stock of one school year and set priorities for the next, we make time and space to connect, share, listen, reexamine, and grow.
There will be 4 keynote speeches and 30+ breakout sessions over this 2-day event, including topics such as AI, the science of reading, implementing Minnesota’s new ELA standards, civil discourse, writing, and teaching diverse literature. Strands include elementary, middle level, high school, and college-level presentations on a variety of literacy-related topics each day. Come join in the fun!
Alison Criss
Thursday Morning Keynote Speaker
Alison Criss is the recipient of the 2022 NCTE Outstanding Middle School Educator Award. She has been a classroom English teacher for 11 years and has worked in education since 2004. Alison loves learning alongside middle and high school students, lifting their voices, reading their book recommendations, and being plain weird with them. She also loves mentoring student teachers, who bring new ideas and positive energy to the classroom. She lives in Chisago City at the family hobby farm.
Margi Preus
Thursday Lunch Keynote Speaker
Margi Preus’s writing career began when her audition for the kindergarten musical went horribly wrong. Since then she has written plays, comic operas, and a bunch of notable books for young readers, including the Newbery Honor book Heart of a Samurai. Her books have landed on the New York Times bestseller list and many other “best-of” lists, won multiple awards, and been honored as ALA/ALSC Notables. New titles include Lily Leads the Way (set near Duluth’s lift bridge) and Windswept, considered one of the best books of the year by Kirkus, Hornbook, the CBC, and the CCBC. She lives in Duluth, land of snow squalls and cardamom buns. Visit her at https://www.margipreus.com.
Cody Miller
Friday Morning Keynote Speaker
Henry “Cody” Miller is an associate professor of English education at SUNY Brockport. Prior to moving into teacher education, he taught high school English in Florida public schools for seven years. He was awarded the Teaching Tolerance’s (now Learning for Justice) Award for Excellence in Teaching during his time as a high school teacher for creating equitable English classrooms with young adult literature and supporting LGBTQ students. He is currently studying and writing about book banning efforts and curricular gag orders happening in several states, including his home state of Florida.
Miller is the editor of the NCTE journal English Leadership Quarterly. Previously, he served as the chair of the NCTE’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee. He was awarded NCTE’s LGBTQIA+ Advocacy & Leadership Award in 2022.
Gary Eldon Peter
Friday Lunch Keynote Speaker
Gary Eldon Peter is the author of Oranges, a short story collection, and the novel The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen, which was named one of the best books of 2022 by National Public Radio. He has received numerous awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Midwest Book Award, the Gold Medal for LGBTQ+ fiction in the Independent Publisher Book Awards, the Silver Award in the Foreword Reviews INDIE Book of the Year Awards for Young Adult Fiction, and the Whippoorwill Book Award for Rural Young Adult Literature. A faculty member in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, he lives in St. Paul where he is working on his third book, a collection of personal essays.
Thursday Breakout Session topics include
Navigating & Using Artificial Intelligence in the ELA Classroom — Research Essay Process in the Time of ChatGPT — The Science of Reading — Balancing Whole-Class and Choice Reading — Differentiated Instruction Strategies — Trauma-Informed Writing Prompts — Civil Discourse in the ELA Classroom — Empowering Black Youth — Arts Integration in ELA — Exploring Modern Non-Fiction — Spoken Word Poetry in the Classroom — Explicit Instruction in Comprehension — Vocabulary Teaching Tools — Intellectual Freedom and Teacher Advocacy — Climate Literacy Meets Culturally Relevant Pedagogy — and many more!
Friday Breakout Session topics include
Engaging with Diverse Books — Writing Skills that Transfer to College and Career — Reliable Native American-Related Teaching Resources — Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction — Student Choice in Instruction & Assessment — Inspiring Lifelong Readers — Exploring Ecocriticism & the “Youth Lens” — Supporting Multilingual Learners’ Genre Writing — Collective Memory Work — Teaching American History as Cross-Cultural Solidarity — Navigating the READ Act — and many more!
| Tentative Schedule Thursday | Tentative Schedule Friday |
|---|---|
| 7:45 – 8:45 – Registration and breakfast 8:45 – 9:45 – Opening Keynote: Alison Criss 10:00 – 11:00 – Breakout Session 1 11:10 – 12:10 – Breakout Session 2 12:15 – Lunch 1:00 – 2:00 – Lunch Keynote: Margi Preus 2:15 – 3:00 – Breakout Session 3 3:25 – 4:25 – Breakout Session 4 4:30 – 5:30 – Happy Hour @ Lyric Bar & Restaurant | 7:45 – 8:45 – Registration and breakfast 8:45 – 9:45 – Opening Keynote: Cody Miller 10:00 – 11:00 – Breakout Session 5 11:10 – 12:10 – Breakout Session 6 12:15 – Lunch 1:00 – 2:00 – Lunch Keynote: Gary Eldon Peter 2:00 – 2:30 – Prize drawing and closing |
Holiday Inn & Suites reservations can be made using this link, or by calling the hotel directly at 218-722-1202, option 3. Refer to the MN Council of Teachers of English Block for a room rate starting at $125 per night. Note: our room block sold out at last year’s conference, so don’t delay!
Registration for the 2024 Spring Conference is full.
