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MCTE Fall 2019 Conference
October 18, 2019 @ 7:00 am - 3:30 pm
$25 – $170
Fall 2019 Conference
Navigating the Joyful Journey
Igniting Passion and Curiosity to Re-Imagine ELA Together!
Friday, October 18, 2019
Kellogg Conference Center, Michigan State University
Online registration is now closed. On-site registration will open at 7:00AM Friday morning at the Kellogg Center in the Centennial Room.
Our full session schedule for October 18th is now available. Click here to view session descriptions.
Navigating the endless expanse of English Education can be a daunting experience for new teachers as well as veteran teachers alike, but when we travel together, we can ignite passions that fuel curiosity, which in turn gives us the courage to re-imagine our purpose through English Language Arts.
MCTE invites you to join our learning community on October 18, 2019 for our annual Fall Conference, Navigating the Joyful Journey: Igniting Passion and Curiosity to Re-Imagine ELA Together! Educators from across Michigan will engage in conversations about ELA and enjoy presentations from colleagues. Registration opens at 7:00am with sessions that run from 8:00 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.
Featuring Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer, Reading in the Wild & co-author of Game Changer.
Donalyn Miller, our keynote speaker, is an award-winning Texas teacher and author of several books on engaging children with reading including The Book Whisperer (Jossey-Bass, 2009) and Reading in the Wild (Jossey-Bass, 2013). Donalyn is the co-founder of the community blog Nerdy Book Club and co-hosts the monthly Twitter chat #titletalk. Her articles about teaching and reading have appeared in publications such as Education Week Teacher, The Reading Teacher, Educational Leadership, and The Washington Post. Donalyn serves as Scholastic Book Fairs’ Manager of Independent Reading and Outreach.
Luncheon Speaker: Shawntai Brown, Writer-in-Residence for InsideOut Poetry.
With a passion for literacy and pedagogy, Shawntai Brown works with Writers-in-Residence and classroom teachers to cultivate impactful and meaningful learning. In addition to attending InsideOut programs as a student and working in the classroom as a Writer-in-Residence, Shawntai has a Master of Arts in Literacy Learning and has worked as an educator with students of all ages as well as adults. Shawntai is a playwright with the Extra Mile Playwrights and a poet whose work has appeared in Kaleidoscope, Cactus Heart, and Synaesthesia Magazine.
Pre-Conference Workshop
A Pre-Conference Workshop will be held on Thursday, October 17, 2019, 4:30- 7:15PM. For this year’s pre-conference workshop, titled, Re-Imagining the ELA with Creative Non-Fiction: Igniting Students’ Passions and Creativity through the Collage Essay, we’ll take a “deep dive” into the compelling non-fiction genre of the Collage Essay. See the Pre-Conference Workshop event description for more details.
Lodging Accommodations
MCTE Fall Conference attendees can reserve a room for Thursday, October 17, 2019, at the Kellogg Hotel for the discounted rate of $120. For the conference rate code, email MCTE Executive Director, Jim Kroll. Reservations must be made prior to September 17, 2019.
Past Presidents of MCTE
If you plan on attending the conference this year, we ask that you register to attend and contribute $25 towards your yearly LAJM subscription and conference attendance.
Register by August 15, 2019 to take advantage of early bird rates! Purchase tickets online below (via PayPal, credit card, or check). If you wish to register by mail, please click here for a printable registration form.
Conference registration includes a continental breakfast and boxed lunch on October 18th, as well as a year-long membership in MCTE. MCTE members receive two editions of the Language Arts Journal of Michigan (LAJM), a publication of MCTE, and regular issues of the Michigan English Teacher. Read more about the benefits of MCTE membership here.
Registration Fees for the 2019 Fall Conference:
| Register by August 15, 2019. | Register by September 30, 2019. | Register after September 30, 2019. |
| $150 – Full Time Professional
$90 – Part Time/Retired Professionals $90 – Full Time Graduate Students $60 – Undergraduate Students $25 – Past Presidents |
$160 – Full Time Professional
$100 – Part Time/Retired Professionals $100 – Full Time Graduate Students $60 – Undergraduate Students $25 – Past Presidents |
$170 – Full Time Professional
$110 – Part Time/Retired Professionals $110 – Full Time Graduate Students $60 – Undergraduate Students $25 – Past Presidents |
Discounts available for large groups from the same school. If you plan on registering THREE or more teachers from the same school, please contact the Executive Director for a coupon code to be used during registration. Individual attendee information will need to be entered for each ticket purchased. Registration questions should be directed to MCTE Executive Director Jim Kroll.
Pre-Conference Workshop
Re-imagining the ELA with Creative Non-Fiction:
Igniting Students’ Passions and Creativity Through the Collage Essay
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Kellogg Conference Center, Michigan State University
For this year’s pre-conference workshop, we will take participants into a “deep dive” into the compelling non-fiction genre of the Collage Essay. In a collage essay, says Peter Elbow, “you try to give your reader an experience of what you are saying rather than an explanation of it” (Writing with Power, 1998). Richard Nordquist explains the Collage Essay in a March 2018 post on ThoughtCo.com. “To use collage as a writer,” says Shara McCallum, “is to map onto your essay . . . the semblance of continuities and discontinuities associated with the art form” (in Now Write! ed. by Sherry Ellis).
We will spend the evening discussing several powerful models and examples of Collage Essays. Our presenters will share their own Collage Essays, samples of students’ Collage Essays, models from classic authors (E. B. White, George Orwell, Annie Dillard, H.L. Mencken), as well as YA texts like Animals by Don Le Pan and Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
Participants will be invited to begin planning their own Collage Essay. Teachers are invited to bring their own personal journals, composing devices, along with photo and quote collections.
As David Shields notes in Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, “The very nature of collage demands fragmented materials, or at least materials yanked out of context. Collage is, in a way, only an accentuated act of editing: picking through options and presenting a new arrangement….The act of editing may be the key postmodern artistic instrument….”(Knopf, 2010, p. 349).
Three experienced MCTE teachers, from three diverse Michigan communities, will lead this year’s pre-conference session.
Please join Toby Kahn-Loftus, North Central Michigan College, Jim Kroll, L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, and Danielle Marsh, Shepherd Public Schools, as they dive into the inspiring possibilities of creative non-fiction through composing Collage Essays.
Purchase tickets for the pre-conference workshop online below when you register for the conference (via PayPal, credit card, or check). If you wish to register by mail, please click here for a printable registration form. Registration questions should be directed to MCTE Executive Director Jim Kroll.
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