2023 ICTE Fall Conference Registration is Open!

Oct. 5-6 in Johnston

Brenna Griffin
April 13, 2023

Clarity in Chaos: Centering Humanity, Illuminating Purpose
ICTE Fall Conference 2023

Update: The online schedule for the conference has been released! Here it is https://icte2023.sched.com/

Update: Rooms have been blocked at Stoney Creek Inn in Johnston through September 15th. You can call the hotel directly at 515.334.9000 to reserve your room (just mention Iowa Council of Teachers of English) or reserve online with the code 2310TEACHERS.

Register for the conference at this link.

Chaos abounds in this teaching life. There’s the normal chaos of electric mid-April energy: students abuzz with summer-still-too-far-away thoughts, evenings packed with concerts and receptions and rituals, planners scribbled with fourteen ways to pack the rest of the year into not-enough time. Then there’s the additional chaos of teaching right now: nebulous legislation that weighs us down with questions and concern for the future.

While the mess whirls around us, there are places we can come to land. We hope you will join us for the 2023 ICTE Fall Conference–Clarity in Chaos: Centering Humanity, Illuminating Purpose.

Thursday, Oct. 5 Keynote

On Thursday, we will learn with Dave Stuart, Jr., a social studies and English teacher who has coined a term we love: Long-term flourishing. According to Dave, “Long-term flourishing is the real purpose of schooling. It’s what every educator and parent on the planet hopes for their children. Long-term because we love the child not just for today or this year, but also in 20 years; flourishing because we know there are many viable paths to a useful, rich life.” Focusing our mission relentlessly on students and their needs can help us cut the noise and focus on what we can control. Dave is best known for his wonderful course on student motivation and his book These Six Things.

Friday, Oct. 6 Keynote

Friday, we turn our attention to Dr. Seema Yasmin, whose new book What the Fact!? is geared toward teachers and students engaging in more thoughtful conversation around our media lives, combating misinformation, disinformation, and the threat to our critical thinking skills we know are so important. Journalism teachers, teacher librarians, and ELA teachers alike will not want to miss Dr. Yasmin! In a Publishers Weekly interview, she says, “I was motivated by bewilderment…the advice [students are] getting is often, ‘Don’t believe what you read,’ ‘Don’t trust the press,’ ‘Be skeptical of everything.’ But by telling them that, we’re putting them in a position of helplessness and hopelessness. We’re not empowering them with information and knowledge that can make them savvy consumers.” As we navigate our current chaos, it’s more important than ever that we cut through the clutter and seek out the truth. Dr. Yasmin will show us how to confidently empower our students–and us!– to take control of our own information lives.

We love that these two keynotes both encourage us to get back to basics of critical literacy skills that all students need but also encourage us to hope for a better future and expand our definition of what is possible. In addition to our keynotes, expect a wide range of breakout sessions focused on all the other ELA pedagogy you care about most.

Submit a Breakout Proposal and Register!

As we look to summer, please consider ways you can share your humanity with our ICTE community: participating in our summer book study around These Six Things or What the Fact?, submitting a breakout proposal, and registering for the fall conference. Together, we can find our clarity and celebrate the humanity in ourselves, one another, and our students.