New Teacher Conference

A conference for Illinois State University teacher education graduates completing their first or second year of teaching. This year’s conference is Friday, June 23, 2017 from 8AM-4PM in the State Farm Hall of Business.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER -TAYLOR MALI

Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement. His poem “What Teachers Make” has been viewed over 4 million times on YouTube and was quoted by the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman in one of his commencement addresses. Mali is a vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching, having spent nine years in the classroom teaching everything from English and history to math and S.A.T. test preparation.

Based on the poem that inspired a movement, his book of essays, What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World, is his passionate defense of teachers drawing on his own experiences, both in the classroom and as a traveling poet. Mali is a highly sought-after keynote speaker.