The College of Education strives to provide teachers with a well-rounded, practical and engaging teacher preparation program.

This year, the COE will host a Literacy Conference to help educators deepen their knowledge of literacy instruction and connect with other educators.

“I attended a literacy conference when I first started teaching, and it still impacts my teaching today,” said Dr. Stacie Finley, assistant professor of literacy at Missouri State University.

“Knowing how beneficial that conference was for teachers in the area, we wanted to bring a similar experience for educators to MSU.”

The conference includes events Sept. 21-22. Registration is encouraged but not required.

Check out the detailed schedule

Sept. 21

Guest speaker

Lester Laminack, a nationally recognized writer and educator, will speak at 6 p.m. in Plaster Student Union Theater.

Laminack is an award-winning author with over 25 books for children and teachers. He is a professor emeritus in birth-kindergarten, elementary and middle grades education at Western Carolina University.

Anyone interested in education is welcome.

Sept. 22

Opening session

Laminack will open the second day of the conference with a speech at 8:45 a.m. in Carrington Hall, Room 208.

Preservice teachers and early career educators with less than three years of teaching experience are welcome.

Breakout sessions

COE will host breakout sessions all day dedicated to literacy learning. Breakout sessions begin at 10 a.m. in Hill Hall, Room 201 and 301.

The sessions will cover topics like diverse and multicultural texts, writer’s workshop, demystifying dyslexia and more.

Preservice teachers and early career educators with less than three years of teaching experience are welcome.

Support from DESE

All events are free for attendees, courtesy of the Missouri Path Forward Theory into Practice Grant from Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

“Having the opportunity to feature a well-known national speaker like Lester Laminack, as well as area literacy experts, is a great chance for our undergraduate students and recent graduates to get new ideas and learn more about teaching reading and writing,” said Dr. Kayla Lewis, associate professor of literacy and assistant director for the School of Teaching, Learning and Developmental Science at MSU.

For more information, contact Dr. Stacie Finley at StacieFinley@MissouriState.edu or Dr. Kayla Lewis at KaylaLewis@MissouriState.edu.

Register for the conference