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Winter Retreat RSVP

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IATE Newsletter Past Issues

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Past Issues:

Updates from IATE

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Updates from IATE

Sign up for updates from IATE for next year’s fall conference. You’ll receive announcements about submitting proposals, keynote speakers, featured sessions, and registration.

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Getting Involved at IATE

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Creative Writing Teaching Strategies Virtual Workshop

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USING CREATIVE WRITING TO UNLOCK YOUR STUDENTS’ INNER WRITERS

A workshop with creative writing education nonprofit Cosmic Writers

Many students identify as reluctant writers, but love to paint or play video games or design Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.  When it comes to these students, creative writing education nonprofit Cosmic Writers has found that many of them aren’t “reluctant writers” as much as they are “writers who haven’t fount their niches yet.”  The painter has the potential to become a visual poet; the gamer an interactive-fiction writer; and the DnD-er a creator of lushly-described fantasy worlds.  And if you can link writing to the hobbies and skills that your students are already excited about, you can unlock their potential to become excited about writing, too.

In this 1-1/2 hour professional development workshop, we will discuss ways to use creative writing to help students recognize their inner writers and take pride in their communication abilities.  We will also discuss how to integrate creative writing with standard English class content, such as literary analysis, to ensure that students are building core skills at the same time as honoring their creativity.

This virtual workshop will be conducted by Rowana Miller of Cosmic Writers, Inc.

Rowana Miller has a decade of experience working in writing education and writing young adult fiction. She is the founder and Executive Director of Cosmic Writers, a registered 501(c)(3) that provides children with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities to write creatively. Her debut novel, Secrets of the Blue Hand Girls, is forthcoming from Sourcebooks in Fall 2025. She writes about goblins, secret societies, and strange magic.

She has presented on literacy, creative writing education, and collaborative learning at conferences including those hosted by the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics, and the Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower. She has developed and run professional development for organizations ranging from the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools to the New York Public Library.

Registration is open! Space is limited, so register now!

  • Registration for Members: FREE!
  • Registration for Non-Members: $25

Fall Conference 2025 Home Page

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Let Us Know How We Did (and what we can do better)! We want the annual fall conference to be all it can be for our members (and we want as many members to attend as possible).  Whether you attended the October 24-25, 20205, conference at Moraine Valley Community College or whether you were not able to be with us, please click the link above to offer your constructive feedback to the conference planning team. This survey will remain open until the end of November 2025. 

A short-sleeve grey t-shirt with blue words that read Literacy & Justice for All 2025 Conference Home Page The annual IATE Conference took place on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25, 2025, at Moraine Valley Community College. Click the link above to visit the Conference Home Page. Reach out to Conference Chair Delores_Robinson@ivcc.edu with questions.

Click HERE to view the online version of the 2025 Conference Program via Canva.

Presenters, please click HERE to submit conference presentation materials (slides, handouts, links) that will be made available to registered attendees of the Fall Conference.  

Online Conference Schedule–with links to presenters’ session materials (if supplied)

Conference Parking, Maps, Local Attractions, 2024

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IATE 2024 Fall Conference: Getting to and around the conference

LOCATION

Millikin University
University Commons/Staley Library 
See map (below)
DIRECTIONS
Millikin University is accessible via
  • From the northeast:  Interstate 57 (south) to Interstate 72 (west), then US 51(south)
  • From the north:  US 51 (south)
  • From the west:  Interstate 72 (east), then US 36 (east)
  • From the south: US 51 (north), then Illinois Rte. 48 (north)
  • From the east:  Interstate 72 (west), then US 51 (south)
Or use your GPS!
PARKING
See map (attached)
Parking: use Lot M9 or M10 (accessible via West Wood Street, one block south of Main St.) Use the stairs at the northeast corner of Lot M9 to make your way to the University Commons/Staley Library
Accessible parking: use Lot M8 (accessible via West Main Street)
University Commons/Staley Library is situated adjacent to Lot M8

SCHEDULE

Registration/doors open 8:00 am
Conference begins 8:30 am
See the conference webpage for further details