This year, Thursday will take a different shape. Rather than a traditional keynote, we will engage in an Iowa Writing Project experience, one that will ground us in writing pedagogy that has fueled so many of us in this state. Iowa Writing Project work is rooted in three truths we know all writers cling to: time, choice, and response. This heavy focus on writing pedagogy is sure to help root us in what matters most.

Then, Friday, we will learn from Cornelius Minor, author of We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be. Cornelius’s work is grounded in knowing our students deeply. As he says, “My job as a teacher is not to merely teach the curriculum or even to just teach the students; it is to seek to understand my kids as completely as possible so that I can purposefully bend and remix curriculum to meet them.” When we fully see the students in front of us, we remember that they are the reason we do what we do. Cornelius’s keynote and breakout sessions will not only ground us in what matters most, his passion and energy will uplift us and inspire us to do our best work in our classrooms and communities.