This page has a variety of additional information to help support conference participants.
Strengths of Teaching in an Urban Community - Daniel Jackson, Matthew Miller, and Cailynn Stewart
Join us for a Kahoot game! This is an interactive session with three Chicago teachers to learn about the strengths in teaching in an urban community.
International Teaching - Erin Mikulec and Monica Noraian
Do you enjoy travel, exploring the world, and learning new things? Then this session might be for you. There are a lot of opportunities to internationalize your education while becoming a teacher at Illinois State University. This session will introduce you to some of the ways students are doing study aboard experiences during their teacher education sequence.
Preparing Now to be a Teacher Later - Renee Carrigan
What can I do now to support my dream to be a teacher? Tips for high school students who want to major in education.
Remarks to Future Teachers - Representative Dan Brady
Remarks to Future Teachers - Senator Jason Barickman
Remarks to Future Teachers - Senator Christopher Belt
Art Teacher
Art educators have the unique opportunity to help students learn how to express themselves creatively. We are able to share an inclusive curriculum of diverse artists so that all students see themselves reflected and celebrated in school.
Biology Teacher
Being a biology teacher is about fostering important relationships with students, while teaching them the study of life. Listening to their interests, their experiences, and their creativeness is key to a successful biology curriculum.
Business Teacher
Being a Business Teacher has been a very rewarding career. I love knowing that I am preparing students for real life no matter what they grow up to be.
Chemistry Teacher
Being a chemistry teacher means you are guiding the future minds of the world. Teaching chemistry to young people opens a door to a world that they may have never seen before.
Dance Teacher
Being a PE dance teacher allows me to give my student the opportunity to select a physical activity they enjoy participating in while doubling as a creative outlet.
Early Childhood Teacher (birth-grade 2)
Our role as early childhood educators is to ensure equity and embrace the diversity within our classroom and school community. We teach the whole child to ensure growth and development while continuously learning from them
Earth Space Science Teacher
An Earth and Space Science teacher is full of amazing opportunities to provide a learning experiences for students to build a connection with the outside world. Allowing the students to investigate multiple systems of the Earth has them taking what they learn inside the classroom and applying it to what is outside the window.
Elementary Teacher (grades 1-6)
As an elementary school teacher, I get to watch my students grow each day. Since I am with them all day and teaching most of the content, I get to see all my students' strengths. No day is ever the same and it is an extremely rewarding profession.
Elementary Teacher: Bilingual-Bicultural
To be a bilingual teacher is to teach the brilliant bilingual leaders of the future and create lasting change in bilingual communities.
English Teacher
English teaching means inviting our students and teachers to approach the classroom space authentically and to be recognized as people, not just as academic learners. The English classroom invites students to engage with learning that is real, deep, and incredibly meaningful.
Family and Consumer Science Teacher
To be an FCS teacher means you are teaching students the fundamental skills they need for the real world. You teach these skills through application and building relationships — you can’t get a more rewarding career!
Health Teacher
Health education is all about students finding the healthiest versions of themselves. The material that is covered in class relates to the students not only now, but will be carried with them all throughout their lifespan.
History Social Sciences Teacher
Being a History-Social Science teacher means continuously reflecting on and learning from the things that have contributed to the world we currently live in.
Library Media Specialist
Being a school librarian means collaborating with teachers and students to support knowledge creation. A school librarian engages learners in conversing about literature and uses technology to enable them to efficiently, effectively, and creatively use information.
Math Teacher
What does it mean to be a mathematics teacher? It means that what you do matters, and that you will make a difference.
Middle School Teacher (grades 5-8)
Being a Middle School teacher means that you get to be surrounded by kind, compassionate and students who want to change the world, and it's our job to give them the resources and opportunity to do so. It also means that you have an army of teachers behind you who also believe that teaching middle school is the greatest thing to do every day, and they will be there for you, no matter what.
Music Teacher
Being a music teacher means creating positively life changing experiences for students while learning music. You have the distinct opportunity to shape a student's way of thinking through creative outlets that cannot be matched in other classes.
PE Teacher
Being a physical education teacher means helping students grow, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and academically. Physical education teachers are holistic educators who prepare students to become life-long movers in our society.
Principal
I'm humbled and grateful to be a principal at a school. Every day you get a chance to build relationships and make a positive difference in the lives of others. What we say, do, and respond will make an impact. Lead with a servant's heart rooted in integrity and love.
Special Education Teacher: Learning Behavior Specialist
To be a Learning and Behavior Specialist, it means utilizing different strategies and approaches for your students to support them better. It is essential to work as a team within your classroom, including the paraprofessionals, other teachers, and related services (social worker, occupational therapist, etc.).
Special Education Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
As a teacher of the Deaf and hard of hearing you work with students to develop language through whatever you teach. There is a lot of variety in what you teach, so you’ll never be bored. This job is incredibly rewarding, because you get to build strong relationships with your students and watch them grow!
Special Education Teacher of the Visually Impaired
(Good Morning America Story)
A Vision Teacher works with a student population that is visually impaired or blind. The teaching licensure ranges from 3-21 years of age with a wide range of job opportunities.
Speech Language Pathologist
A school based speech language pathologist works with students from pre-K to high school on language, communication and speech skills. They work with students in special education and general education settings in their classrooms, in small groups or one on one.
Theatre Teacher
With the ever-changing world where it is easier than ever for children and adults alike to isolate through advancements in technology, being a theater teacher serves as a vital role in education to provide students the opportunity to grow as communicators, listeners, and creative thinkers through collaboration and exploration. Working in the theatre arts not only gives students the skills to be successful in all walks of life, it also gives a safe, creative outlet that helps students’ social-emotional health.
World Languages Teacher
Being a French teacher gives me the opportunity to create a community; among my students in class, but also with a larger global community in the Francophone world and with world language learners across the globe. Being a French teacher is all about inspiring, and inspired students are world changers. I truly believe that the connections that are started in a world language class have the potential to grow and reach all the corners of the world.
College of Education - Flexible Learning Spaces Tour
Admissions Freshman Information Session
Financial Aid and Grants for Future Teachers Information Session