Friday, April 17, 2026 from 9:00am - 3:30pm.

Beginning in 2024, the English department at Geneseo has sponsored an annual English "Teachers' Day" during which 7-12 English and ELA teachers gather for professional development in content and pedagogy. Our faculty love to teach, and we especially love to teach English teachers. Our participants are people who love books, love their students and who want to hear about new authors, new approaches to classic authors and new research in the field - and to talk to passionate teachers from other parts of New York State.

This year's workshops include:

Workshop #1: Dr. Rob Doggett

Teaching Poetry: Obstacles and Opportunities : Most people (not even just most students) are scared of poetry. They panic on seeing a text with line breaks of any kind, thinking it will be too dense or the meaning too obscure to understand. This workshop is meant to give instructors confidence and impart strategies for students to be able to unpack poems, the perfect literary form to unlock the power of words.

 

Workshop #2: Dr. Beth McCoy

Early Black Poetry: Together we will read the first poem composed by an African-American artist. This workshop will think about identity in relation to artistic production, especially as it relates to American history, racial identity, gender, and what counts as "literature."

 

Workshop #3: Dr. Gillian Paku

Letters as Literature: The instructor of this workshops is a specialist in 18th-century British literature. In this workshop participants will tackle the espistolary mode and how literature written in the form of letters reveals how an apparently private genre constructs the social power of the written voice.

 

Workshop #4: Prof. Sonya Bilocerkowycz

Creative Nonfiction: For those teachers who are interested in assigning more assessments that take the form of creative writing. In this writing workshop, we'll analyze the components of a dramatic dialogue scene and consider how personal essayists make meaning out of memory. Participants will draft their own creative nonfiction scenes and explore some generative writing approaches to use with students.

 

For more information about English Teachers' Day, please visit: https://www.geneseo.edu/english/professional-development-teachers

For questions about English Teachers' Day, please contact: Dr. Alice Rutkowski at rutkowsk@geneseo.edu

Cost of registration covers breakfast and lunch.

If paying by invoice, please make checks payable to SUNY Geneseo and send payment to:

Mary Jepson
SUNY Geneseo
1 College Circle
Erwin Hall 217D
Geneseo, NY 14454 

SUNY Geneseo is recognized by the New York State Education Department's Office of Teaching Initiatives as an approved sponsor of CTLE for Professional Classroom Teachers, School Leaders and Level III Teaching Assistants.