Bilingual/ESL Conferences

Breakout Sessions

Here is just a sampling of the sessions that will be available at this year's Bilingual/ESL Conference (subject to change):

Keynote Presentations (learn more about our presenters here)

• Wayne P. Thomas, Ph.D. and Virginia P. Collier, Ph.D.
  • How and Why Dual Language, PK-12, Works for Everyone, most especially English Learners
  • Opportunity for Question and Answers
• Kate Kinsella
  • Evidence-Based Techniques and Tools for Structuring Scholarly Interactions that Engage ALL Students
  • Tools to Launch a Schoolwide High-Utility Academic Vocabulary Campaign

Cultural Awareness

• Critical Literacy and Culturally Responsive Teaching
• The Journey to Responsiveness: Culturally Responsive Teaching is for Everyone

Instruction

• A World of Grammar – ¡Sí, En Español!
• Biliteracy In Motion
• Bridging Languages in the Science and Social Studies Classroom
• Building Relational Capacity through Academic Conversations
• Connecting TELPAS to Daily Instruction and Schoolwide Systems Year-Round
• Co-Teaching in Secondary ESL Classrooms: Best Practices for All Students
• Cantar y hacer señas: El desarollo del lenguaje y alfabetismo
• Effective Writing Strategies to Support English Learners
• Engaging Writing Strategies for ELs (to help with TELPAS and STAAR/EOC)
• Evidence-Based Techniques and Tools for Structuring Scholarly Interactions that Engage ALL Students
• From Compliance To The Classroom
• Increasing Achievement and Graduation Rates for Long-term ELLs
• Music and the Brain: The Benefits of Music in Language Acquisition and Education
• Phonics: Solving the Puzzle
• Student Led Conferences in Secondary
• Student Led Conferences in the Dual Two-Way Language Classroom
• Supporting Rigorous & Relevant Learning for English Learners
• Tic Tac Toe: A STEM Communication Project

Language Development

• Concept Development for English Learners (EL) in the Mathematics Classroom
• Critical Conversations for Secondary ELs
• Foundations of a Two-Way Dual Language Program
• How and Why Dual Language, PK-12, Works for Everyone, most especially English Learners
• Picture This: Visualizing Social Studies Concepts
• The Power of Language Objectives: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking in Science
• Shaping Language Development Through Restorative Circles
• Tools to Launch a Schoolwide High-Utility Academic Vocabulary Campaign
• Using the preLAS and LAS Links to Monitor Students’ Progress Towards Language Proficiency
• Vocabulario Académico: Creando palabras a través de juegos morfológicos

Showcases/Program Design for ESL and Dual Language Programs

• Alief ISD
• Alvin ISD
• Crosby ISD
• Fort Bend ISD
• Klein ISD
• Spring Branch ISD

Newcomers

• Being Plurilingual: The World of Our Indigenous Latinos
• Get Ready! Working with Newcomers in Grades 6-12

Sheltered Instruction

• Formative Language Assessment for English Learners
• Math Vocabulary, Gestures, and Motion
• Online Communities of Practice and the Caregivers of ASD Children
• Science, Vocabulary, Gestures, and Motions
   

Technology and ELs

• Digital Workstations in the Dual Language Classroom
• How Technology Supports ELs to Develop Language
• Using Digital Flash Cards to Enhance ELLs Vocabulary Learning Experiences

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Virginia P. Collier, Ph.D, is Professor Emerita of Bilingual/Multicultural/ESL Education at George Mason University. She is best known for her work with senior researcher Dr. Wayne P. Thomas on school effectiveness for linguistically and culturally diverse students, working with many school districts in all regions of the U.S. over the past 34 years. Spotlighted by the national and international media, their award-winning national research studies have had a substantial impact on school policies throughout the world.A popular speaker, Dr. Collier has given 248 keynote speeches and 511 invited and refereed presentations to international, national, state, and local conferences over the past 39 years. She and Dr. Thomas have conducted educational leadership training for superintendents, principals, and education policy makers in 32 U.S. states and 15 countries.

Drs. Collier and Thomas are authors of five new books that summarize all their research of the past 34 years: Educating English Learners for a Transformed World (2009), Dual Language Education for a Transformed World (2012), Creating Dual Language Schools for a Transformed World: Administrators Speak (2014, with 24 collaborative authors), Why Dual Language Schooling (2017), and Transforming Secondary Education: Middle and High School Dual Language Programs (2018, with 19 collaborative authors). 

Wayne P. Thomas, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Evaluation and Research Methodology in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. His doctorate training and primary professional experience are in program evaluation methodology and social science research methods. His research and publications focus on the evaluation of school effectiveness for linguistically and culturally diverse students and Title I students and the evaluation of educational technology applications. Since 1985, he has collaborated with Dr. Virginia Collier in work on school effectiveness for linguistically and culturally diverse students.

Currently, he is senior author (with Dr. Collier) of the largest studies ever conducted to investigate the long-term school success of English learners. Their award-winning joint research has been utilized by many school systems in the U.S. and abroad to reform the education of linguistically and culturally diverse students and to promote school improvement for both native English speakers and English learners

Kate Kinsella, Ed.D., author of English 3D, is a teacher educator at San Francisco State University, Center for Teacher Efficacy.. Dr. Kinsella provides consultancy to state departments of education throughout the U.S., school districts, and publishers on evidence-based instructional principles and practices to accelerate academic English acquisition for language-minority youths. Her professional development institutes, publications, and instructional programs focus on career and college readiness for English learners, with an emphasis on high-utility vocabulary development, informational text reading, and writing. She is the author of instructional programs to support English learners and under-resourced classmates, including READ 180 Universal, English 3D, and the Academic Vocabulary Toolkit.