Opening Keynote (8:00 – 8:50 a.m.) 

Creating the Conditions for Success for Multilingual Learners 

Beth Skelton, Keynote Speaker 

Educators have the power to create classroom conditions that welcome and nurture Multilingual Learners, no matter their linguistic, educational or experiential background. Discover tools and strategies that create the conditions for our multilingual learners’ academic success. By creating fertile soil for growing language and content in our classrooms, our students can flourish. 

9:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. 

Beginner's AI for EL Educators 

Erin Lawson, EducationPlus 

Engage in demonstrations and hands-on learning showcasing personalized practice, feedback and content creation tools for EL Educators using generative AI tools. 

Coaching for ML Success 

Alla Gonzalez Del Castillo, St. Louis Public Schools 

Explore three coaching models (Cognitive Coaching, Instructional Coaching and coaching emotions) and their use in a variety of EL contexts. Participants will be able to identify ways to leverage EL expertise within their context to build EL capacity of teachers, leaders and staff working with ELs. 

Explicit Direct Instruction Strategies for MLs 

Heather Tuckson, St. Louis Public Schools 

Explore instructional routines for introducing objectives, activating prior knowledge and promoting peer interaction from the book Explicit Direct Instruction for English Learners authored by Hollingsworth and Ybarra. Engage in a brief introduction of each strategy and then have an opportunity for practice and application. 

10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. 

Engineering Equitable Assessments for Experienced Multilinguals 

Beth Skelton, Keynote Speaker 

Experienced multilinguals, students who have been in our schools for 5 or more years, are the largest sub-group of multilingual learners in Grades 5-12. They have the ability to succeed on grade-level classroom assessments and assignments, if teachers attend to their unique linguistic needs. Learn five essential strategies for engineering content assessments so that experienced multilinguals can succeed. 

No Newcomer Left Behind 

Megan Bonacker and Lynsey Buoni, Camdenton R-III School District 

Learn how to navigate education for newcomers in school districts with limited resources and experience. Explore how to pool resources within and outside of the district to create an educational environment where newcomers can thrive. Gain tools to support and build a program specifically focused on newcomers. 

Pick Your 20! Successful Co-Teaching Strategies 

Julie Hernandez and Mallory Bruno-O'Leary, Wright City R-II School District 

Discover effective strategies for supporting EL students of early levels of English proficiency with a focus at the secondary level. Gain practical approaches to enhance content comprehension and foster language development while ensuring student engagement. 

Supporting Multilingual Learners with Discovery Education 

Marissa Geyer, Discovery Education 

Explore ways to support students in strengthening their reading, listening, writing and speaking skills. Whether you are new to using Discovery Education to engage your students or have been using it for years, learn new ways to find, view and save multimodal resources. Discover how to utilize Discovery Education’s (SOS) Instructional Strategies to support your EL students in the classroom. 

Establishing Comprehensible Input for Newcomers 

Beth Skelton, Keynote Speaker 

Newly arrived Multilingual Learners need significant support in mainstream classrooms and making content comprehensible is a critical condition for their academic success. Experience learning content in a new language. The demonstration lesson will model strategies based on three guiding principles for supporting newcomers in grade level content classes. Gain a toolbox of strategies that can be used when teaching newcomers at any grade level. 

How to Motivate MLs to Boost Achievement in the Classroom 

Maysoon Shiaa, Ritenour School District 

ELs come to school with a variety of backgrounds, stories, languages, religions...etc. How can a teacher reach students' hearts and minds to motivate them? Learn strategies and the “story that you sell” to motivate ELs in the classroom.  

Utilizing Culturally Responsive Practices to Foster Independent MLs 

Diana Hsu and Jennifer Riesenmy, Ladue School District 

Utilizing concepts from Zaretta Hammond's teachings, learn how to apply culturally responsive practices to foster the development of independent versus dependent English Learners. 

Supporting Co-Teaching as a Program Leader 

Jess Marty, Hazelwood School District 

Gain valuable insights on effectively championing co-teaching as an instructional model, even if you're not the building principal. Elevate your leadership skills for fostering collaborative and inclusive EL learning environments. 

2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. 

Analyzing Key Data Before SPED Referrals 

Stacey Kastner, Francis Howell School District 

English Learners (ELs) are a diverse group of students who require specialized instruction to support their language development and academic success. There is a concern that ELs are overrepresented in special education referrals, leading to a disproportionate number of ELs being placed in special education programs. It is important to analyze many areas and gather data on ELs before making a special education referral.  Explore the process that should be implemented when student concerns arise and review several areas teams should discuss to determine if the concerns are due to language acquisition or a possible learning disability. 

Building Blocks of Writing: Integrating Writing Instruction into Content Instruction 

Daisy Skelly, Wright R-II School District 

Explicit writing instruction can improve students' reading, speaking and thinking skills. Discover hands-on instructional activities that can be integrated into content classes, focusing on the sentence level. Learn how writing instruction embedded in the content areas is a powerful teaching tool. 

Weaving Home Languages into Instruction and Practice 

Heather LeCureux, Missouri State University 

Through a guided discussion, imagine the future of multilinguals in their sphere of influence and discuss ways to promote a students’ use of their home language. Discover resources of support and collaborate with attendees to generate ideas and make lasting connections. 

Walk and Talk: Podcasts and Professional Learning 

Jonathon Lee, EducationPlus 

Podcasts provide an opportunity to develop professionally on your terms. Explore how the power of the podcast experience can be a very different way to learn. We'll start by choosing a podcast focused on effective instructional strategies for MLs to enjoy while on a nice healthy walk. Then, as a cool down, participants will share their learning, thoughts and ideas with the group. Learn while staying fit and share with a group of like-minded educators around how we can learn and assess differently. Bring EarPods to this session! 

When Words Fail 

Jamie Williams and Amanda Wyatt, Mehlville School District 

Looking through the secondary lens, explore how to support all language levels of Multilingual Learners in various content areas using nonlinguistic representation.