2018 Conference

Pre-Conference Institute presented by Andrea Honigsfeld, Ed.D. and Maria G. Dove, Ed.D. 

MATSOL Session

Promising Practices in Instruction

General

None

Pre-Conference Institute presented by Dr. Li-Rong Lilly Cheng

MATSOL Session

Promising Practices in Instruction

General

None

Pre-Conference Institute presented by Dr. Annela Teemant

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

General

None

This informational presentation will introduce various engagement opportunities that the Boston Public Schools Office of English Learners offers for English Learner families, and provide participants with strategies the presenters have found to be effective in engaging EL parents as active participants in their child’s education.   

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

The Massachusetts Model Curriculum Units (MCUs) provide a reference point for creating purposeful, language-focused lessons.  How can districts build on these resources to map a year of instruction which addresses all content areas and allows for vertical and horizontal alignment?  This session provides ideas and tools to support curriculum writing.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Standards Implementation

General PK-12

High School (9-12)

Participants will investigate strategies to develop comprehension and vocabulary at all proficiency levels by integrating language learning with key content area concepts. Students face pressure to acquire English fluency at a rapid pace and to gain proficiency in content-area learning.   Ways to scaffold comprehension using standards-based topics will be examined.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General PK-12

Middle School (6-8)

Ever wonder how learning in two languages can promote student academic achievement and enhance language proficiency in both? Through unit and lesson design, instructional strategies, and student work samples, we invite you to explore native language integration in Spanish-English two-way immersion learning demonstrated by the Dual Language Programs at BPS.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

Is ESL a small but growing program in your district?  Are you wondering how to raise awareness about ELs in your school?  We will share how, in the role of ESL teacher, we have advocated for changes to support ELs and strengthened relationships with colleagues at the same time.

Panel Presentation (45 minutes)

Policy and Advocacy

General PK-12

None

More than 30% of First Language Not English (FLNE) students drop out before graduation.  Improving language skills faster is key to improving the overall success rates. The Global Scale of English is the first global scale to help teachers understand, motivate, and improve the outcomes of FLNE students.

Exhibitor Session

Standards Implementation

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

This session will provide early childhood teachers with concrete teaching strategies for early literacy skills.  These techniques are best suited for Level 1 and 2 learners.Teachers will get to view hands-on activities (talking box, poem folder...) created to boost oral language and build confidence in the classroom.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Early Childhood

None

Drive the interactive MA Progression Chart tool aligned to the 2017 MA math framework to answer: what numeracy skills should be assessed for SLIFEs at different grades? Are my district’s SLIFE numeracy assessments aligned to grade level standards? See an assessment that works in the absence of a common language.

Invited Speaker

Specific Populations

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

This informational presentation for school leaders and SEI teachers shares a professional development framework to maximize collaboration between ESL and SCI teachers. This PD framework fosters SEI teacher collaboration through developing a common metalanguage borrowed from functional language analysis (FLA), common use of the close reading and language analysis techniques.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Professional Development/Teacher Education

General PK-12

None

Two university bridge program instructors discuss how they have adapted the traditional academic poster session to meet the linguistic and academic preparation goals of their respective courses. The discussion focuses on expanding the traditional uses of poster session to an environment where students are presenters, participants, and evaluators.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Listening, Speaking & Pronunciation

College/University ESL

Private Language Institute

How can we prepare our ELL students for the 1:1 classroom and the digital world? This session will give tips and strategies to leverage technology, apps, and the internet to help our students better understand their classes and the world around them.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Media and Technology

General (all contexts)

None

Learn how to use LAS Links to assess English language proficiency and academic language of your ELs (PreK-12). Explore how states/districts measure listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills as well as content strands. Empower educators with powerful data to inform instruction and help districts reach ESSA goals. *Also recommended for Seal of Biliteracy (English-Spanish)*

Exhibitor Session

Promising Practices in Instruction

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

Feeling pressure to teach those ever important critical thinking skills? Unsure how that even looks when working with so many English proficiency levels? This session will explore several easy instructional tweaks to incorporate critical thinking into the classroom.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

This presentation demonstrates how teaching academic English-Spanish cognate vocabulary to Latino English language learners helps them develop bilingual and bi-literacy skills, and enhance academic achievement across the curriculum. Through cognates, students transfer and transform first language knowledge stored in their memories to the learning of English. Classroom activities are provided.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

The Language Opportunities for Our Kids (LOOK) Act was signed by Governor Baker on November 22, 2017.  With this new law there are implications for both the DESE and for districts. This presentation aims to summarize those implications from DESE's perspective.

Invited Speaker

Policy and Advocacy

General (all contexts)

None

Instructors are often concerned when students are quiet - especially during activities and class discussions. This session will present insights from students, discuss cultural challenges and expectations, and also provide practical strategies to increase participation, improve the classroom atmosphere, and support ESL students by decreasing their anxiety about speaking in class. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

College/University ESL

General (all contexts)

Purposes for language use drive curriculum and instruction for English language learners. Looking from an assets-based perspective, we examine classroom routines across content areas through four key uses of academic language to gain insight into how language development unfolds in conjunction with content learning. Video clips illustrate teachers’ curriculum enactment.

Invited Speaker

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

None

This session will target ways to develop academic content vocabulary, increase comprehension, and accelerate learning while addressing the needs of students a variety of language levels and reading levels.  Emphasis will focus on empowering students to become confident readers and writers as they achieve success in grade level standards.  

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Elementary School (PK-5)

General PK-12

This session will be introducing an ongoing longitudinal study, focusing on the importance of science inquiry and project-based learning for academic language and identity development of middle school English language learners (ELL). Adopting social positioning theory, we try to explore the affordance and limitations of the learning environment (including curriculum) in which ELL will be repositioned as cognitively resourceful rather than language-deficient, and then examine how the repositioning would foster their academic language learning and science identity development.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

Middle School (6-8)

General PK-12

The establishment of a student-centered classroom where ELs work collaboratively at their own pace begins with the activity guide, the “pedagogy on a page” that frees the teacher to offer targeted guidance to the neediest students.  Take the first steps towards learning activity guide design in this interactive workshop. 

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General (all contexts)

High School (9-12)

Approximately 20% of children under 18 living in poverty in MA are ELs. Participants will understand key concepts related to the education of students living in poverty, including the effects of chronic poverty that compel an urgency to intervene. Research-based strategies for school and classroom intervention will be provided. 

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Specific Populations

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

Schools need to validate and accommodate marginalized families and their children. In the process, schools need to also shift their understanding and interactions with immigrant families, and go beyond a deficit mindset. One such approach is for educators to design workshops where families learn how to navigate the school system.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

This practice-oriented presentation focuses on how a culturally responsive arts-infused curriculum is being used in public elementary school classrooms with 3rd, 4th and 5th grade ELLs to improve English Language Development, as well as to build culturally responsive skills among students. Lesson plans will be modeled with and for participants.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

Elementary School (PK-5)

Teacher Education Program

Ells need to see themselves in what they are reading and writing. This session provides inspirational ideas of designing literacy projects supporting individual learners’ recognition and expression of their own identities. Concrete students cases and class projects will be presentated and discussed. You leave with practical classroom activities.

Panel Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

High School (9-12)

Middle School (6-8)

This session will introduce participants to an evolving SLIFE program at the Fuller Middle School in Framingham, MA.  The components will include, program structure, team collaboration, intake procedures and effective instructional practices. The presentation will give districts  a view of an evolving SLIFE program.

Discussion (45 minutes)

Specific Populations

General PK-12

Middle School (6-8)

Looking to enhance your newcomer program? Learn how one school matches staff and student peer leaders with newcomers to ease their adjustment.  The program also provides outreach to families. The ELL teachers and family members will share their experiences with this successful program!

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Specific Populations

General PK-12

Elementary School (PK-5)

Writing academically is a necessary skill required to survive the rigors of university in America. Preparing ESL/ELL students requires teachers to bridge the gap between culture and language. However, there is a continuous disconnect between what we teach versus how they perceive it, often leaving students confused and frustrated.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

Private Language Institute

College/University ESL

The researcher discusses the research outcomes for a study that explored the Impact of the RETELL initiative on the English Language Acquisition of ELs in Massachusetts as measured by the ACCESS test. Is the RETELL initiative actually responding to the needs of EL students that we are attempting to help?

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Policy and Advocacy

General PK-12

Teacher Education Program

Participants will become familiar with Lingt, an online program developed to give langauge teachers the ability to create authentic language assignments and assessments. This presentation will walk participants through the rationale for integrating online speaking and listening assesments in the classroom, and will provide step-by-step guidance in assessment creation.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Listening, Speaking & Pronunciation

General (all contexts)

High School (9-12)

MATSOL Session

Promising Practices in Instruction

General

None

Are you struggling to increase student talk? This session will provide a step-by-step process for integrating concrete strategies and practices (for both ELA and STEM) into whole-group discussions, and small-group collaborations.  The emphasis will be on creating a cooperative and respectful environment, and providing access for all students.  

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

Elementary School (PK-5)

General PK-12

If academic discourse is difficult for Els/SLIFE students, then academic writing poses an even higher challenge.  This session aims to demonstrate strategies that enable SLIFE/ELs to engage in effective and competent written formal discourse. Specific attention will be given to developing higher order quality writing, synthesis skills, and building confidence.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

This presentation will demonstrate how a pathways course facilitates international students’ integration in American academic community.  Course tasks are designed to raise learners' awareness of textual features used in graduate school genres. Students' academic and language learner identity become tranformed as they conduct research and participate in Student Research conference.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

College/University ESL

College/University ESL

My Muslim Student explores the realities of working with Muslim students by contextualizing our politically charged environment and centering identity-based learning of the Muslim community. The training will provide a safe space to ask questions about Islam, Muslims, specific scenarios you may encounter in your work as an educator.

Invited Speaker

Family, Community & Culture

General (all contexts)

None

On November 22, 2017 Massachusetts Governor signed the "LOOK" bill with the Seal of Biliteracy which recognizes graduates who speak, read, and write proficiently in another language in addition to English with a seal on their high school diploma.In addition to the Seal of Biliteracy that marks attainment of high level mastery or two or more languages, schools and districts may also institute Bilingual Pathway Awards, recognizing significant steps towards developing biliteracy along a student’s trajectory from preschool into high school. In  this session particpants will be introduced to the MA Seal of Biliteracy Guidlines.There will be many tools and resources available.

Invited Speaker

Standards Implementation

General (all contexts)

General (all contexts)

Using ACCESS 2.0 scores and WIDA Can Do Descriptors, this session will help you select appropriate SEI strategies to create comprehensible lessons for English language learners. It will also provide you with a way to document these strategies to meet the DESE Teacher Rubric Standard II: Teaching All Students.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Standards Implementation

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

This case study of a newcomer academy in Lawrence presents a process that utilizes formative assessment results and data inquiry cycles to improve teaching and learning, and strategically promote language development.  Throughout the process, teachers collaborate to analyze data, prioritize student needs, and develop concrete strategies to address those needs.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Standards Implementation

High School (9-12)

General PK-12

Presenters will demonstrate routines for supporting elementary-aged English learners at the beginning proficiency level as they begin to develop their writing skills. Attendees will participate in a demonstration and discuss adapting the activities for different proficiency levels. They will receive sample materials to use in their classrooms.

Exhibitor Session

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Elementary School (PK-5)

General PK-12

This session will present an instructional framework to increase the accessibility of grade-level, rigorous science curriculum for entering level ELLs. Maintaining the rigor level of instruction while supporting students in content-specific classes is essential for an inclusive and equitable learning community.  

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

High School (9-12)

General (all contexts)

Experience several easily-implementable song-based activities in a high energy workshop! Participants will engage in various song-based tasks; they will guess, sing, compete and analyze. Scaffolding for task design will be integrated into the session and a resource pack with all materials and references will be made available to participants.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

High School (9-12)

College/University ESL

Panelists from teacher preparation programs, PK-12 Districts, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education share practices and insights as well as concerns about continuing to build the capacity of all teachers to teach English Learners. Time will be reserved to allow attendees to share practices, insights, and concerns. 

Invited Speaker

Professional Development/Teacher Education

General (all contexts)

General (all contexts)

Presenters will share classroom examples of elementary and middle school students engaging in scientific discourse, while using the Science and Engineering Practice: Can I...Did I...statements developed by the BPS Science Department and teachers. Participants will receive a set of the K-12 Can I...Did I… statements to take back to their classrooms.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

Elementary School (PK-5)

Middle School (6-8)

Research findings demonstrate that K-12 teachers have challenges creating effective language objectives, emphasizing specific language demands of lessons (Baecher, Farnsworth & Ediger, 2014). Presenters will discuss their document analysis research, examining language objectives in lesson plans created by graduate students in SEI courses. Recommendations for improving language objectives will be shared.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

In this presentation I will show the process and results of 6 months of a Latin American Literature Workshop for Latina Teenagers. The audience will embark on a journey that redefines what it is to be a Latina in 2017 and how Latinas are reading female authors in Spanish. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General (all contexts)

None

During project based learning and group activities, ESL students often struggle to voice their thoughts within a group of American students. This session will present insights from both ESL and American students and provide strategies on how to improve group dynamics, encourage effective collaboration, and enhance our students' experiences.  

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

College/University ESL

General (all contexts)

One’s pace or mastery of second language acquisition can depend on different circumstances, most important of which is the learner’s literacy skills in his/her first language and the amount of exposure to literacy in the second language.This study will examine the relationships between one's native language and the second language.

Panel Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

High School (9-12)

Middle School (6-8)

A teacher educator and three teacher candidates will explain and discuss a method for analyzing the language demand of classroom assessments. Participants will then be guided through the process of analyzing an assessment and designing appropriate supports for ELs at varying WIDA proficiency levels.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Professional Development/Teacher Education

Teacher Education Program

General PK-12

Learn how a cross-section of SEI classrooms in Massachusetts embraces its increasing ELL population by helping content and ESL teachers partner for student success.  In Confianza’s third year of supporting districts and individual educators, we have some exciting case studies where educators deepen academic language instruction through sheltered content instruction.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

None

This session will provide participants with an overview of federal and state laws related to English learners with disabilities. Participants will have an opportunity to share successful practices and work in solution-seeking teams to address current challenges.

Invited Speaker

Specific Populations

General PK-12

None

Flipped learning continues to attract significant attention.  In this presentation, I will define flipped learning, briefly discuss its evolution in the field of TESOL, and describe how instructors can begin flipping their academic reading and writing classes right away.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

College/University ESL

None

For multilingual learners to have choice and voice in assessment, they must have agency along with opportunities to be actively engaged in learning. In this session, we examine how to bring greater equity and balance to assessment by accentuating assessment as learning that supports student identity and participation.

Invited Speaker

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

None

Designing an effective program for Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) can be an enormous undertaking for many administrators, especially in the era of the Common Core Standards. This session aims to present a program model that has proven to be successful with SLIFE at the secondary level.

Panel Presentation (45 minutes)

Specific Populations

High School (9-12)

General PK-12

Complex sentences are essential for reading and writing about science. I present a quick summary of the frequency of complex sentences in the science MCAS and grade level science texts, and several planning and teaching strategies to help ELL students start working with complex sentences in the science classroom. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

High School (9-12)

Middle School (6-8)

Gain an awareness of the educational and social contexts of your Chinese, Indian, Korean, and Japanese students. Learn how their cultural experiences and perspectives impact their learning, how to integrate these populations of students into your classroom, and to support them and their families in more culturally sensitive ways.

Discussion (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

General (all contexts)

None

Integrating the Six Principles of Effective Pedagogy with the Eight Standards of Mathematical Practice is something we can all do to improve students' achievement in mathematics and across other content areas. Participants will dig deeper into the crosswalk by making explicit connections between the principles and practices through unpacking.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Standards Implementation

General PK-12

General PK-12

This highly interactive session presents, discusses and demonstrates the most successful strategies, tools, and techniques for teaching pronunciation to adult English language learners. Adult learners fear not being able to say words correctly in English. Attendees will be able transform their pronunciation teaching immediately with fun, engaging and memorable methods.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Listening, Speaking & Pronunciation

Adult or Workplace Education

General (all contexts)

Professional development for educators is most effective when teachers apply what they learn in their classrooms. See how one professional development center's blended learning approach supports ESOL teachers as they move from face-to-face workshops, through online discussions and follow-up webinars, to the application of learning to their teaching practice.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Professional Development/Teacher Education

Teacher Education Program

Adult or Workplace Education

In this practice-oriented workshop, teachers will learn how to use literacy assessments to make individual literacy plans that target instruction for English learners.  They will also be provided with a sample district assessment system that uses aggregate data to make decisions about the literacy issues confronting local districts. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General (all contexts)

None

With the increased emphasis on oral language and academic discourse, ELLs need meaningful opportunities to practice speaking with real connections to the deep learning they are doing.  In this session, presenters and students will share a thematic approach to teaching ELD that incorporates authentic speaking assessments through projects.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Listening, Speaking & Pronunciation

Elementary School (PK-5)

None

Learn about NGO Soccer Without Borders’ innovative and highly effective language-integrated soccer programming wherein the soccer field is transformed into an informal classroom where newcomer ELs practice speaking and listening, learn new vocabulary, and build their confidence around English use. This innovation is applicable to other sports, gym classes, and activities.

Invited Speaker

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

Exlore a model unit where ELL students in Boston engaged in scientific argumentation and share their innovative solutions to an authentic audience. Then, create your own action plan with the help of resources and exemplars. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

Tired of “recreating the wheel” when planning curriculum? This session introduces a simple, free website for teachers to share Model Curriculum Units (MCUs) statewide. Panel members will demonstrate how to access and submit MCUs on the site. An overview of three teacher-created units for grades K-8 will also be presented.

Panel Presentation (45 minutes)

Standards Implementation

General PK-12

None

High level ELL students at Revere High School requested independent studies  with a lead teacher during their senior year. Students created their own capstone curriculum within an area of interest. However, this morphed to incoporate a component of giving back to the ELL program by tutoring lower level ELL students. 

Panel Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

High School (9-12)

Adult or Workplace Education

Session's aim: Facilitating participants to create their own stories to polish oral and listening skills. Subsequently, participants in groups create stories for sharing.  

Presenter provides cues towards character, settings, story context that groups develop, giving them 'ownership'. At a critical point, presenter stops. Groups write their solutions/end of the story. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General (all contexts)

None

A discussion of the over-identification of English learners as having disabilities is explored and practical tools developed by teachers, for teachers are offered for addressing this in schools and with teacher teams. 

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Specific Populations

General PK-12

None

This interactive workshop is designed to introduce participants number of Culturally and Linguistically Sustainable Practices that the Boston Public Schools has been engaging with EL families. Participants will be able to review cases together and share their finding with the whole group.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

General (all contexts)

None

This session proposes that teachers embrace cell phones and harness their power to promote English language learning. Two speakers will review research on mobile-assisted language learning and its benefits and present the case study of a teacher who used a musical mobile app to work with EFL students.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Media and Technology

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

This session will share the history of Worcester's ESOL Network, a unique collaboration among adult ESOL providers and adult English learners. It will also share some of the Network's specific initiatives, including the establishment of an ESOL System Navigator and the development of a commong language for class levels.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

Adult or Workplace Education

None

New approaches to listening address two challenges: parsing connected speech; understanding the discourse functions of intonation. Textbooks bypass listening instruction, focusing instead on teaching note-taking. However, a necessary pre-requisite is ability to process aural input. Practical tips are offered for helping learners process input for message content and intended meaning.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Listening, Speaking & Pronunciation

College/University ESL

None

Brief updates from the Massachusetts Office of English Learner Acquisition and Academic Achievement on the development of SEI Programmatic Guidance, new and continuing resources from the Next Generation ESL MCU Project, professional development opportunities, and news about the WIDA Standards Framework.

Invited Speaker

Program Administration

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

Elementary public schools use formative and standardized reading assessments that require oral English skills that ELLs have not yet acquired. This session presents a matrix of oral and listening skills needed for typical elementary reading assessments aligned to WIDA Standards. Suggested oral activities to enhance reading skills will be presented.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Elementary School (PK-5)

General PK-12

Academic discourse does not come easily to most students, especially Els and SLIFE students who struggle with language.  This session aims to demonstrate effective strategies that enable SLIFE and beginner ELs to engage in competent discourse. Specific attention will be given to developing literacy skills and building confidence.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

During a time when political tensions run high, teachers have an imperative role in educating and raising a generation that liberates instead of perpetuating systemic oppression. As ESL Teachers, working with immigrant populations, we will explore how teachers can be empowered to advocate for their students and their communitites. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Professional Development/Teacher Education

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Elementary School (PK-5)

General PK-12

Need exciting material that will make learners look forward to reading?  Samantha is a romantic soap opera that is high interest, develops vocabulary, and stimulates discussion on moral, social, and cross cultural issues. Participants will review a chapter and discuss how to use this material in the classroom.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Adult or Workplace Education

Private Language Institute

What's working, what's not working? Participants will reflect upon the components of their ESL programs and will take away ideas from fellow participants to influence a change in their ESL program.  

Discussion (45 minutes)

Program Administration

General PK-12

None

In conjunction with the DESE Next Generation ESL Project, Lawrence Public Schools developed a five-year implementation plan to meet the goal of creating a cohesive model ESL curriculum across its schools. This session will explore the implementation plan that includes pilots, curriculum writing teams, unit reviews and professional development workshops.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

General PK-12

Everyone has a story to tell. During this interactive workshop, unpack the lessons and tools to honor refugees and immigrants through the timeless art of live storytelling. Learn tips for delivering engaging content and how help to help others raise their voices.

Invited Speaker

Promising Practices in Instruction

General (all contexts)

None

Our youngest students have the unique chance to become native or near-native users of English. During this critical period of development, extended, low-stress participation in conversation in an array of contexts drives the expansion of linguistic capabilities. Circle-ELD provides ELs the focused language development they need to achieve linguistic parity.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

Elementary School (PK-5)

Early Childhood

Teaching is inextricably linked to social justice and as such, an anti-bias framework should guide educators’ classroom planning. This workshop presents an overview of the Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards. Participants will leave with tools and resources for engaging in social justice pedagogy in their own unit and lesson planning.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General PK-12

Teacher Education Program

The Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) will demonstrate how to engage families of diverse backgrounds as partners to promote positive achievement outcomes. PIQE will share its research based approach and best practices, and their framework of support to districts, such as Worcester Public Schools to enhance parent engagement.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

During this presentation, participants will learn how to explicitly teach writing strategies to English Learners and struggling students. With the use of visual aid and hand gestures, participants will be exposed to a foundation in which students can build upon. Through diagramming sentences  with symbols participants will be exposed to techniques in teaching sentence structure. In addition, participants will learn how to use these writing strategies and apply them to reading comprehension.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General PK-12

None

This session will highlight reading and writing strategies used in teaching Beginner 1 (SLIFE/Entering) and Beginner 2 (Emerging) students at the high school level. Educators will be exposed to, and work with, some reading materials and various strategies that we use in our classes to assist students' progress and success. 

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

The five-paragraph essay is the fundamental form for academic writing.  Most textbooks that purport to teach writing skills are densely packed with terminology that is inaccessible to beginning and struggling writers.  This paper offers a student-friendly starting point and organizational template for beginning and struggling writers to experience immediate success.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Adult or Workplace Education

General (all contexts)

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore the Collaboration Tool from the Next Generation ESL Project.  This tool is a "multi-layered, multi-use resource" which is invaluable for all ESL and content area teachers as they focus on promoting higher order thinking skills as well as academic language development.  

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Professional Development/Teacher Education

Teacher Education Program

General PK-12

Accessing informational texts can be an insurmountable obstacle for Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) who often lack prior exposure to this genre. This session aims to demonstrate easy-to-implement strategies that have proven to be effective with SLIFE at the secondary level.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

High School (9-12)

Dialogic talk, in which students are engaged in authentic, extended discourse where meaning is co-constructed and conceptual understanding is incrementally built, is an important aspect of ELD instruction. In this study, I examine how an inquiry-based science unit supported dialogic talk in a Kindergarten ELD classroom.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

General PK-12

Elementary School (PK-5)

Museums are sites where English Learners learn content and language in a formal context outside their PK-12 classrooms. This session describes the experiences of pre-service elementary education teachers who completed their MA DESE required Sheltered English Instruction class in an industrial history museum, implementing SEI strategies with field trip visitors.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

Elementary School (PK-5)

Middle School (6-8)

Come and experience Panorama Science, a new K-6, supplementary program focused on Close Reading for ELs. The methodology is to differentiate instruction - but not reading level. The goal is to assist all students to access text at grade level through specialized strategies. Fiction and nonfiction titles chosen are 100% aligned to the NGSS. This will be an interactive session so that teachers can experience these strategies.

Exhibitor Session

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Elementary School (PK-5)

None

The usage of technologies through a Universal Design for Learning lens to provide access into various mathematics concepts is explored in this workshop through the medium of teacher-created stories. Specific strategies for diverse learners, including English learners and students with other learning differences, will be addressed.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

This session connects Zwier’s work on Constructive Conversations for intermediate-to-advanced upper elementary and middle school ELL students to academic vocabulary and writing development practices. Strategies to guide academic speaking opportunties through the linked use of anticipation guides and paragraph frames with both fiction or nonfiction will be presented.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General PK-12

None

This presentation will highlight current data on ELs including demographics, achievement, and trends. This will be followed up with updates on current and future projects from OELAAA including all things RETELL, WIDA, Title III and other topics.

Invited Speaker

Policy and Advocacy

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

This session considers three current teaching strategies that explicitly develop language for students in bilingual and dual language programs.  The strategies Academic Conversations (Jeff Zwiers), Bridging (Teaching for Biliteracy) and Asi se dice (Literacy Squared), help teachers develop students' metacognitive awareness of language.  For DL and TBE teachers, not SEI.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

Elementary School (PK-5)

None

Do your ELs struggle to be successful in core content classes? This session shares how one school addressed this challenge successfully through the creation of Academic Seminar, a course designed to advance the achievement of ELs in core content classes with goal setting and tailored guidance through structured academic time.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

High School (9-12)

Middle School (6-8)

Workshop attendees examine the criteria by which L2 writing instructors make principled choices concerning classroom activities involving Academic Writing (AW). Strategies are provided for assessing, choosing, and sequencing AW classroom activities. Attendees analyze four classroom techniques in light of pedagogical theories including CLT, SCT, and scaffolding.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

College/University ESL

Private Language Institute

This paper investigates how a bilingual teacher constructs an identity of a critical educator in an ESL classroom. The data for the study include interviews and fieldnotes. The study concludes with pedagogical implications on how teachers’ identities influence their selection of course materials.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

High School (9-12)

None

Academic conversations develop listening and speaking skills among students of all ages. Join us to see how we have adapted this approach to bridge home and school. Through videos and transcripts of conversations, explore how diverse students improved the quality of interactions through academic conversations at school and at home.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

Elementary School (PK-5)

General PK-12

This presentation reports on a study recruiting native-speaking undergraduates at a large research university as pronunciation tutors for non-native speaking peers. Though the tutors were TESOL novices, with online training, role-plays, and observations they were able to teach key suprasegmental concepts and even learn to provide useful, structured corrective feedback.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Listening, Speaking & Pronunciation

Private Language Institute

College/University ESL

In this hands-on workshop, participants will examine ways to support ELL’s language development through expert literacy instruction in the content areas. Participants will review the benefits of such integration, establish consensus regarding instructional components necessary for student success, and experience a sample lesson from an inquiry-based, thematic research unit.

Exhibitor Session

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General PK-12

None

Despite various definitions of academic language, there is agreement that English learners (ELs) need it to demonstrate content proficiency on high-stakes assessments. A textual analysis of the June 2012 Biology MCAS multiple choice questions yielded seven linguistic elements. This study explored EL performance across low-medium-high levels of item linguistic complexity.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

High School (9-12)

General (all contexts)

This presentation aims to engage its audience in a critical discussion on the barriers for high school ELs to equitable access to post-secondary , particularly for rural contexts. Suggestions and recommendations for practicals strategies to advocate for students and assist their ability to perform on English only assessments.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

High School (9-12)

General PK-12

Tiered monitoring will begin with the self-assessments that are submitted in the spring of 2018. This presentation will provide information regarding the new approach for ELE compliance.

Invited Speaker

Policy & Advocacy

General PK-12

None

In this session, participants will learn about how to turn print books into digital books using two techniques/tools in PowerPoint and discuss some of the benefits and ways to implement as a tool to support all students. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Media and Technology

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

This session will examine the unique needs of English learners and students with disabilities and how teachers can better incorporate effective instructional strategies into their lessons.  Participants will learn how target specific language and learning needs by collaboratively tuning and planning lessons using a suite of protocols.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Specific Populations

General PK-12

None

The purpose of this session is to reflect upon what is means to be an interculturally competent school community. Following the discussion, educators will have the opportunity to brainstorm how to use community stakeholders and families as resources in order to develop a culturally responsive lesson/ unit or school-wide activity.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

Classroom discussions are co-constructed by teachers and students, and play a role in the creation of a student's worldview. Drawing on literature from critical pedagogy, this research explores how an ESL teacher frames classroom discussions, and how these discussions help students to become critical readers of the world.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

This session will address the options for professional growth and development for ESL teachers, with the goal of expanding attendees’ conception of what is possible.

Discussion (45 minutes)

Professional Development/Teacher Education

Private Language Institute

General (all contexts)

The newly established Seal of Biliteracy award celebrates and recognizes our students who work to become bilingual and biliterate in Massachusetts.  Instructional coaches from Framingham, MA will share their reflections on implementation and the nuts and bolts that went into piloting the Pathway Award over the last four years.

Invited Speaker

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

None

What does it mean to come to the U.S. today as international students, marked as “other” by visa status (always), accent (often), and skin color (sometimes)? How do these students understand and critique race-related issues? By analyzing students’ writing, key themes emerge, which may help others working with international students.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

College/University ESL

Private Language Institute

How do we prepare students to transition to an increasingly online assessment environment? Learn how teachers incorporate technology tools to meet language objectives while providing supportive practice for online assessments.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Media and Technology

General PK-12

General PK-12

TESOL coursework and workshops provided to content and general education teachers produces efficacy and positive attitudinal shifts in working with English learners.  Analysis of survey and artifact data from 60 participants in a 2012-2017 NPD grant offer three suggestions for replication of gains and overcoming challenges via collaboration between teachers.

Discussion (45 minutes)

Professional Development/Teacher Education

Teacher Education Program

None

Learner Profiles bring sharp focus to the ESL student as an individual--they provide information for effective differentiation, bridge school and home, and improve an organization’s cultural competence.  Learn about the powerful impact profiles can have, and how to write them effectively.  Participants will receive instructions and resources for getting started.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General (all contexts)

None

In this session, members of the MATSOL Community College Faculty Network will facilitate a discussion of topics relevant to Massachusetts community college ESL programs. Topics include: ESL services and resources at our colleges; changes to curriculum, levels, or awarding of credit; advocating for ESL students and faculty; and the future of community college ESL in Massachusetts. Anyone interested in community college or related higher education issues is welcome!

MATSOL Session

Policy and Advocacy

College/University ESL

None

Students develop their writing identity in a culturally diverse context, learning to write for a variety of purposes and audiences.  In this session we highlight a genre-based approach and show ways to use cooperative structures to engage in conversation, partner work and self-reflection in preparation to write.  

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Elementary School (PK-5)

General (all contexts)

New England Arts for Literacy Project is a dynamic initiative that provides teachers with tools like The Performance Cycle framework. The framework engages students by building a classroom community of learners centered on meaningful text. ESL teachers connect literacy and arts creating a positive climate and high quality arts-integrated units.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General PK-12

None

Our work builds upon the work of Exploring Computer Science in Los Angeles Unified School District to ensure that ELLs can access and meaningfully engage in computer science. The authors have modified the existing ECS curriculum to include highly effective teaching strategies for ELLs. 

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

In the ed reform movement, we do not ask students often enough what they believe are the most important elements of an excellent public education. Two EL educators share an inquiry based process of highlighting student voices to guide and inform a district-wide reform effort for EL instruction.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Policy and Advocacy

General PK-12

General PK-12

In this practice-oriented session, an ESL teacher and a TESOL professor explain the use of video projects to track student progress of academic language use and the meaningful integration of these projects into K-12 ESL classes.  Attendees will learn how to use iMovie and Do-ink for their own video projects.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

Teacher Education Program

The Language Opportunities for Our Kids (LOOK) Act was signed by Governor Baker on November 22, 2017.  With this new law there are implications for both the DESE and for districts. This presentation aims to summarize those implications from DESE's perspective.

Invited Speaker

Policy & Advocacy

General PK-12

None

What happens when teachers meet parents in their homes to partner in fulfilling the family’s hopes and dreams for their child? Learn how the Parent Teacher Home Visits model is being implemented in Framingham Public Schools and receive resources and ideas for starting this program in your own district.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Family, Community & Culture

General (all contexts)

None

This case study examined how one English Language Teacher (ELT) explored Strategy-Based Metacognitive Instruction (SBMI) for teaching academic, process-based listening in a university-based Intensive English Program (IEP). Analysis of SBMI techniques taken up and enhanced by the ELT will be presented, and suggestions for further professional development will be made

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Listening, Speaking & Pronunciation

College/University ESL

College/University ESL

Two studies demonstrated increased literacy skills for adult struggling readers who were taught to link root and base words to root-related complex words. In the randomized pilot study, 16 adults from bilingual and monolingual backgrounds learned to apply morphological problem-solving to link root words, like PHIL, to their derived forms, like ANGLOPHILE. In the randomized control trial, 34 adults, also from bilingual and monolingual backgrounds, learned to link base words, like LIGHT, to their derived forms, like ENLIGHTENMENT. Both the pilot study and the full RCT showed greater word reading skills after instruction in morphological awareness than after traditional instruction. 

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

Adult or Workplace Education

Adult or Workplace Education

MATSOL Session

Promising Practices in Instruction

General

None

Advocacy is a key component of supporting multilingual learners within educational institutions. This presentation will address ways to raise awareness among educators and staff of best practices for instructing and supporting multilingual students. Participants will explore ideas for developing materials and initiating dialogues around linguistic and cultural inclusivity.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Policy and Advocacy

General (all contexts)

General (all contexts)

Dreaming of fewer photocopies, automated grading, and increased student efficacy? This presentation outlines specific benefits for English language learners when utilizing Learning Management Systems (LMS). This presentation reviews high school, higher education, and private language school adoption of LMS. Participants then create an action plan for implementation in their program.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Media and Technology

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

As increasing numbers of English Learners (ELs) attend community colleges, the effect of ESL programs on student attainment remains mixed.  This presentation highlights the recent literature on community college EL student access, persistence, graduation, and transfer to four-year universities, including implications for teachers, researchers, and administrators.

Research-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Specific Populations

College/University ESL

High School (9-12)

In September 2017, Boston Public Schools launched the first Haitian Creole Dual Language Program in New England. In this panel discussion, we hope to share our expereince in this exciting venture among district leadership, classroom educators, community partners, and academia. We look forward to exchanging ideas with you.

Panel Presentation (45 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

The audience will gain knowledge of the scope and sequence of a one-year SLIFE math program and the rationale behind the choices within the curriculum. Presenters will focus on curriculum priorities, student grouping, and the incorporation of first and second language in the classroom.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Academic Language in the Content Areas

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)

The goals of this workshop are to understand undocumented people’s rights to public education and learn how to support immigrant students and families within the scope of your role such as providing college application support, undertaking school-wide actions to build a more welcoming environment, and creating curriculum and classroom spaces that are affirming of undocumented students and families.

Invited Speaker

Policy and Advocacy

General (all contexts)

None

Learn how you can enhance English language teaching capacity abroad through 10-month paid teaching fellowships designed by U.S. Embassies for experienced U.S. TESOL professionals. As an English Language Fellow, you can provide English language instruction, conduct teacher training, and develop resources. Join us to hear from program staff and alumni.

Exhibitor Session

Professional Development/Teacher Education

Teacher Education Program

Teacher Education Program

Grit, stamina, perserverance....big words for English Learners but important words that can be instrumental in their educational pursuits. Come change your own mindset and see how teaching and fostering a Growth Mindset with ELs can help to push them farther and faster along their path to fluency and academic achievement.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

General PK-12

General (all contexts)

Educators and advocates for emergent bilinguals will discuss the importance of keeping equity at the forefront in the development and implementation of bilingual education and dual language programs, particularly in regard to teacher education and professional development.

Invited Speaker

Professional Development/Teacher Education

General (all contexts)

General PK-12

Participants in this intereactive workshop reexamine the role of ritual in professional relationships to mitigate the influence of disruptive innovation in the Digital Age.  Ultimately, participants will be inspired and empowered to reimagine the classroom as a unique space rife with potential for transformation that transcends both place and time.

Practice-Oriented Presentation (45 minutes)

Reading, Writing & Literacy

General (all contexts)

None

Participants will learn the effects of trauma on the brain and leave with 2-3 strategies to create a trauma sensitive classroom for secondary English Language Learners.

Interactive Workshop (90 minutes)

Promising Practices in Instruction

High School (9-12)

High School (9-12)