ELevate 2025: Full Schedule

9:00am CDT

How to Embed ML Communication Practices in Daily School Operations

Tuesday June 3, 2025 9:00am - 10:20am CDT

More and more schools are feeling an increasing demand on multilingual family communication systems. Despite the best of intentions, families are often excluded from important information and school relationships, students miss out on critical services, and districts are left legally vulnerable due to gaps in multilingual communication systems and culture. Explore the most common myths and pitfalls schools encounter, as well as how to fix it. Addressing multilingual communication can lead to greater inclusivity, better well-being and academic outcomes for kids, and higher staff morale.

Speakers

Anne Turan

Consultant (former EL Coordinator, former Assistant Principal, former classroom teacher), Together Language

Teacher and leader in literacy and language acquisition (bilingual, Spanish immersion, ESL); founder of "Together, Language", offering workshops, team training, and an accelerator program to help schools achieve federal compliance and stronger school cultures for inclusivity and equity... Read More →

Tuesday June 3, 2025 9:00am - 10:20am CDT
Room 4

Leadership & School Culture

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company Together Language

10:30am CDT

Supporting the Mental Well-Being of ML

Tuesday June 3, 2025 10:30am - 11:20am CDT

Room 4

Drawing fron the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) framework of the eight dimensions of well-being, delve into strategies and practices to support the holistic mental health of MLs and the staff who support the learners.

Speakers

John Converse

Director of Restorative Practices, EducationPlus

John Converse is a restorative practitioner who brings 19 years of educational experience to life in his interactions with others. He has a set of skills that foster belonging and connection through the art of restorative practices. He is a certified trainer with the International... Read More →

Tuesday June 3, 2025 10:30am - 11:20am CDT
Room 4

Leadership & School Culture

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company EducationPlus

12:30pm CDT

Best Practices for Educators Who Work with Interpreters

Tuesday June 3, 2025 12:30pm - 1:20pm CDT

Room 4

Explore the process when attending interpreted meetings with bilingual parents and what to expect from an interpreter. Discover the "rules" for interpreted meetings and what to expect from an interpreter. Learn strategies to develop school staff as interpreters and use external agencies to increase parent satisfaction with school meetings.

Speakers

Rita Brusca-Vega

NAETISL Board Member / Course Coordinator, National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages

Tuesday June 3, 2025 12:30pm - 1:20pm CDT
Room 4

Student & Family Support

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages

1:30pm CDT

Words in Action: Collaborative Writing with Multilingual Learners

Tuesday June 3, 2025 1:30pm - 2:20pm CDT

Room 4

Explore how to practice and model language in a way that is relevant and meaningful for students. Collaborative writing utilizes all four domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing. This instructional method incorporates vocabulary by theme and models conventions of English for all students.

Speakers

Sylvia Steiner

EL Educator, Ritenour

Tuesday June 3, 2025 1:30pm - 2:20pm CDT
Room 4

Instructional Practices for English Learners

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company Ritenour School District

2:30pm CDT

Preparing for the ACCESS Test All Year

Tuesday June 3, 2025 2:30pm - 3:20pm CDT

Room 4

Explore practical ways to prepare students for the annual ACCESS test throughout the school year, beginning with goal setting in August. Tips and tools will be shared for monitoring growth in all 4 domains. These could be used with individual students, small groups or even the whole class (if in a co-teaching environment). Many of the skills needed to take the ACCESS test are applicable to all tests and helping students feel confident in their test-taking abilities can boost proficiency scores.

Speakers

Rob Greenhaw

MELL Instructional Consultant, Education Plus

Rob serves EdPlus members by providing consultation to schools that are working to implement high-quality, comprehensive and collaborative educational programs for English Learners. Rob also conducts professional development workshops that focus on providing practical strategies to... Read More →

Daisy Skelly

EL Educator, Parkway C-2

Tuesday June 3, 2025 2:30pm - 3:20pm CDT
Room 4

Summative and Formative Assessment

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company Parkway School District

10:30am CDT

Collaboration, Counseling and Culture

Wednesday June 4, 2025 10:30am - 11:20am CDT

Room 4

Explore how to collaborate across counseling, social work and classroom settings to meet the needs of our MLs with high trauma. Explore research, and gain resources and strategies to help students feel safe and included in their new school.

Speakers

Suzanne Marsh

EL Educator, St. Charles R-VI

Suzy Marsh has been teaching English Language Development in SCSD at Jefferson Intermediate since 2016. Suzy has focused on creating rhythms of inclusive communication to allow for more participation of minority families. Outside of school, Suzy is the Director of We Love St. Charles... Read More →

Kelly Millian

Wednesday June 4, 2025 10:30am - 11:20am CDT
Room 4

Student & Family Support

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company City of St. Charles School District

12:30pm CDT

Using AI to Accommodate Multilingual speakers

Wednesday June 4, 2025 12:30pm - 1:20pm CDT

Room 4

Learn and test a variety of AI tools that can be used to modify and scaffold content materials for MLs at different levels of language proficiency on their literacy and proficiency-building journeys. Discover how to create modified assignments in different content areas for MLs at various levels along with teaching techniques that can assist MLs in content classrooms.

Speakers

Viktoriia Kisil

ELL Specialist, Cape Girardeau Public School District

This presentation will focus on introducing the ways of using AI as a tool in teaching multilingual learners on different levels of language proficiency. The presenter will introduce and demonstrate how AI can be used to modify and scaffold content materials for English Language Learners... Read More →

Wednesday June 4, 2025 12:30pm - 1:20pm CDT
Room 4

Instructional Practices for English Learners

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company Cape Girardeau Public School District

1:30pm CDT

Empowering MLs through Easy Classroom Strategies

Wednesday June 4, 2025 1:30pm - 2:20pm CDT

Room 4

Explore engaging, multimodal resources available on the Discovery Education Experience platform, designed specifically to motivate and support multilingual language learners. Unlock practical, high-level strategies aimed at enhancing oral language development, fostering academic vocabulary growth and incorporating scaffolded writing opportunities. Discover intentional instructional techniques that empower educators to create a dynamic learning environment, ensuring every language learner thrives in their speaking, reading and writing. Don’t miss this chance to enrich your tool kit with effective strategies that make a difference.

Speakers

Marissa Geyer

Partnerships Manager, Discovery Education

Discovery Education nurtures curiosity in every classroom by providing comprehensive learning experiences, high-quality educational content and resources, and best-in-class support and community. Our award-winning engaging, easy-to-use, and effective teaching and learning solutions... Read More →

Wednesday June 4, 2025 1:30pm - 2:20pm CDT
Room 4

Instructional Practices for English Learners

Audience EL Specialists, Content Teachers
School/Company Discovery Education

2:30pm CDT

Keeping Secondary MLs Engaged: Strategies for Confidence and Progress

Wednesday June 4, 2025 2:30pm - 3:20pm CDT

Room 4

Explore strategies for building MLs’ self-confidence and keeping them engaged in their learning. Topics will include setting realistic goals, encouraging participation, valuing diverse accents, incorporating interactive games, fostering curiosity about students' backgrounds and motivating learners to take risks. Discover how educators can model language acquisition and support students in developing key motivation and self-monitoring skills.

Speakers

Maysoon Shiaa

EL Educator, Ritenour

Wednesday June 4, 2025 2:30pm - 3:20pm CDT
Room 4

Leadership & School Culture

Audience EL Specialists
School/Company Ritenour School District