Register

Register in the Power School Professional Learning Catalog for Course #33003 English Learner & Equity Virtual Summit. This four-hour event is scheduled for October 12, 2020 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. The Summit is open to all PWCS educators, specialists, and school leaders serving diverse and multilingual students. The general sessions are followed by a Bonus session for School Administrators from 2 - 3:30 p.m.

About

The English Learner & Equity Virtual Summit is brought to you by the Department of Student and Professional Learning which includes the Office of English Learner Programs and Services and the Office of Professional Learning and Student Learning. The Summit consists of two panels and multiple breakout sessions in support of key topics for both Equity and English Learner (EL) instruction. This one-day event is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with a panel session and conclude at 1 p.m following a Noon closing panel session. Multiple breakout sessions will occur at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. A Bonus session for School Administrators will occur from 2 - 3:30 p.m.

Expert speakers during the panels and breakout sessions include Principal Baruti Kafele, Cornelius Minor, Dr. Lindsey Moses, Carol Salva, Dr. Rosa Isiah, Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, Dr. Audrey Cohan, Tan Huynh, Emily Francis, Dr. Jessica Costa, Dr. Sarah Thomas, and others. Live webinar sessions cover topics meaningful to PWCS educators such as Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE), Education Equity for Diverse Students, Collaborative Assessment, Differentiation, Relationship Building, Social Emotional Learning, Literacy for ELs, ELs with Disabilities (EL SWD), Virtual Instruction for ELs and Diverse Populations, and more!

Pre-Summit Request

Our Panel Experts would like to know about your wonderings.

Summit Panels

Opening Panel at 9 a.m.

Addressing Equity in Education for SLIFE and Other Diverse Student Groups with Principal Baruti Kafele, Dr. Rosa Isiah, Carol Salva, and Dr. Jessica Costa.

Closing Panel at Noon

Best Practices for English Learners in Virtual or Hybrid Instruction with Carol Salva, Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, Dr. Audrey Cohan, Tan Huynh, and Diane Harazin

Summit Breakout Sessions

10 - 10:45 a.m. Breakout Session A

Breakout Session A Zoom links are found in an e-document to be sent to you prior to the event.

Breakout Session A Descriptions

Equity, Social Justice Education, Race & the Classroom Teacher, Principal Baruti Kafele. One of the current hot topics in education is district, school and classroom level equity toward children of color and other underserved student populations. This highly engaging, interactive, self-reflective workshop focuses on equity at the classroom level. It challenges classroom teachers to look within themselves relative to how they see, treat and relate with their students of color and other underserved students. It challenges classroom teachers to confront whatever biases they may bring to this population of students that may be unconscious, implicit and / or explicit. It argues that high-performance is an impossibility in classroom environments where equity fails to exist. Principal Kafele will share strategies toward creating and sustaining an equitable classroom learning environment which will be inclusive of important conversations around race, diversity, cultural competence and the infusion of social justice education.

Differentiation During Distance Learning, Tan Huynh. Language learners thrive when we differentiate instruction, but how can we sustain the spirit of differentiation in light of distance and virtual learning. In this session, Tan will share examples of how to apply Carol Ann Tomlinson's framework of differentiation during distance learning. These examples will specifically share how differentiation is still possible for language learners given our current context.

Funds of Knowledge: Tapping into the Cultural Capital of Emerging Multilingual EL Students and Families, Dr. Rosa Isiah. The cultural and linguistic experiences that many of our students bring to the schoolhouse are often perceived to be deficits that require correction when in fact, they are strengths and funds of knowledge. There are many benefits to embracing and drawing from a student’s culture, language, and lived experiences. Research indicates that validating a student’s culture and language in a safe and encouraging environment will help students develop a positive and confident student self-image. Embracing our student’s cultural capital helps develop a solid schooling experience and academic identity, and promotes overall academic success.

Strategies for Increasing and Supporting Language Development for English Learners During Online Literacy Learning, Dr. Lindsey Moses. This presentation will include practical strategies with examples to help make virtual academic content more comprehensible to students learning English. This includes strategies for synchronous and asynchronous instruction and lesson/activity design. Then, this presentation will share strategies to support student-led literature discussions and talk about literacy-related content. This presentation will close with strategies to support meaningful and expanded student-led talk and engagement in literacy-related play that simultaneously supports literacy development and community building.

Not "Back to Normal" Back to Better: Reimagining What It Means to Serve All Language Learners. Cornelius Minor. 2020 shifted the very foundations of our profession. That shift was not without some pain. We have mourned the losses of our classrooms -- how we used to be. We’ve lost the giddy proximity of shared books on a rug, the warmth of a writing conference, or the electric thrill of sitting shoulder to shoulder sharing a calculator to solve a difficult problem. The ways that we have traditionally served students have evaporated. There is uncertainty and directionless policy in its residual wake. In the face of all these losses, all of us (at some point in this journey) have longed for a return to “normal”. This is understandable. But it is not wise. Our nostalgic reverence for life pre-March 2020 is misplaced… that even though we felt certain about some things, that there were still too many kids, families, and whole communities left at the margins. Those who lament the hardships of our current moment without considering the systemically orchestrated pre-pandemic hardships of curricular inflexibility, school defunding, and inequitable resource distribution that has plagued immigrant communities, poor communities, and communities of color are engaged in an historical retelling of our recent history that robs us of the context required to understand this current moment and to imagine solutions. School organization and teaching that fails to understand the linguistic diversity and the neurodiversity in our communities is a form of institutional violence that traumatizes children. Our path forward must be defined by individual teachers, school cultures, and pedagogies that work from this understanding. As we move forward, I am more interested in exploring the question, “What if we did not return to normal? What if we returned to BETTER?” What are the practices, approaches and habits that we can abandon, and what are the new kid-and-community-centered structures that we can erect in their place? This is the work that we are called to do right now. We’ve lost a lot, and we don’t have to hold on to the ghosts of the things that we no longer have. There is life ahead. We can cultivate it. In this session, we'll do that. Together.

Language Rich Remote Learning in 7 Steps, Carol Salva. Based on John Seidlitz' "7 Steps to a Language Rich, Interactive Classroom." This session models a research-based process that builds language practice opportunities into online learning, increases student engagement, accurately checks for understanding during instruction, and coaches students to become independent problem solvers.

Collaborative Assessment as, of, and for Learning: A Tri-Part Approach, Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld. Co-assessment, integral to the collaborative instructional cycle, underscores the important roles co-teachers play in planning, documenting, interpreting, and sharing information about student progress and performance. It centers on a series of mutually agreed upon answers to some key questions, such as “What are our shared goals for teaching and learning?” “How can every student demonstrate success?” and “How can assessment and instruction be crafted to maximize each student’s potential to succeed?” Based on her collaboration with Dr. Margo Gottlieb, the presenter will offer a comprehensive framework of assessment as, for, and of learning, and explore strategies for students, teachers, and school leaders to work together to assess student growth in the traditional as well as the virtual learning environment.

EL SWD Disability vs Difference, Dr. Audrey Cohan. This workshop will address key questions for teachers to consider when they are trying to determine if an English Learner is having difficulty in school based on common second language acquisition issues or if the learner is showing signs of a learning disability.

Cultivating Relationships with Online Classroom Community, Dr. Lora Beth Escalante. Join Dr. Escalante as we explore how we can cultivate and strengthen relationships with students and among students in our online classrooms. Join us for a very positive and practical approach to connecting with students during distance learning. Affirm the positive, build on your strengths and acquire new ideas during this session.

Teaching and Learning Through Video, Dr. Sarah Thomas. In this session, catch the bug as we discuss teaching and learning through video, a useful practice for teaching ELs as it provides both audio and visual information. Topics covered will include videotaped lessons, useful resources, and best practices to begin. Participants will be introduced to the concept of using video for learning, discuss common challenges and solutions, preview and test resources for video creation, editing, and curation, examine best practices for video in teaching and learning, and learn how students can create their own videos.

Supporting Reading, Writing, Math, and Communication During Distance Learning with Microsoft Learning Tools, Rachel Berger Are you preparing for distant learning with your students? Are you concerned about meeting the needs of students who struggle with learning differences that make reading, writing and math difficult? Join us for this webinar and learn to utilize Free, Accessible Microsoft Assistive Technology to support both in person and distance learning. This session will showcase how these free Learning Tools can be used to support classroom engagement of reading, writing, math and communication for users with learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, emerging readers or a combination of any of the broad range of unique student abilities. Details, demonstrations and student examples will be shared about several new and improved sets of features across Microsoft products.

11 - 11:45 a.m. Breakout Session B

Breakout Session B Zoom links are found in an e-document sent to you prior to the event.

Breakout Session B Descriptions

Equity, Social Justice Education, Race & the Classroom Teacher, Principal Baruti Kafele. One of the current hot topics in education is district, school and classroom level equity toward children of color and other underserved student populations. This highly engaging, interactive, self-reflective workshop focuses on equity at the classroom level. It challenges classroom teachers to look within themselves relative to how they see, treat and relate with their students of color and other underserved students. It challenges classroom teachers to confront whatever biases they may bring to this population of students that may be unconscious, implicit and / or explicit. It argues that high-performance is an impossibility in classroom environments where equity fails to exist. Principal Kafele will share strategies toward creating and sustaining an equitable classroom learning environment which will be inclusive of important conversations around race, diversity, cultural competence and the infusion of social justice education.

All About Newcomers, Emily Francis. As educators, it is our responsibility to create and maintain an environment where our newcomers feel welcome, valued, accepted, and respected. We can do this by drafting and delivering authentic and meaningful experiences where newcomers are not just learning a new language but acquiring life-changing experiences. Participants will engage in a range of activities to see how easy it is to create authentic and meaningful lessons and experiences for newcomers to not only acquire the English language but also grow personally. We will explore topics such as "Discover Own Identities", "Own Name", Our Story", "Embracing Language", and other topics. Resources used to draft our lessons will vary based on picture books, compelling texts, magazines.

Strategies for Increasing and Supporting Language Development for English Learners During Online Literacy Learning, Dr. Lindsey Moses. This presentation will include practical strategies with examples to help make virtual academic content more comprehensible to students learning English. This includes strategies for synchronous and asynchronous instruction and lesson/activity design. Then, this presentation will share strategies to support student-led literature discussions and talk about literacy-related content. This presentation will close with strategies to support meaningful and expanded student-led talk and engagement in literacy-related play that simultaneously supports literacy development and community building.

Remote Learning for ELs in Authentic Instruction. Dr. Audrey Cohan. This workshop will address strategies for teaching ELs through remote or hybrid learning and how to make instruction accessible.

SEL and Language Learners During Distance Learning, Tan Hunyh. How students feel in our classes, whether it be in person or in digital spaces, matters as much as the content and skills we teach. In this session, Tan will share 5 specific strategies to meaningfully integrate emotional intelligence into our already packed teaching schedules. The framework he will share can be applied K-12, and the specific examples that he will share come from his teaching experience (5-12). This is a highly interactive session where participants will be placed in breakout groups and interact using the chat function. You will leave with strategies that you can immediately implement and principles that will make SEL instruction possible in your teaching context.

Not "Back to Normal" Back to Better: Reimagining What It Means to Serve All Language Learners. Cornelius Minor. 2020 shifted the very foundations of our profession. That shift was not without some pain. We have mourned the losses of our classrooms -- how we used to be. We’ve lost the giddy proximity of shared books on a rug, the warmth of a writing conference, or the electric thrill of sitting shoulder to shoulder sharing a calculator to solve a difficult problem. The ways that we have traditionally served students have evaporated. There is uncertainty and directionless policy in its residual wake. In the face of all these losses, all of us (at some point in this journey) have longed for a return to “normal”. This is understandable. But it is not wise. Our nostalgic reverence for life pre-March 2020 is misplaced… that even though we felt certain about some things, that there were still too many kids, families, and whole communities left at the margins. Those who lament the hardships of our current moment without considering the systemically orchestrated pre-pandemic hardships of curricular inflexibility, school defunding, and inequitable resource distribution that has plagued immigrant communities, poor communities, and communities of color are engaged in an historical retelling of our recent history that robs us of the context required to understand this current moment and to imagine solutions. School organization and teaching that fails to understand the linguistic diversity and the neurodiversity in our communities is a form of institutional violence that traumatizes children. Our path forward must be defined by individual teachers, school cultures, and pedagogies that work from this understanding. As we move forward, I am more interested in exploring the question, “What if we did not return to normal? What if we returned to BETTER?” What are the practices, approaches and habits that we can abandon, and what are the new kid-and-community-centered structures that we can erect in their place? This is the work that we are called to do right now. We’ve lost a lot, and we don’t have to hold on to the ghosts of the things that we no longer have. There is life ahead. We can cultivate it. In this session, we'll do that. Together.

Cultivating Relationships with Online Classroom Community, Dr. Lora Beth Escalante. Join Dr. Escalante as we explore how we can cultivate and strengthen relationships with students and among students in our online classrooms. Join us for a very positive and practical approach to connecting with students during distance learning. Affirm the positive, build on your strengths and acquire new ideas during this session.

Language Rich Remote Learning in 7 Steps, Carol Salva. Based on John Seidlitz' "7 Steps to a Language Rich, Interactive Classroom." This session models a research-based process that builds language practice opportunities into online learning, increases student engagement, accurately checks for understanding during instruction, and coaches students to become independent problem solvers.

Teaching and Learning Through Video, Dr. Sarah Thomas. In this session, catch the bug as we discuss teaching and learning through video, a useful practice for teaching ELs as it provides both audio and visual information. Topics covered will include videotaped lessons, useful resources, and best practices to begin. Participants will be introduced to the concept of using video for learning, discuss common challenges and solutions, preview and test resources for video creation, editing, and curation, examine best practices for video in teaching and learning, and learn how students can create their own videos.

Collaborative Assessment as, of, and for Learning: A Tri-Part Approach, Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld. Co-assessment, integral to the collaborative instructional cycle, underscores the important roles co-teachers play in planning, documenting, interpreting, and sharing information about student progress and performance. It centers on a series of mutually agreed upon answers to some key questions, such as “What are our shared goals for teaching and learning?” “How can every student demonstrate success?” and “How can assessment and instruction be crafted to maximize each student’s potential to succeed?” Based on her collaboration with Dr. Margo Gottlieb, Dr. Honigsfeld will offer a comprehensive framework of assessment as, for, and of learning, and explore strategies for students, teachers, and school leaders to work together to assess student growth in the traditional as well as the virtual learning environment.

Supporting Reading, Writing, Math, and Communication During Distance Learning with Microsoft Learning Tools, Rachel Berger. Are you preparing for distant learning with your students? Are you concerned about meeting the needs of students who struggle with learning differences that make reading, writing and math difficult? Join us for this webinar and learn to utilize Free, Accessible Microsoft Assistive Technology to support both in person and distance learning. This session will showcase how these free Learning Tools can be used to support classroom engagement of reading, writing, math and communication for users with learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, emerging readers or a combination of any of the broad range of unique student abilities. Details, demonstrations and student examples will be shared about several new and improved sets of features across Microsoft products.

Language Diversity and Equity, Dr. Lisa Williams.This presentation will make the connection between the work of creating opportunities for equitable access with language diversity. Specifically, participants will be invited to consider how ideas of English hegemony should be contextualized in the larger global environment that demands cross cultural skills. Participants will be invited to consider the assets of students and communities oriented toward multilingualism. Finally, participants will be asked to examine the conversation of linguistic diversity within the tapestry of the larger system context.

2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Bonus Breakout Session C (School Administrators only)

Breakout Session C Zoom link will be sent in a separate email invitation prior to the event.

Equity, Social Justice Education, Race & Effective School Leadership, Principal Baruti Kafele.One of the current hot topics in education is district, school and classroom level equity toward children of color and other underserved student populations. This highly engaging, interactive, self-reflective workshop focuses on school leadership relative to issues of equity, social justice education and race in the classroom. It challenges school leaders to look within themselves relative to how they see, treat and relate with their staffs and students in these areas. It challenges school leaders to confront whatever biases they may bring to their own leadership that may be unconscious, implicit and / or explicit. It argues that high-performance is an impossibility in school learning environments where equity fails to exist. Principal Kafele will share strategies toward creating and sustaining an equitable school environment which will be inclusive of important conversations around race, diversity, cultural competence and the infusion of social justice education.

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