Featured Speakers

Friday, November 13th, 2020

10:00-10:45 AM

David Rowley

Student-Centered Learning Online with We Speak NYC

We Speak NYC is an Emmy-Award winning ESOL drama series that uses a narrative-based approach to learning, with stories on health care, education, workforce development and worker rights, elder care and other topics. In this workshop, the presenters model the use of visual literacy techniques to generate student-centered learning, using images and video clips from the series. The methods featured in the workshop build vocabulary, observation, evidential reasoning and other language and critical thinking skills. Workshop participants will receive a packet of digital materials you can use in your online classes to foster student-centered learning and civic engagement within immigrant communities.

David Rowley is the ESOL Coordinator for We Speak NYC at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, where he is responsible for curriculum development and implementation in coordination with CUNY, developing trainings for staff and volunteers, and conducting workshops on professional development. David received his MA in Teaching Social Studies from Teachers College at Columbia University and has been an ESOL adult educator and teacher trainer since 2013.

Pamela Broussard

What’s Your Vision?

Some educators see at-risk and baggage. What do you see? What do the leaders in your school see? What do the students themselves see? An educator’s vision for their ELs matters. How can you shape that vision into a reality? From zero English to school leaders-- See it!

Pamela Broussard is a passionate New Arrival Center teacher and trainer. She is a 5x ESL Teacher the Year winner and an HEB Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. As the founder of the Leading ELLs and the Global Scholars Leadership Conference it is her desire to develop student and education leaders.

1:30-2:15 PM

Gabriel Díaz Maggioli

Core Practices in Second Language Teacher Education

In this session the presenter will address an emergent paradigm in teacher education, that of the teaching of Core Practices. Spearheaded by the work of the Core Practice Consortium (Grossman, 2018) this movement looks at fundamental practices in teaching through a process of representations of practice (how the work of practitioners is made visible to novices), deconstruction of practices (one of the challenges of working with representations of practice is learning how to look so the second stage involves breaking down the practices in their constituent parts) and approximation to practices (enacting elements of practice within a sheltered environment where there are high levels of support). Running through all three phases is the issue of focused, formative feedback.

Gabriel Díaz Maggioli is an educator who applies the lessons learned in the classroom to his roles as teacher of teachers, researcher, writer, and consultant. He holds a Doctorate and a Master’s in Education from the University of Bath and is a certified researcher at the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII). At the international level, he has served on the Board of Directors of TESOL International Association (2006 - 2009), as well as Chair of the Materials Writers Interest Section, and a member of the Nominating Committee (2013). He has recently become President-Elect of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL).

Saturday, November 14th, 2020

10:00-10:45 AM

Ernesto Cisneros

Chat with the author Ernesto Cisneros

Join Ernesto Cisneros, the author of Efrén Divided, a heart-wrenching novel about the separation of an immigrant family here in the City of Santa Ana. Ernesto is a 20-year veteran teacher currently serving the city of Santa Ana: the colorful but mostly dismissed section of Orange County, California. He teaches reading and writing to local students at an inner-city intermediate school.

Author and Educator, Ernesto Cisneros, has written a heart-wrenching novel about the separation of an immigrant family here in the City of Santa Ana. Ernesto is a 20-year veteran teacher currently serving the city of Santa Ana: the colorful but mostly dismissed section of Orange County, California. He teaches reading and writing to local students at an inner-city intermediate school. He holds an English degree from the University of California, Irvine; a teaching credential from California State University, Long Beach; as well as a Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from National University.

Dr. Christina Nicole Giannikas

Performance assessment in pre-service training: Direct evaluation of teaching ability

The present talk will elaborate on research findings on performance assessment in pre-service teacher training. The investigation was based on the theoretical underpinnings of performance assessment and its reliability. The study sheds light on the participants’ assessment process and the effects it had on their progress, potential teaching ability and confidence.

Christina Nicole Giannikas holds a PhD in the field of Applied Linguistics. She is a consultant and founder of CG Education & Research Consultancy. She also works in Higher Education where she lectures courses in Applied Linguistics and is a teacher trainer for the pre-service and in-service teacher education programs in Cyprus and beyond. She specializes in the areas of early language learning, age-appropriate digital pedagogies, digital literacies, assessment, and Teacher Education. For the last four years, Christina has been serving as Chair of the EuroCALL Teacher Education SIG and was recently appointed the EuroCALL National Contact for Greece. Keep an eye out for her upcoming new book with the title: Teaching Practices and Equitable Learning in Children’s Language Education!

Julie Kasper

Education During Crisis: Prioritizing Refugee & Migrant Students

This presentation will consider refugee education within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The presenter will highlight successes and challenges faced in meeting the needs and building upon the assets of refugee and migrant children/youth in times of struggle. Implications for teacher professional learning will be explored.

Julie Kasper has an MA in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University and is a National Board Certified Teacher in English as a New Language. She taught secondary ESL in New York City and Tucson, Arizona for over 16 years. She served as Refugee School Coordinator in Tucson, Arizona from 2014-2018 and is now the Refugee Educator Academy Program Manager at the upstate NY-based Carey Institute for Global Good. Julie is a doctoral student and University Fellow in the College of Education at the University of Arizona.

Kristen Lindahl

Bedrettin Yazan

Teacher Development in TESOL as Identity Work

This presentation will focus on identity-oriented approaches in TESOL teacher education and continued professional development. Highlighting research and pedagogy from both higher education and PK-12 contexts, the presenters will provide updated perspectives and concrete classroom suggestions for centering teachers’ and learners’ lived experiences in the TESOL context.

Kristen Lindahl is an Associate Professor of TESL/Applied Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She specializes in Teacher Education, focusing on teacher language awareness, identity and ideology. Her recent research projects include identity approaches to TESOL educators’ lives and critical approaches to content-based instruction and teacher education.

Bedrettin Yazan is Associate Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research focuses on language teacher learning and identity, collaboration between ESL and content teachers, language policy and planning, and World Englishes. He has a recent co-edited book, Language teaching and teacher learning as identity work in TESOL, published by Routledge in July 2020.