Friday, May 15, 2026
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Registration
May 15, 7:00am – 8:00am60 minMain Foyer -
EP
Math Talk Matters: Building Content & Language Together Through CBLI
Instructional Practices in ESL ClassroomsEduardo Perez Lead
May 15, 9:40am – 10:50am70 minRiverwalk (Level: Ground Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Math Talk Matters: Building Content & Language Together through CBLI explores how intentional math discourse can simultaneously develop conceptual understanding and academic language in bilingual, dual language, and ESL classrooms. Grounded in the CBLI framework, this session highlights explicit instruction, structured discussion routines, visual scaffolds, and sentence rehearsal as tools to bridge content and language without lowering rigor. Participants will analyze classroom examples and teacher moves that position students as active meaning-makers who justify, question, and build on one another’s thinking. Educators will leave with practical, ready-to-implement strategies that elevate student voice and honor linguistic and cultural assets while strengthening mathematical achievement. -
EC
Beyond the hype: AI Empowers Campeones del Lenguaje to Rise
Technology in Bilingual/ESL ClassroomsElmer Castro Lead
May 15, 9:45am – 10:40am55 minHickory (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 35)Show details
Artificial intelligence is increasingly present in classrooms, yet many bilingual and ESL educators are unsure how to use it in ways that meaningfully support language development and accountability measures such as TELPAS. This session focuses on everyday uses of AI tools (e.g., NotebookLM) to strengthen listening, speaking, reading, and writing in bilingual, dual language, and ESL settings.
Grounded in translanguaging and culturally sustaining practices, the session demonstrates how AI can function as a language scaffold, not a shortcut, supporting academic language growth. Participants will analyze classroom-ready examples that align to TELPAS proficiency descriptors and preserve instructional rigor and assessment integrity.
Attendees will leave with practical strategies for using AI to amplify student voice, increase access to grade-level content, and center lenguaje, cultura, y comunidad as students continue to rise as campeones de lenguaje. -
ED
From Insight to Impact: Aligning Data, Funding, and Equity
Sponsored by Summit K-12 (Diamond) Sponsored SessionsEricka Avila Dillon Lead
May 15, 9:45am – 10:40am55 minLaurel (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 45)Show details
Equitable instruction for Emergent Bilingual (EB) students requires more than just good intentions—it requires a data-backed blueprint. In this session, we dive into the "how" of supporting district-wide EB initiatives. We will audit multi-year data trends, map evidence-based resources to specific funding streams, and bridge the gap between financial planning and instructional achievement. Attendees will walk away with a ready-to-use implementation framework that equips them to advocate for EB students and lead their districts toward a more equitable and inclusive future. -
Culture as Curriculum: Belonging Through Story, Culture, and Arts Integration
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyBernadette Peña Lead
May 15, 9:45am – 10:40am55 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This presentation guides participants through a culturally relevant, arts integrated approach to teaching that positions story, culture, and community as central to learning in bilingual, dual language, and ESL classrooms. The presentation introduces key concepts on cultural memory, family stories, and the Mexican American identity. The session demonstrates how culture can function as a curriculum to nurture belonging and multicultural identity. Participants will then engage in a hands-on arts activity that models how storytelling, visual expression, and cultural artifacts can deepen language development, affirm lived experiences, and strengthen classroom community. By the end of the session, educators will leave with practical strategies that uplift students’ linguistic and cultural assets. Participants will experience strategies that position culture as curriculum and create learning environments where students feel seen, valued, and connected. -
AI + ELPS: Streamlining Instructional Planning for EBs
Technology in Bilingual/ESL ClassroomsDelia Reveles Gauna Lead
May 15, 10:55am – 12:05pm70 minHickory (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 35)Show details
This session will demonstrate how to use AI to streamline planning and design instruction that support emergent bilinguals’ language development. By pairing practical AI workflows with explicit ELPS alignment, teachers can produce clear objectives, scaffolded lesson steps, and quick formative checks that elevate instruction and support students’ growth. -
Building Bilingual Teacher Pipelines Through Leadership
Administrator/ AdvocacyDr. Lorena Claeys Lead with Dr. Karina Villa, Ms. Christina King, M.a., Mrs. Renee Tondre-garza, Lpc Dr. Claudia Garcia-treviño, M.a. Sr. Alejandra Treviño, Fma, M. Ed
May 15, 10:55am – 11:50am55 minLaurel (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 45)Show details
This session examines how educational leaders can expand bilingual teacher pipelines through advocacy, policy-informed decision-making, and strategic partnerships. Participants will explore the Culturally Efficacious Signature Teacher Residency (CESTR) model developed by the Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center at UT San Antonio and how the model supports paraprofessionals and community members in becoming certified bilingual educators.
The session highlights leadership practices that support Grow‑Your‑Own programs, including mentorship structures, district‑university collaboration, and policy strategies that remove barriers and expand access to bilingual programs for aspiring teachers. Presenters will also discuss culturally sustaining leadership approaches that value multilingualism and cultural identity as essential assets.
Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for building sustainable Grow Your Own pathways, cultivating community-rooted educators, and rising together as champions of language, culture, and community. -
MF
Short Constructed Responses Across Various Content Areas
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyMaribel Faz Lead with Ksenia Pircher
May 15, 10:55am – 11:50am55 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This session focuses on strengthening short constructed responses across content areas in bilingual, dual language, and ESL classrooms. Participants will explore practical, research-based strategies—such as CER frameworks, sentence stems, and language scaffolds—that support students in developing academic language and expressing their thinking in both English and Spanish. Grounded in research that highlights the connection between oral language and writing development (Cummins, 2000; Zwiers, 2008), this session equips educators to build confident communicators. Aligned with the theme “Still We Rise: Campeones de lenguaje, la cultura, y la comunidad,” the presentation empowers students as language champions, honors their cultural and linguistic identities, and fosters strong classroom communities. -
Where Language and Disability Meet: What Districts Must Do Differently
Featured SessionsLizdelia Piñón Lead
May 15, 10:55am – 12:05pm70 minPine (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Where Language and Disability Meet explores how schools can better serve multilingual students with disabilities by rethinking systems that often separate language development from special education. This session challenges deficit-based approaches and highlights how they contribute to misidentification, limited access, and inequitable outcomes for emergent bilingual learners.
Participants will examine how policy, instruction, and collaboration can work together to create more inclusive, asset-based environments that honor students’ linguistic and cultural strengths. The presentation offers practical strategies for equitable identification, bilingual and culturally sustaining instruction, stronger collaboration between multilingual and special education teams, and authentic family partnership.
Grounded in research and real-world district examples, this session empowers educators, leaders, and advocates to move beyond compliance and toward transformative practices. Attendees will leave with concrete tools and a renewed vision for creating classrooms and systems where multilingual students with disabilities are fully included, supported, and positioned to thrive. -
Scaffold Writing Across Mixed Proficiency Levels
Instructional Practices in ESL ClassroomsAbraham Perez Lead
May 15, 10:55am – 11:50am55 minRiverwalk (Level: Ground Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This interactive session models a scaffold progression from vocabulary development to collaborative paragraph writing in mixed proficiency ESL/ELD classrooms. Teachers will explore how to use a visual stimulus to activate background knowledge and generate student created vocabulary, which is then analyzed and grouped by language features such as cognates, verbs, nouns, and synonyms to build metalinguistic awareness. Participants will engage in randomly grouping strategies where students collaboratively construct sentences based on group size, requiring each member to contribute one word, followed by whole class analysis of sentence structure and language targets. The lesson culminates in a roving paragraph activity that transforms oral rehearsal into written production, demonstrating how structured interaction, movement, and student generated anchor charts support academic writing development across proficiency levels. This progression centered approach shifts writing instruction from teacher centered delivery to scaffold, student driven language production. -
VS
“Más que Palabras: Teaching Beyond the Textbook”
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyVeronica Sanchez- Saenz Lead
May 15, 1:35pm – 2:45pm70 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This session explores how secondary Spanish classrooms (Levels 2–AP) can serve as transformative spaces where bilingualism and biliteracy are positioned as assets, not deficits. Grounded in the work of Gloria Ladson-Billings and Django Paris, participants will examine how Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Pedagogy empowers emergent bilinguals to develop academic excellence, cultural competence, and critical consciousness.
Through concrete classroom examples tailored specifically to Spanish 2, Spanish 3, and AP Spanish Language courses, attendees will learn how to design identity-centered projects, community-based research tasks, AP-style cultural comparisons, and advocacy-driven assessments that amplify student voice.
Participants will leave with ready-to-implement strategies that integrate proficiency-based instruction with culturally responsive teaching practices, creating inclusive and affirming learning environments where students rise as champions of language, culture, and community. -
LV
Voices Unlocked: Creating Digital Escape Rooms for Bilingual Classrooms
Technology in Bilingual/ESL ClassroomsLinda Esmeralda Villareal Lead
May 15, 1:45pm – 2:40pm55 minHickory (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 35)Show details
This interactive session demonstrates how to design escape rooms that combine digital platforms such as Google tools, Flippity, and Genially with hands on paper puzzles placed around the classroom to create engaging content review experiences for bilingual, dual language, and ESL classrooms.
Participants will first experience an escape room from the student perspective. The second portion of the session will guide educators step-by-step through the design process, equipping them with practical tools and templates to immediately implement escape rooms in their own classrooms. Aligned with the theme “Still We Rise: Campeones de lenguaje, la cultura, y la comunidad,” this session demonstrates how collaborative learning empowers students to rise as champions of their languages. -
Jugando y Aprendiendo: Gamifying SWIRL in HS for Multilingual Success
Instructional Practices in ESL ClassroomsBailee Thompson Lead with Jose Solis, Myra Chavez, Edgar Sifuentes, Shantell Colebrooke
May 15, 1:45pm – 2:40pm55 minRiverwalk (Level: Ground Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Jugando y Aprendiendo: Gamifying SWIRL in HS for Multilingual Success
How do we move beyond passive language learning and create classrooms where Emergent Bilingual students actively engage in academic language across all domains? This highly interactive session showcases how the LEE High School ESOL and ELD team leverages gamification to promote SWIRL (Speaking, Writing, Interaction, Reading, and Listening) in culturally and linguistically responsive ways at the secondary level.
Participants will not just learn about strategies—they will experience them firsthand. Attendees will actively engage in a variety of classroom-tested games that promote academic language development, collaboration, and student discourse across content areas. Through guided play, participants will see how these strategies increase engagement while providing meaningful opportunities for students to practice language in authentic, low-risk environments.
Grounded in research on translanguaging (García & Wei), comprehensible input (Krashen), and Funds of Knowledge (Moll et al.), this session demonstrates how game-based learning supports both language acquisition and academic success while honoring students’ cultural and linguistic assets.
In addition, participants will take part in a “make-and-take” experience, where they will create and leave with ready-to-use game materials and templates that can be immediately implemented in their classrooms. Whether you are new to working with Emergent Bilinguals or looking to elevate student engagement, this session provides practical tools and strategies to transform instruction and empower multilingual learners. -
JR
Beyond Handwriting: Recognizing Dysgraphia in Emergent Bilingual Students
Technology in Bilingual/ESL ClassroomsJulissa Romero Lead with Lucia Cintron
May 15, 2:55pm – 3:50pm55 minHickory (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 35)Show details
Dysgraphia is far more than messy handwriting, and for emergent bilingual students, it can be even harder to see. This session explores how motor coordination challenges, spelling difficulties, disorganized written expression, and the complexities of second language acquisition can combine to obscure a very real learning difference. This presentation equips educators with the knowledge and tools to identify dysgraphia through a culturally and linguistically informed lens, ensuring that no student's struggles are dismissed as simply part of 'learning the language.' -
The Fab 4: Four Non-Negotiable Scaffolds to Support EBs
Administrator/ AdvocacySonya Monreal Lead with Elizabell Garcia
May 15, 2:55pm – 3:50pm55 minLaurel (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 45)Show details
This hands-on session will showcase how our department operationalized four required daily scaffolds (The Fab 4) to ensure consistent language support for emergent bilingual students across all content areas. Rather than positioning scaffolds as optional strategies, our district embedded them into curriculum design, instructional expectations, and professional learning structures so that every teacher shares responsibility for language development.
Participants will examine real classroom examples and before-and-after lesson slide decks to see how intentional scaffold integration strengthens rigor while increasing access. -
Still We Rise: Teaching Hispanic Leaders Through Culturally Sustaining Practices
Culturally Relevant & Sustaining PedagogyAngélica Nieto Lead with Dr. Claudia Treviño García
May 15, 2:55pm – 3:50pm55 minMedina (Level: 1st Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Participants will explore instructional strategies that move beyond traditional textbook-based instruction through the use of student-centered, interactive social studies learning centers. These centers engage students in investigating influential Hispanic figures while developing literacy, critical thinking, and cultural awareness.
The session will feature a classroom-ready example that demonstrates how inquiry, discussion, and culturally relevant texts can foster deeper engagement and affirm students’ cultural and linguistic identities. Participants will also learn how to design cross-curricular lessons that integrate social studies with literacy development in bilingual and dual language classrooms.
Educators will leave with practical strategies for creating culturally sustaining learning experiences that elevate historically underrepresented voices and empower emergent bilingual students to see themselves as leaders, scholars, and advocates within their communities. -
TB
Accelerate Learning with Footsteps2Brilliance & Foster Calm Learning with Friendzy!
Sponsored by Teaching Counts! (Silver) Sponsored SessionsTerri Balderrama Booker Lead
May 15, 2:55pm – 4:05pm70 minPine (Level: 2nd Floor, Cap 40)Show details
Discover how to accelerate literacy and support emotional wellness for Emergent Bilingual students through engaging, research-based strategies and resources. This session combines innovative bilingual language and literacy tools with practical approaches to help students thrive academically and socially. Learn how to bridge school and home learning with culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate English and Spanish resources that promote Kindergarten readiness and 3rd grade reading proficiency. Explore how the brain responds to stress and how language and culture influence behavior, while gaining strategies from the Regulate–Respond–Relate framework to create calm, focused classrooms. Walk away with ready-to-use bilingual tools—including visual supports, sentence stems, and routines—that empower students, strengthen connections, and eliminate learning gaps. Attendees will receive access to free resources, including a trial opportunity and materials to immediately implement in their classrooms -
GS
Rising Together: Elevating Language and Content Through Comprehensible Design
Instructional Practices in ESL ClassroomsGabriela Sandoval Lead with Heather Williams, Ariana Garza, Melissa Olivarez
May 15, 2:55pm – 3:50pm55 minRiverwalk (Level: Ground Floor, Cap 40)Show details
This interactive session highlights how intentional instructional practices in Content-Based Language Instruction (CBLI) empower educators to support emergent bilingual (EB) students in every classroom. Participants will explore how to design comprehensible learning intentions and align them with purposeful success criteria, using targeted EB supports as actionable “SWIRLing moves” that drive both language and content mastery.
Presenters will model how structured conversations, real classroom scenarios, and reflective planning can shift mindsets—helping all educators see themselves as language teachers. Through discussion, modeling, and collaborative practice, participants will engage in creating their own aligned learning intentions, success criteria, and SWIRLing with supports.