March EL Coordinator Network Meeting Agenda

For anyone who couldn't make it to the meeting last Friday, here's a link to the agenda, which contains links to resources, updates, and technology tools that were shared at the meeting:

March EL Coordinator Network Meeting Agenda

Upcoming MinneTESOL Events

For those of you close to the border, MinneTESOL is holding some upcoming EL events:

March 19, 2018 (7-9pm) - MinneTESOL Coffee & Conversations 

April 21, 2018 - MinneSLIFE annual meeting: MinneSLIFE Spring Fling

You can checkout their website and Facebook page for more information (links below).

MinneTESOL Website

MinneTESOL Facebook Page

Scaffolding Language in Content Area Classrooms

This workshop is a great opportunity for teachers looking for strategies to support English learners in their classrooms!

Workshop Flyer

Multicultural Children's Book Day - January 27th

HERE is a link to the Multicultural Children's Book Day website. They have resources, marketing materials, reading lists, and a free empathy kit for classroom teachers.

International TESOL Convention Coming to Chicago!

The International TESOL Convention is coming to Chicago this March, and it looks like there will be some great speakers and workshops!
Here is the link to the main conference page: http://www.tesol.org/convention-2018
Here is the link to the PreK-12 Educator day event: http://www.tesol.org/convention-2018/ticketed-events/prek-12-day

The conference runs from Wednesday, March 28th to Friday, March 30th, with pre-conference events - including school visits - on Tuesday, March 27th. On Saturday, March 31st, there will be a PreK-12 Educator day, which is a standalone event with its own registration. This would be an awesome opportunity to for teachers, EL coordinators, and school administrators to learn about how they can support English Learners in their classrooms and buildings!

*Note: This conference does run into Easter/Passover weekend.

Don't Forget to Register!!!

There are still spots available for Emily Miller's workshop "The Language of Doing" next Wednesday, December 13th! This is a great opportunity for ALL teachers who work with English learners, especially in Science, and it's also great for ANY teachers who have students that may struggle with content area language development. Feel free to share with anyone you think may be interested!

Language of Doing Flyer

EL Supports for ACT Question/Response

Here is some information from Dee Thompson, one of our educational consultants here at CESA 11 who works with assessments. She posed an assessment question to the DPI about EL testing accommodations for the ACT and received an answer back to confirm the accommodation.

• Q: Can an EL student test in a small group setting WITHOUT approval from ACT if it is the only accommodation they will be using?  Small group setting is marked with an "E" and a superscript of 6 and 7 in the List of Allowable Accessibility Supports, which means that it can be used by anyone without approval, but with planned administration to make sure there are enough administrators to give the test with fidelity.  However, the support is also listed as one of the 4 NEW EL supports needing approval.

• A: If small group is the only accommodation for state testing, that falls under local arrangements, and DOES NOT need to be submitted through TAA, and will result in a college-reportable score (assuming all other standard time rules/guidelines are followed correctly).