Updates on 2018 MELEd Conference: Keynotes and How To Submit Proposals!

The 5th Annual Minnesota English Learner Education (MELEd) Conference will be held November 15-17, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis, MN (parking included!).

The Minnesota English Learner Education Conference is a partnership between MinneTESOL and the Minnesota Department of Education. It is a merger of the annual MinneTESOL Fall Conference and the Minnesota ESL, Bilingual, and Migrant Education Conference.

Call for Proposals

We are currently accepting proposals for this year’s conference and are looking for ABE submissions so we can share in the latest contributions to the field. The deadline for proposals is June 1, 2018!

What have you been working on in your classroom? In your program? How are you implementing standards in your context? Is there something special going on that your colleagues need to know about? Find all the info you’ll need to submit your proposal here!

Keynotes

We are proud to announce this year’s keynote speakers on Friday and Saturday of the MELEd conference!

Dr. Bonny Norton, FRSC, is a Professor and Distinguished University Scholar in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC. Her primary research interests are identity and language learning, critical literacy, and international development. Recent publications include a 2017 special issue on language teacher identity (MLJ) and a 2013 second edition of Identity and Language Learning (Multilingual Matters). A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the American Educational Research Association, she has a 2010 AERA Senior Research Leadership Award, and was a 2016 co-recipient of the TESOL Distinguished Research Award. Her current project is Storybooks Canada and her website is http://faculty.educ.ubc.ca/norton/

Dr. Ester de Jong is a Professor in ESOL/Bilingual Education and the Director of the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. She was born and raised in the Netherlands and came to the United States to pursue her doctoral studies. Prior to coming to the University of Florida, she worked with Spanish-English and Brazilian-Portuguese bilingual programs as the Assistant Director for Bilingual Education and ESL programs in Massachusetts. At the University of Florida, Dr. de Jong teaches courses on bilingual education, second language education, and language policy.

Her research focuses on dual language education, language-in-education policy, and preparing general education teachers to work with bilingual learners. Her book, Foundations of Multilingualism in Education: From Policy to Practice published by Caslon Publishing, considers a principled approach to school, program, and classroom decision-making for bilingual learners. A recent article in the TESOL Quarterly (Aiming for equity) challenges us to consider the idea of an inclusive classroom for emergent bilingual students. Dr. de Jong is currently Past-President of the TESOL International Association.

We could not be more delighted to welcome this exceptional keynote speakers!

Questions?

Please direct any questions to the conference co-chairs, Darren LaScotte ([email protected]) and Leah Kronick ([email protected]).

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