 On October 23rd - October 26th, 2018 I had the opportunity to attend my first WIDA annual conference! The conference was in Detroit and I was able to attend with Stacey Diaz, Cabarrus County's ESL counselor and Doug Carr, Cabarrus County's social worker. I was honored to co-present a session with my colleagues and I also had a session on my own. I attended several fantastic sessions where I learned a lot and met a lot of Twitter friends! It is by far one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had! Sessions#1: Teachers, School Counselors, and Social Workers: Collaborating for Success  With Stacey & Doug after our presentation "Research shows that students with engaged families adapt better to school, attend school more regularly, have better social skills, and pursue post-secondary opportunities. We explored the role of teachers, school counselors, and social workers in engaging families and learn about culturally responsive family engagement practices. Developed an action plan based on examples given to implement culturally responsive engagement practices at your school." 
#2: Establishing a Comfortable Environment for Diverse Students - From Inside-Out  "Students need a respectful environment to function to their full potential. This session provided Culturally Responsive Pedagogy strategies to create the environment diverse students need. Participants visualized that in order to establish such environment, it needs to start from within. Then, as a ripple effect it carries onto our students, our content teaching pedagogy, school culture, family and community engagement, and ultimately engage globally as open-minded individuals. After my session, I asked participants the following question as an exit ticket: A year from now, what will be important for you to remember about this session?
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EDUCATION ALUMNA USES PERSONAL JOURNEY TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION "Emily Francis leapt from her seat in the audience of The Ellen Show and made a run for the stage. Only after she was perched alongside Ellen Degeneres did the 2016 Cabarrus County Schools Teacher of the Year realize that in her excitement, she hadn’t given the famous talk show host time to finish her introduction. But looking back at her journey—from a one room shack in Guatemala, to a New York airport facing immigration authorities, to crossing the stage at UNC Charlotte to accept a graduate degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL)—it’s clear that Emily Francis had been racing toward a moment like this her entire life." ~ The Language of Love I love how this article was introduced! The Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte featured my story on their website this month. They also embedded wonderful pictures and videos they took while visiting me at Concord High School. To read the entire article and watch the videos, follow this link: https://inside.uncc.edu/featured-stories/the-language-of-hope 
Thank you for reading! |
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