Lead Authors: Diane Fenner and Beth Skelton
WORKSHOP DETAILS
Date and Time:
April 29
7:00-8:00 Registration and Breakfast
8:00-8:30 Welcome & Introductions
8:30-9:30 Keynote
9:30-9:45 Break
9:45-11:15 Breakout Sessions
11:15-12:30 Lunch
12:30 – 1:30 Featured Speaker
1:30-1:45 Break
1:45-3:15 Breakout Sessions
April 30
7:00 – 8:00 Registration & Breakfast
8:00-8:30 Welcome and Introductions
8:30-9:30 Keynote
9:30-9:45 Break
9:45 – 11:15 Breakout Sessions
11:15 – 12:30 Lunch and Speaker
12:30 – 1:00 Closing Remarks
Location:
Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel
1000 Galleria Circle
Birmingham, AL 35244
Cost:
$375 per person Early Bird Registration until December 1, 2026
$399 pr person after December 1, 2026
Breakfast and lunch included. Limited capacity.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
Conference will support three pathways of learning:
Classroom Teachers
District and School Administrators
ELL Teachers/Specialists
Keynote Author:
Dianne Fenner
Keynote title: Sharing the Responsibility, Sharing the Joy: Engaging All Educators in Multilingual Learner Advocacy
Are you ready to share the responsibility and the joy of working with multilingual learners with your whole team? Join Dr. Diane Staehr Fenner for an inspiring keynote to begin our day together. Grounded in the second edition of her forthcoming book Advocating for Multilingual Learners: A Guide for Educators, she will introduce a practical framework for building a culture of shared responsibility in your context. Walk away with the tools and next-step strategies you need to strengthen supports and elevate multilingual learner success across your entire school community.
Breakout title: Three Easy Instructional Moves that Transform ML Student Engagement
Multilingual learners are present in most classrooms, yet many teachers feel unsure about how to support them in the content areas. The good news is that small instructional shifts can make a big difference. In this interactive session, you will take part in three easy-to-implement strategies that make instruction more accessible for multilingual learners while also boosting comprehension and engagement for fluent English speakers. You will leave with practical tools you can use tomorrow to support language development and deepen learning for all students.
Keynote Author:
Beth Skelton
Keynote title: Creating Conditions for Success for Multilingual Learners
Educators have the power to create classroom conditions that welcome and nurture multilingual learners, no matter their linguistic, educational, or experiential background. In this interactive, practical keynote address, Beth will share tools and strategies that create the conditions for our multilingual learners’ academic success. By creating fertile soil for growing language and content in our classrooms, our students can flourish.
Breakout Title: Establishing Comprehensible Input for Newcomers
Newly arrived multilingual learners need significant support in mainstream classrooms, and making content comprehensible is critical to their academic success. Participants in this dynamic and interactive session will experience learning content in a new language. The demonstration lesson will model strategies based on three guiding principles for supporting newcomers in grade-level content classes. Participants will leave the session with a toolbox of strategies they can use when teaching newcomers at any grade level.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Diane Staehr Fenn
er, Ph.D., is a former ELD teacher and the author of nine books on multilingual learner education. She is the founder and president of SupportEd, a woman-owned small business based in the Washington, DC region that provides professional learning, coaching, and technical assistance to empower MLs and their educators. She grew up on a dairy farm in Central New York State, speaks fluent German and Spanish, and is a first-generation college graduate.
Beth Skelton
When I was 14, I traveled to Germany for the first time on a cultural exchange program. I had not yet learned any of the language and I was desperate to communicate with the other kids in the host family. I struggled to understand the directions for games and follow dinner time conversations. After just a few days, I felt like I would never be able to understand this new language. Then, one day, my four year old host sister, Sophia, took my hand and led me into the garden. She pointed at a tree and said, “der Baum”; she pointed up at a bird and said, “der Vogel”; she picked a flower, gave it to me and said, “die Blume.” Suddenly, I could understand. My four year old teacher showed me that I could learn the language. By taking my hand that day, she led me to my future career path and passion: language acquisition.
Since that experience, I’ve earned a bachelor’s degree in German language and literature and a master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages. I’ve taught German and English as an Additional Language in elementary, middle, high school and adult programs in urban, suburban, rural, and international settings. Since 2013, I have coached, consulted, and provided professional learning in schools across the US and around the world.