5 Great Conferences for ELL Teachers

TESOL International Conference
SIOP Annual Conference
Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference
Annual WIDA Conference
ACAMIS English Language Learners (ELL) Conference

Teaching English language learners (ELLs) is a challenging job that requires the teacher stay up to date on current information. It is also the role of the teacher to educate her staff about teaching ELLs. One great way to get information to share with the whole school is by attending conferences and leading professional development when you return.

TESOL International Conference

TESOL International hosts the largest professional gathering of people who teach English to speakers of other languages. Spanning multiple days in Atlanta, Georgia, the 2019 TESOL International conference will offer opportunities for graduate students to present their work, four keynote speakers and nearly 1,000 sessions to choose from. There are numerous professional networking opportunities, including a special reception for students and first-time conference attendees.

SIOP Annual Conference

SIOP stands for Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, which is a popular method of TESOL instruction. The SIOP annual conference, features the authors of the original model as well as many workshop offerings, panel discussions, and a pre-conference event as well. Hosted by Pearson, a powerhouse name in education, this conference is a big draw for both teachers and academics. The 2019 conference will be July 16-17 in Portland, Oregon, with an event on July 15th as well. Tickets range from $550 to $650, and the pre-conference is $300.

Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference

This year is the sixth annual Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference, which is a great conference for TESOL teachers. It is a single day conference that is taking place on May 24, at CUNY in New York City. This conference is an important consideration because it is a smaller conference focused on empowering students from the bottom up, as opposed to talking about top down teaching strategies. It is important for teachers of immigrant students to be aware of programs and opportunities for their students who are heading to college or the world of work. This conference is free, with free childcare available, travel stipends, lawyers available for free legal advice for students, and other opportunities in addition to breakfast, lunch, and the information sessions offered.

Annual WIDA Conference

The 7th 2019 Annual WIDA Conference will host thousands of people in Providence, Rhode Island from October 15-18. This is a great conference for ELL teachers because WIDA is a leader in assessing English language acquisition. The conference is scheduled to have over a hundred sessions to choose from and hundreds of presenters who will be available for networking. Registration does not open until April first, so it’s unknown how much it will cost this year to attend this conference.

ACAMIS English Language Learners (ELL) Conference

The ACAMIS conference is an opportunity to travel internationally to Shenzhen, China. ACAMIS is hosting their annual ELL conference on April 26-27. The focus for this international conference will be how to integrate quality instruction into classrooms where the learners have diverse backgrounds and needs. Meeting people who teach ELLs from around the world is a valuable opportunity for teachers who are able to travel for a professional development and networking opportunity. Registration costs between $240 and $320; participants pay for their own hotel room, but transportation to the conference is provided.

Staying up to date on current research and teaching strategies, meeting peers and academics in the field, and having an opportunity to learn about how other schools districts handle the challenges of teaching English to speakers of other languages are all important reasons for schools and individuals to invest in the cost of attending one of these great conferences this year. In addition, teachers who attend one of these conferences are able to take the information they learned back to their schools to share with their colleagues.