Winter Institute

Elise White Diaz

Friday Morning

Keynote

Discover, Connect, Respond: A Practical Approach to Trauma-Informed Multilingual Education

In addition to the stress of a new country and school, many English learners come with unacknowledged adverse childhood experiences – either from their home country, the challenges of growing up in an immigrant community, or a difficult journey into the United States. In these cases, lowering students’ affective filter may not be sufficient to surmount the hurdles of behavior issues, and learning and communication difficulties.

Discover, Connect, Respond is a culturally informed, research-based system of intervention found effective with children who have come from hard places. This overview provides a foundation for understanding trauma-informed, multilingual education, and then unpacks strategies to build trust across language and cultural barriers, especially with students new to the country or those who are not progressing as expected. Participants will leave equipped with practical, easy-to-implement routines to increase language output and academic performance among their multilingual students from hard places.

More about Elise White Diaz

Elise White Diaz is well-versed in the challenges facing diverse students from difficult backgrounds.

Prior to her work in public education, Elise’s passion for trauma-informed pedagogy began when she moved to Tegucigalpa, Honduras to serve at a school for child laborers in the garbage dump. There she taught bilingual and ESL education at the secondary level, and learned so much from her students who overcame obstacles and went on to college.

Upon returning to the United States, Elise brought her experiences to a diverse district in North Texas. She wove together principles from culturally-relevant, trauma-informed education and language acquisition in innovative ways, bringing dramatic gains in standardized test (STAAR) scores. Soon after, she began to mentor and coach teachers in how to recreate these routines. Elise has served in various roles in Emergent Bilingual education, including co-teaching, instructional coaching, writing curriculum, and offering professional development to Texas schools.

As a consultant for Seidlitz Education, Elise enjoys supporting teachers in their important work of building language and connection across cultures and obstacles. She holds a Master’s degree from Fuller Seminary in Intercultural Studies and lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two children. She is a member of the National Association for Bilingual Education and Women-for-Orphans-Worldwide, and returns to Central America wherever she can.

Hear more from Elise at elisewhitediaz.com.

Astrid Emily Francis

Saturday Morning

Keynote

Honoring Authenticity

As educators, we hold a special task — to develop humanity and identity. Our students, especially our minority students, need identity affirming environments where they feel honored and validated. Our schools, our classrooms, and communities are spaces of healing and spaces where students should be encouraged to develop their identity as humanity. Emily’s experience as an English language learner affords her a deep understanding of the challenges students must overcome to find success.

More about Astrid Emily Francis

Astrid Emily Francis is an award-winning, nationally recognized ESL educator and author dedicated to empower English learners through innovative instruction and inspiring leadership. She currently teaches at Concord High School in Concord, North Carolina serving students across various levels of English proficiency. Originally from Guatemala, Emily’s journey as an English Language Learner deeply influenced her decision to become an ESL teacher, giving her unique insights into the challenges her students face and the strategies they need to succeed. She holds a BA in Spanish and an MAT in ESL from UNC-Charlotte and is pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities. Emily is a sought-after professional development facilitator, motivational speaker, and keynote presenter. She serves on the UNC-Charlotte College of Education’s Advisory Board and previously served as teacher liaison to the Cabarrus County Board of Education as a district Teacher of the Year in 2016.

She is the author of If You Only Knew: Letters from an Immigrant Teacher, widely recognized for its authentic portrayal of immigrant educator experiences.As a leader, Emily is driven to inspire students to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more.

Check out Astrid Emily Francis’ book here.