Details
- Who: All MEA members
- Cost: FREE for members
- Contact Hours: Up to 14 hours
- Registration: Open through July 19th
- Lodging: A hotel block has been reserved at a courtesy rate and will be available on a first come first serve basis. Rooms must be booked before Monday, July 6th. MEA encourages you to check the language in your contract. Depending on the sessions you choose, you may be eligible for lodging reimbursement from the district. Additionally, check with your union leadership, as some associations include conference lodging in their budgets.
July 27 – July 28
Conference Opens
Monday July 27 at 8:00 a.m.
University of Southern Maine
88 Bedford Street, Portland, ME 04103
About the Event
Conference Sessions
With over 30 sessions delivered by experts in the field, we have something to offer for everyone.
Full Session List
- Developing Executive Functions in Students of All Ages
- Repairing the Harm and Leading with Conscience in Predominantly White Spaces
- AAC Implementation for Ed Techs: Providing Access to Language Across the Day
- Attendance IS Behavior
- Become More Financially Savvy and Secure
- Supporting Students and Staff Through Implementation of the Dangerous Behavior Prevention and Intervention Law
- AI in Action: From Classroom Productivity to Student Agency
- Learning and Leading Together: A Model for Building Family Leadership
- Action Steps for Equity
- Climate Literacy for All Pre-K – 12 Classrooms
- Workplace Conversations: A Lesson for School Staff
- Secrets of a Successful Organizer
- The Empty Chair: Helping Students Cope with Grief
- Strengthening Relationships through Wabanaki Studies
- Storytelling to Strengthen Your Union
- Responding to Challenging Behaviors Through Root Cause Analysis
- Teach ME Outside: Building a Culture of Teaching Outside
- Dreaming of Inclusive Media
- Special Education Referrals Post-COVID: What’s Changed and What You Need to Know
- School and Employment Law Basics
- Keeping Disruptive Students Engaged: Examining the Need for Targeted Classroom Management Training
- Building Community, Student Agency, and Critical Thinking Through Philosophy
- Roll for Initiative! Dungeons & Dragons as a Method to Teach Union Values
- Building Better Classroom Management: Assessment and Evidence-Based Classroom Management Strategies for School Teams
- Family and Community Engagement
- Playful Sensemaking: Nurturing Science and Engineering Through Play
- National Board Certification: Improve Your Teaching. Support Your Students. Earn More Money.
- End Your Day with Yoga
Keynote Speaker
Desi Peña, M.A., CCC-SLP
Bio
Desiree Peña, MA, CCC-SLP is a Maine-licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) who holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. She is the owner of Panorama Speech Therapy. In 2024, she earned the Advanced Certificate in bilingual speech-language pathology from Teachers College at Columbia University. She has extensive experience in the areas of multilingual speech and language development, AAC evaluation and treatment, and culturally responsive evaluations and therapy.
Fostering Relationships with Multilingual Students and Families
According to the Maine Department of Education’s Multilingual Learner Dashboard, the number of multilingual preK-12 students continues to increase every year. Currently, 4.7% of all Maine students are identified as multilingual learners and the number continues to grow, especially among younger students. This information highlights the need for all educators to find ways to connect with culturally and linguistically diverse students and to establish avenues for two-way communication with their parents. This keynote will highlight culturally responsive teaching practices that can be incorporated into their classroom. It will also address the important connection between educators and parents and discuss actionable strategies for strengthening engagement among the two. We will be centering the value of partnering with culturally and linguistically diverse families as a means to enrich school communities and to increase academic success for all students.
