FRIDAY OPENING KEYNOTE: Attention TESOL Professionals: The Globe IS Our Campus. Empowering Our Multilingual Learners to Ignite Positive Change…It All Begins with Us!

Whether in person or digitally, TESOL professionals have a most unique opportunity to make a difference in this world. Let’s work together, and let’s re-imagine our charge! The time is now. The place is here: CoTESOL. In this presentation, Professor Ehlers-Zavala shares her personal story of overcoming the odds. She engages the audience in a visionary journey that underscores the (1) role that TESOL professionals play in educating the leaders of tomorrow by enacting one’s own innate, or developed, superpowers; and (2) by believing in the potential that all TESOL professionals possess to lead and, consequently, impact their respective worlds, local and/or global. Through her talk, Professor Ehlers-Zavala celebrates the work of TESOL professionals across educational and geographical contexts. Through her account, enriched by interactions with her audience, she will suggest guidance to consider for elevating one another, empowering each other to stay strong and resilient, and staying engaged with the field through the professional organizations that bring us together. She reminds us that we are here to plant the seeds for what is yet to come, and that one thing is for sure… A caring and mindful approach to educating multilingual learners will go neither unforgotten, nor unnoticed. She believes that one’s time and effort will always matter and will contribute to make a positive difference even when one cannot clearly see it or ever witness it. Through her own personal/professional story, she will show how we, as TESOL professionals, are all constantly impacting and changing lives. Finally, she will strongly encourage everyone to continue to dare to dream and follow one’s passion, for she strongly believes that the outcomes will, more than likely, meet or exceed one’s initial expectations. CLDE CDE Credit: 5.09(1) ELEMENT A Audience: All members.