Opening session in the books, and what a transformative session it was! Always a pleasure to hear the inspiring story of 2025 IL Teacher of the Year Victor Gómez, who draws connections between the journey of the monarch butterfly to his growth as a bilingual STEM educator.

During the opening session, Illinois Superintendent Tony Sanders gave an important and hopeful reminder. Even amidst efforts to undermine the rights of bilingual students, the Summit has grown so much, we had to move to a larger space. Our bilingual parent community is powerful!

Smiles. Pom poms. Matching outfits. Buzzing conversations in a dozen languages. Multilingual JOY. We're honored to be celebrating 20 years of this important community convening this year. We can't wait to share more from today's festivities!

Getting HYPED for a day of community and connection with more than 1,000 bilingual parents from across Illinois! #bilingual #bilingualparenting

Balancing continuing education and existing work and family obligations can be a lot. That's why our courses are designed to be flexible and convenient for real educators like you, while providing vigorous and relevant training to boost your career. irc.thecenterweb.org/endorsement-courses

Did you know an Illinois educator and native of Chicago's Little Village supported the Artemis II space mission? How cool is that? Congratulations to Dr. Gonzalez on this accomplishment and thank you for being such a wonderful mentor to your students and community. wgntv.com/news/chicago...

University of Illinois professor and Chicago native played key role in Artemis II mission

As the world watched Artemis II land Friday night, the Little Village community celebrated the work of one of their own.

wgntv.com

Check out ELC’s talking points for advocates looking to protect and improve federal program for English learners. edlawcenter.org/wp-content/u...

We're still glowing with the feelings of all the multilingual JOY from NABE 2026! We appreciated the opportunity to connect with educators from around the country and celebrate our community with longtime friends and colleagues.

We join our community in mourning the Rev. Jesse Jackson and reflecting on his work for a more just future. His empowering appearance on Sesame Street, where he encouraged children of all backgrounds and languages to declare "I Am Somebody," still resonates today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuZV...

Jesse Jackson 'I Am Somebody' on Sesame Street

YouTube video by Headline USA

youtube.com

An invigorating precon from our own @mrsspinasclass.bsky.social at NABE! We talked finding glimmers, responsive strategies to support newcomers & connected with educators from across the country. A galvanizing reminder, in this challenging time, that we are not alone in this work!

Come connect with our CSEL team at #IDEACon this week! We love this dynamic conference packed with innovative spirit (and fun swag)! Thank you @ideaillinois.bsky.social for having us!

We're still buzzing over the Bad Bunny Bowl and the pride and celebration of multilingualism we're seeing all over the place in the wake of that exciting halftime show, including the highlighting of Puerto Rican Sign Language (LSPR) & the work of Celimar Rivera Cosme. parade.com/news/meet-ce...

Meet Celimar Rivera Cosme: The Puerto Rican Sign Language Performer Joining Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl

Bad Bunny is brining along Celimar Rivera Cosme—a Puerto Rican Deaf performer and sign language interpreter—to the Super Bowl halftime show. She won't just interpret his lyrics; she'll perform them.

parade.com

Are you an educator or administrator who leads the ACCESS testing process in your school? If so, this weekend's webinar with Shadia Salem is for you! Learn effective instructional practices to support student success with ACCESS. RSVP on the IRC website!

The essential question that guides my 5th grade Spanish class is “Who are the people of the Americas?” so of course I added a clip of Bad Bunny naming all of the places in the “Americas” in my slides this morning.

Excited to see the further evolution of our collaboration with Math For All manifest in this blog for #MathMonday: mathforall.edc.org/planning-for...

For the final keynote of #MultilingualIL25, we were honored to welcome Dr. Lynmara Colón, school administrator, leader and author. For more from Dr. Colón, check out her recent EdWeek article: www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Please note the following last-minute #MultilingualIl25 session change.

We were incredibly lucky to welcome @hookertech.bsky.social of K12Leaders.com as a keynote speaker for #MultilingualIL25. He created a space for educators to have a thoughtful, informative and thoroughly entertaining conversation about AI in the classroom. Thank you, Carl!

Spending extra time translating their work. Cultural code-switching. Flexibly adapting. Serving as interpreter for caregivers. What else do our multilingual learners know that they may not get credit for? Some lunchtime food for thought from @maestraolivia.bsky.social at #MultilingualIL25!

We're only on the first afternoon of #MultilingualIL25, and it's already been a memorable, informative convening! In addition to gaining strategies and resources from AI to understanding Gen-Z, hundreds of educators are connecting & showing off their multilingual pride!

We had an invigorating start to #MultilingualIL25 this morning with an engaging keynote from @mrsspinasclass.bsky.social. Carly encouraged the packed house to lean into connections, to embrace linguistic evolution, and reminded us that "the good is still happening every day." Thank you, Carly!

Our team is hard at work getting ready to welcome more than 2,000 educators for the Multilingual Illinois Statewide Conference! We look forward to learning, connecting & celebrating with our community.

Another recent study showcases how bilingual students excel in reasoning, memory, and problem-solving skills, and how speaking multiple languages can foster understanding, empathy and respect: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psyched/202510/why-bilingual-kids-have-a-learning-advantage

Why Bilingual Kids Have a Learning Advantage

Bilingual children gain more than a second language. New research shows that speaking two languages strengthens memory, reasoning, and adaptability.

psychologytoday.com

Happy American Education Week! To the many teachers — not to mention school support staff, administrators, paraprofessionals & many others — who make our school communities go, we see you and we appreciate you!

Are the shorter days getting you down? Seeking something to reenergize you? Get that creative spark back at IRC Specialist Olivia Mulcahy's supportive Free Write sessions! RSVP at the IRC website.

It's #FavoriteBookFridays! Sharing this great new list from School Library Journal with four current, engaging YA titles telling Indigenous stories, perfect for young readers in November and beyond! https://www.slj.com/story/4-ya-novels-for-native-american-heritage-month

4 YA Novels for Native American Heritage Month

Native American Heritage Month, celebrated in November, celebrates the rich histories, cultures, achievements, and stories of Indigenous peoples across the United States. Share these four YA titles, all with Indigenous protagonists, with young readers in time for NAHM and anytime during the year.

slj.com

Today is World Kindness Day! Check out this thread of ideas of how to celebrate kindness by teachers, for teachers: https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1111pe2/random_acts_of_kindness_week/

If there's one thing educators love, it's talking about books! Book enthusiasts won't want to miss the featured session on Tuesday, 12/9 at Multilingual IL, where IRC Specialist Maggie Essig takes you through must-haves for your classroom library! tinyurl.com/MultilingualIL25

At last year's Multilingual IL conference, IRC Director Josie Yanguas was presented with a beautiful quilt featuring past conference themes! How many of these do you remember? Share your memories with us & RSVP to make some new memories at this year's conference! tinyurl.com/MultilingualIL25

Multilingual students often serve as interpreters for their parents & caregivers. Here's some simple ways schools can help support & empower children who take on this role: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/empowering-children-of-immigrants/202510/simple-ways-schools-can-support-students-who

Simple Ways Schools Can Support Students Who Translate at Home

Many multilingual children serve as “little interpreters” for their families, balancing translation duties with schoolwork. Schools can ease this burden by offering support, validation, and inclusion.

psychologytoday.com