Browse previous offerings to get an idea of what will come in 2026.
Registration includes breakfast snacks, a boxed lunch, and conference materials.
Registration is $25 for tutors and staff, or $20 for adult learners, other students, and AmeriCorps members.
2024 Information Tables
>> Enjoy breakfast snacks with vegan and vegetarian options before the opening session.
Office of the Illinois Secretary of State
Maps, Rules of the Road, and other government materials are available for the taking.
Illinois Community College Board
Learn about ICCB services, professional development, and additional support for adult education programs.
Literacy Works
Explore Literacy Works range of community literacy resources, professional development opportunities, and Clear Language Lab services.
Mile Square Health Center – UI Health
Health literacy materials, services information, and appointment assistance provided by health center staff.
ScaleLIT
Learn about employment and other programs available to adult learners, along with programs and other services available to agencies who are scaleLIT members. Information also available on the North and South/West Literacy Coalitions and the Hispanic Literacy Council.
UIC Center for Literacy
Information on the various literacy and other programs available to families – children and caregivers as well as training and other opportunities available to professional educators and the general public.
Book Give-Away
Used books are available to take home with you – help yourself!
2024 Main Sessions
Opening Speaker (morning): Alderman Andre Vasquez, Alderperson of Chicago’s 40th Ward
Born and raised in Chicago, Andre Vasquez is the Alderperson of the 40th Ward. Since coming into office in 2019, he has worked to make city government more accessible, transparent, and accountable to the people of Chicago, and to engage and empower the neighbors in our community. Prior to his life in Public Service, he was the Illinois Director for AT&T Connected Communities, a local Community Organizer with the Peoples Lobby, and a Hip Hop Artist. He has brought those different experiences and perspectives to City Council to improve government services while creating community-centered development. Alderperson Vasquez is the Chair of Chicago’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Vice Chair of the Committee on Transportation, Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus, and Vice Chair of the Latino Caucus.
Keynote Speaker (afternoon): Secretary Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Secretary of State
Alexi Giannoulias was sworn into office as Illinois’ 38th Secretary of State on January 9, 2023. The Secretary of State’s office is the largest of its kind in the nation, processing more transactions and being visited by more residents than any other. The office, which oversees 25 different departments and nearly 4,000 employees, completes more than 30 million transactions and generates more than $3 billion in annual revenue. The Secretary of State in Illinois is also the Illinois State Librarian, a position near and dear to us providing us with a treasure trove of online and print resources including volunteer tutor training and New Reader Book Collections, award opportunities to recognize our tutors and students, and most importantly funding to keep our programs operating and students being served in local communities throughout the state. For FY2024 that amounts to $5.7 million in adult literacy grants supporting more than 8,500 adult learners and 4,500 volunteer tutors, with another 500 families and nearly 700 children participating in the Penny Severns Family Literacy Grant Program. In addition to his current service as Secretary of State, the Honorable Alexi Giannoulias also served as the elected Illinois State Treasurer – the youngest in the nation at age 30. He is also a past chairman of the Illinois Community College Board and a past member of Chicago Public Library’s Board of Directors.
Tutor of the Year Award (afternoon)
The Tutor of the Year Award honors the volunteer tutors whose dedication makes adult literacy programs possible across Illinois. The ceremony highlights the creativity, consistency, and compassion that volunteer tutors bring to their work each day, whether supporting brand-new readers, helping adults prepare for citizenship, or offering encouragement to learners rebuilding their confidence. The session also celebrates the collective impact of literacy programs across the state and reaffirms the importance of volunteer-driven education. The afternoon concludes with the presentation of the conference’s highest honor, the Tutor of the Year Award, recognizing exceptional service and commitment to learner success.
2024 Lunchtime + Discussions
>> Enjoy a catered lunch with vegan and vegetarian options. Facilitated discussions during lunch are available.
Raising Awareness for Adult Education
This discussion will explore how adult education practitioners and learners can better explain the work they do and their experiences in adult education programs to those who may not be familiar with the field. Then, conversation will expand to how we can discuss the field of adult education with stakeholders across the board in advocacy and awareness efforts.
Connecting with Career and Digital Pathways Navigators
Digital literacy and workforce development are vital in today’s economy and offer tools for adult learners to succeed in their individual goals. Hear about a day in the life of scaleLIT’s digital and career pathway navigators to learn how your organization may benefit from their work and resources.
The VOCAL AmeriCorps Journey
Interested in hosting an AmeriCorps member or becoming one yourself? Hear from current coordinator of LVI’s VOCAL program, Rhianna Brandt, about opportunities to support your organization, learn new skills, and engage in meaningful work through AmeriCorps.
2024 Round 1 Workshops
Resources, Research and Community for Teaching Low Level English Language Learners
Have you ever heard of Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA)? It is an international organization that promotes high-quality, research-based education for second language learners with emerging literacy and limited or interrupted formal education. Join this session to learn what LESLLA offers for adult ESOL teachers and tutors and how to access the resources. We will preview the LESLLA website – curated collections of free and low-cost level-appropriate readers, recordings of professional development trainings, etc. – and how they can help address common challenges in teaching and tutoring ESOL literacy learners. Participants will have time to explore the website on their own before the session wraps up with a Q&A.
Money Math Matters: Financial Literacy Instruction and Activity Ideas
This session will focus on real-world money education that delivers financial topics and tools, making mathematical educational connections for all learners. Participants will be involved with hands-on activities, apps, and websites that work with concepts such as: opening and managing checking and savings accounts, understanding banking accounts, basic budgeting, and using credit wisely. Gain ideas for activities that your learners can complete and conclude that money management is fun and easy to understand.
Ten (Not-So-Secret) Rules of English Speech
Do you ever wonder why your ESL students just don’t sound right when they speak, even though they do a decent job pronouncing each word? This session will explore ten “secret” rules of English speech patterns that native speakers follow unconsciously, making English sound “natural” and clear to native speakers. By knowing these rules and imparting them to our students, we can help them make that magical leap into more natural sounding English.
Rocket to Literacy
Explore ALfA, an innovative approach called “Accelerating Literacy for All” designed to teach literacy and numeracy skills swiftly. This revolutionary method promises to leave you invigorated, envisioning the potential of incorporating ALfA into your programs and expediting your students’ journey to literacy. This approach is tailored for adults with limited or no literacy experience.
Teaching Literacy through Poetry in a Multilevel Classroom
Poetry can be a great genre to use with emerging readers and writers. In this training, you’ll learn activities and poems to try out with students, and you’ll explore how to approach the same poems with learners of different levels. Jane Rothschild teaches a multi-level, poetry-centered class for adult learners, and she will share her approach with concrete examples from her classroom. This training is for teachers of multi-level groups and for anyone who wants to incorporate more poetry into their lessons in a one-one, small group or whole class setting.
Teaching Techniques: Experiences that Inspire (This session will be presented in Spanish)
The purpose of this workshop is to provide participants with a refresher on teaching-learning procedures, techniques, methods and strategies to be used in teaching practice in working with Spanish-language learners. Workshop objectives include: 1. Recognize the four categories of didactics used in the teaching-learning process. 2. Describe the essential functions of Teaching Techniques in the world of didactics.
Técnicas de enseñanza, experiencias que inspiran
El propósito de este taller es proporcionar a los participantes un refrescamiento de procedimientos, técnicas, métodos y estrategias de la enseñanza aprendizaje para ser utilizados en la práctica docente. Objetivos de taller: 1. Reconocer las cuatro categorías de la didáctica utilizadas en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje. 2. Describir las funciones esenciales de las Técnicas de enseñanzas en el mundo de la didáctica.
2024 Round 2 Workshops
Breaking Down Industry-Recognized Credentials
Within each career pathway is typically a series of credentials that individuals might need or want to have in order to be hired or be successful in a sector. This workshop will review understanding industry recognized credentials. How to incorporate them into your programming for practitioners and how to find where they are offered for learners.
Modeling of Actionable Empathy and Compassion in Teaching English Language Learners
Teachers and tutors are called to play a leading role in modeling actionable empathy and compassion, the kind of empathy that moves us to act. In this presentation, I plan to share a few practical ways to model actionable empathy and compassion founded in ubuntu principles. This modeling promotes collective healing by 1) building much-needed safe space in the learning environment, 2) cultivating trust, 3) developing activities that promote kindness and unity, and 4) enhancing an environment conducive to learning. Actionable empathy and compassion need to be intentional and engage individuals who have experienced socio-political upheaval and disruptions, violence, and individual or collective trauma.
How to Not Screw Up Teaching Adults to Read
This interactive presentation will focus on subjects ranging from what materials to use, to creating a safe, nonjudgmental space for students to learn. We will discuss the methodology used and the role of the teacher/tutor in the classroom. Finally, participants will get a chance to try out some techniques that have proved effective in teaching adults to read. Note: This presentation is based on Joanne’s book 33 Ways Not to Screw Up Teaching Adults to Read. Participants will leave with a plethora of ideas to engage adult literacy students. We discuss the barriers and impediments to adult education and how to get around them.
Plain Language for Teachers and Tutors
How can we communicate more effectively with the people we learn with in our classes and tutoring sessions? This session is for teachers and tutors working with adult learners. We’ll talk about giving clear instructions, creating usable worksheets and handouts, and writing clearly. While this session will focus on applying plain language practices to the classroom, many of the strategies we’ll talk about are applicable to other program staff as well.
Speaking, Writing, and Sharing Our Stories: A Social Justice Approach to Literacy Learning
Storytelling is perhaps the most universal way in which people teach and learn; it is a fundamental medium for expressing and exploring one’s lived experiences. Unfortunately, because storytelling — and in particular story writing – is considered a complex literacy task, it is rarely incorporated into adult beginning English language and literacy classes. And yet, learners can tell deep stories with simple language. In this workshop we’ll focus on meaningful writing activities you can do with beginning English language and literacy learners. We’ll talk about and model routines, practices, and prompts you can use to help build literacy skills while writing about life experiences. Finally, we’ll share student work and project ideas to ground our conversation in student and teacher experiences.
Connecting to the City Colleges of Chicago
Adult Education practitioners interested in connecting Adult Learners with an interest in continuing their education in ESL, GED, and Spanish GED classes at the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) can join this workshop and learn about: Adult Education at the CCCs, Resources for CCC students, Available Programs, Career Grow Chicago, Bridge Programs at CCC, Supports for Bridge Participants, and Connecting for Summer.
2024 Round 3 Workshops
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Adult Literacy Teaching and Tutoring
Are you curious about Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Do you want to know how AI can help you with your tutoring? Come to this workshop to learn the basics of AI, what it can (and can’t) do for you, and become a better “prompt engineer.” Examples of AI prompts will be shared for basic literacy, ESL, and GED/HSE contexts. Participants will have a chance to practice writing AI prompts for their own context.
Educating English Learners About Crimes and Crime Survivor Rights & Resources
Trainers from Apna Ghar, Inc., an organization addressing gender-based violence, will lead an informational session on the crimes and rights violations that immigrants and refugees often face. They have developed simple English informational flyers and will lead participants in discussions on how these materials and Apna Ghar PowerPoint slides can be infused into ESL curricula.
Approaches to Serving New Arrivals – Experiences for the Field
Adult education practitioners from urban, suburban, and rural programs will discuss their approaches to serving newly arrived migrant students. With panel moderator Chana Sternberg, panelists Laura Moreno, Mike Moline, and Jim Roberts will share how their programs work to meet the needs of these students with diverse language and academic goals. In addition, panelists will discuss how they connect students with resources beyond the adult education classroom and how other literacy practitioners can consider the needs of new migrant students in their own programs.
Literacy for the Whole Family: Boosting Reading Levels at All Ages
Tutors and teachers are doing an incredible job supporting adult learners as they learn new skills – but what about the kids at home? Many of our learners have children in their lives and those children can play an important role in the education of their adults. Reading is reading, whether it’s a news article or a children’s book. Involving their kids can be a great way for adult learners to practice their skills and build an environment of learning and togetherness at home – win-win! In this training, we’ll share techniques for encouraging more family reading at home and discuss the importance of families learning together. We’ll practice how to read with children and how crafts and games boost reading skills. (Yes, we’ll have some fun craft ideas!)
Say It with Photos!
There are so many ways that photos can be used as a catalyst for developing language and literacy skills. In this workshop, we’ll explore a variety of photo-based activities that you can use to help students develop vocabulary, practice speaking, generate writing, and more. Activities and resources shared will work for learners of multiple levels and abilities.
The Didactic Act in Action: From Imagination to Creation (This session will be presented in Spanish)
The purpose of this workshop is to provide an update of skills and abilities focused on Play Pedagogy as an emotional activator in teaching-learning. Objectives include recognizing the importance of teacher motivation as an emotional activator in students and identifying the categories of play pedagogy and its main benefits in the educational environment.
El acto Didáctico en acción, de la imaginación a la creación
El propósito de este taller es proporcionar una actualización de habilidades y destrezas centrada en LudoPedagogía como activador emocional en la enseñanza aprendizaje. Objetivos de taller: Reconocer la importancia de la motivación del maestro como activador emocional en los estudiantes. Identificar las categorías de la ludopedagogía y sus principales beneficios en el entorno educativo.