Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners: The Blog

I love the field of multilingual education. I taught English Learners in an EL program for 5 years. I spent 6 years as a bilingual third-grade classroom teacher. I enjoyed 4 years as a district-wide multilingual instructional coach for 8 schools. Now I serve Illinois as a multilingual education specialist. I soak up podcasts, webinars, blogs, and professional reading. I enjoy writing, discussing, meeting with teachers, and networking. I truly light up sharing in our work.  But it's not because I love the English language. No. I'm not obsessed with English.  I didn't get into this work because I have a hopelessly devoted passion for the English language. My goal for students is not to clone perfectly proficient English readers, speakers, writers, and listeners. While language proficiency is important, that never was my ultimate goal.  I want students to be and feel equipped to be powerful communicators. I want them to freely harness their power and fearlessly share their g...

 If you identify as a fellow awkward human being - I am sending you a virtual fist bump here, because samesies . Middle school has often been referred to as an awkward stage of life. That resonates with me. As a mama of a current middle schooler, I see it.  And yes, we are all coming back to school a little more awkwardly than normal this school year. While last year was like the on-again-off-again relationship that we couldn't quite put our finger on, many of us are starting this school year in person, and it is evident that for some, our social skills may have taken a hit.  I also want to acknowledge that for some, there was an expectation that we would feel less lonely if we returned to face-to-face instruction. However, as we navigate launching a new school year mid-pandemic, many students (and teachers) are grappling with a new sensation: the disappointing realization that many of us still feel lonely , and worse- others might be able to more easily spot us in our mo...

Is your first Curriculum Night or Open House coming up? As we launch our school years, I want to share my personal top seven pieces of advice to take your first event of the year to the next level by being responsive to the families we serve.  1. Provide Childcare  We do this weird thing in education where we announce how child-centered we are but then on the first Curriculum Night invite we UNINVITE families who don't have access to childcare.  "We are child-centered and we love your kids but oh my goodness do not bring your kids to the school for this event." Provide childcare by offering activities to do with staff members who do not have a "speaking role" at the event (also consider: WHY do certain staff members not have a "speaking role" at the event?). By providing staff that hosts the activities, we can ensure that the children are safe and comfortable while families receive information. Or, perhaps during classroom presentations, educators can ...

 Prepping sub plans is not my favorite thing. And seeing memes like the one below (while giving me a momentary chuckle at first) really tells a sad reality. HOWEVER, you are a human being before you are an educator - and you deserve to stay home when you are not physically/mentally well.  What goes into your Sub Folder?  Typically, we include things like our daily schedule, a brief overview of the structure and flow of the learning environment, daily/weekly routines, etc. We may also include a list of teachers nearby they can consult if needed. Finally- and the most time-consuming - is the lesson plans across the entire day. Have you ever kept a log of everything you've done in the last 8 hours? It can get long really quickly!  In a multilingual Sub Folder, what specifically might you include? 1. Specific ways to support specific students: Identify students and also mention their composite proficiency level. If you are in a WIDA state, it may be helpful to include t...

 One of the most popular posts from my former blog (Innovative EL) was this- so I knew I had to get it back up and available for folks on my new blog!  This tool is based on WIDA performance descriptors. It is meant to serve as a starting place for educators who may not be as familiar with supports and scaffolds for multilingual learners. Each page features one proficiency level (printed twice: so page one has Level 1 at the top and also at the bottom for easy printing). Please note that these are based on general composite scores, and not on language domain scores. Ready to access the tool? Click here!  A deeper look into each individual students' scores (which I absolutely recommend providing to anyone who supports multilingual learners) can be found in the WIDA Name Charts (available on the WIDA website).   These charts are a fantastic resource that I'd recommend printing and giving to each classroom teacher, content teacher, social worker, psychologist, tea...

Here are 5 very simple messages that are great to share with families (in an email, text message, phone call, Seesaw post, etc!) during the first few weeks of school. I'm so excited that ______ is in our class this year.               Sharing your excitement will help families see how much you love and appreciate their children. I'm here to help your child grow this year, and it's important to me that they feel safe and happy at school.               Sharing this message is important because it shows that you prioritize their happiness, their joy, and their feelings of safety. It also opens the door to having a dialogue if a child is feeling left out, unwelcome, or unsafe.      My first priority is the kids, but please know I'm happy to support you and get you connected the best I can as well. I may not always have all the answers, but I'll get you in touch with someone that can help. Let me...

Like most teachers, I have a deep love for children's books, especially picture books. Every fall, I pull out a few of my go-to favorites, while I'm also always on the lookout for more! What are your favorite childrens' books to launch the school year?  Huda Essa's book Teach Us Your Name is absolutely beautiful. I find this book so empowering because it encourages children (and all of us adults, too!) to gently teach others how to say our names correctly. Our names matter and they tie us to our families, our cultures, our languages, and our heritage!  Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow is a beautifully empowering story that describes a mother telling her story all about the importance of her name! This is a great reminder that our names are important and unique- and that all of our names deserve respect!  Another great book to launch the school year is I Promise by Lebron James . I love that this book teaches readers to take care of themselves, each oth...

Many times, folks will say that communication is a two-way street. I think nowadays, it's more of a highway interchange. We have so many different ways to communicate with each other and receive information! Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash As an adult, how do you prefer to get your information? Do you listen to the radio, watch the news, or read the newspaper? Do you log on to your social media accounts and scroll through your feed? Do you have a designated phone call with a family member each week? Do you text message with your friends throughout the day? How many times per day do you check an email account- and how many email accounts do you have? Everyone has different communication styles, depending on purpose or even timing. For example, there are certain seasons of life where I'm only available through cell phone because I simply can't get to my email quickly enough. As we prep for the school year, we discuss fun and innovative ways to get to know our students. L...

     If you want to kill a few minutes, go ahead and Google "teacher ice breaker memes" and see what kind of content pops up. I see the one below quite often from BoredTeachers:  It gives me a giggle each time I see it because while I generally enjoy a good ice breaker, there have been moments where I wasn't ready or "in the mood" to participate in one. As I scroll through my social media feeds, I notice many educators create posts or write comments about the all-staff ice breaker, and many of the posts do not share warm and fuzzy feelings about them. It made me want to reflect deeper on this practice for both educators and for students.      As a multilingual educator, I am reflective about ways to lower the affective filter for students. I always take time to ensure that activities are scaffolded so that students feel ready to participate meaningfully in a low-stakes setting. I also know that as educators, we are eager to build community in our class...