#LoveOurLanguages Campaign: Part 2

 **This is Part Two in a multi-part series on creating a #LoveOurLanguages campaign in your school or district! Please check out Part One by clicking here.**

By now, you (hopefully) have several posters on classroom doors around your school. How exciting! Teachers have led conversations with students about languages that we have present in our classrooms, and students have started to become more aware of the languages all around them! 

What next?

Now is the perfect time for us to start taking some actions, one of which is to start conversations with colleagues and teammates about how to actively incorporate heritage language usage into our day. 

Wait! Don't panic! You don't have to be multilingual in order to do this! By exploring various ways to do this, you are demonstrating the value and respect you have for languages of those you serve - which is powerful and goes a long way in modeling linguistic appreciation, respect, and validation.

You may wish to start with a classroom inventory reflection tool. One such tool you may wish to use is linked here (BONUS: This tool is also linked in my upcoming book! EEK! Details soon!). This is a great reflection inventory that you can use to set goals for yourself and your teammates. 

By looking at our classrooms, we can examine the ways that we can potentially integrate heritage language usage into our curriculum, instruction, and assessment. We can examine our bookshelves (either physical or digital) and posters to see if languages other than English are available for students. We can also examine the walls in our spaces to see if heritage languages are present. Cognates are a great opportunity for us to demonstrate metalinguistic connections between languages. Colorin Colorado has a special feature that lists English and Spanish cognates (once you're on the website, be sure to click the blue See Guide button to view the list, and also take a moment to view the video!). 

We can also intentionally create linguistic inclusivity by embracing and also encouraging translanguaging in our classroom spaces. If students share a language, you can invite them during the next "Think-Pair-Share" activity to speak in the language of their choice. Easy! "But Carly, what if they're not on task? How will I know they're doing what they're supposed to do if I don't also speak that language?" I don't worry about this, because I trust my students! Are they off-task sometimes? Maybe, but sometimes they're off-task in English, too. They're still kids.  I would much rather have a student off-task once in a while rather than have my own worry impede on an opportunity to embrace our students' linguistic assets! 

Using technology to support language usage is also a great way for us to incorporate multiple languages into our day. A tool such as this one is great! I originally learned about this from Multilingual Leaders Dr. Irina McGrath and Michelle Shory (check out their website ELL 2.0 here). They have an excellent video with instructions and examples at this link - you won't believe how easy this is to get set up. It takes just minutes! Once it's set up, what do you do with it?

Identify key words in your upcoming math unit or social studies text. Pop those into the generator and voila!- you have an instant, printable multilingual word wall! In addition, you can print these multilingual lists out and send these home in family newsletters. Perhaps the student does not have that particular language's literacy skills, but maybe a loved one or caregiver at home does- and THAT'S POWERFUL! 

You may also wish to start having conversations with leaders across the school. Check out the common areas for students and teachers. Are languages other than English present on your walls? A schoolwide language representation tool is linked here. 

What else can you think of? The possibilities are endless! 

**Stay tuned for the next part in the series that will help us to focus on Family & Community!**