Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners: The Blog

 My heart is pounding and I didn't sleep a wink last night! FRIENDS! My book is now OUT in the world! I am so thankful for the love, support, and encouragement throughout this process. I'm so new to all of this and many days I felt like my head was spinning, but the book is now out and I'm so excited to bring this work to the world.  After serving in EL, Bilingual, and Dual Language programming for over 15 years, I have become itchy around certain words and phrases. I grew tired of hearing that the multilingual  students I served had “gaps” or were somehow “at-risk” because they were acquiring an additional language. I became angry after hearing the blanket statement of “just add visuals” to help students navigate language, culture, and content simultaneously. This is how my book came to be!  I wanted to write a book that spoke to the heart of all educators and leaders serving multilingual students and families. We know that our role extends far beyond that of instru...

Bingo ( Link to Generator ) I will be honest here- I first did this as an undergrad student in college when a certain professor was known for his unusual phrases that he'd utter throughout lectures. After a while, other students began to write down his quirky comments and eventually, Bingo Boards were discreetly passed out amongst students in class. We'd listen for him to say his words/phrases and we'd quietly mark up our bingo boards with our pencils. If we got a Bingo during class, we'd stretch our arms up high and snap once. However, now that I'm in education myself, I can see this as a fun listening activity. By clicking on the above link, you will be taken to a Bingo Board generator. It provides up to 30 free Bingo Boards. You can customize your board by theme, add in words/phrases/entire sentences, and print! You don't need to set up an account or pay for anything. The possibilities are endless!   Listening Guide or Note-Taking Doc     - You can set up a C...

 Have you seen the viral TikTok account ( @Jongraz ) dedicated to Noodle the Pug? I keep seeing stories pop up about this sweet senior posted by his owner Jonathan Graziano, like this one from the New York Times . I myself am a dog-lover, so I absolutely enjoy tuning in to see not only the adorable Noodle, but also hear the energetic narration by Jonathan.  If Noodles stands, he calls it a Bones Day, referring to the fact that Noodles "has" bones to help him stand up. On these days, Jonathan encourages us to chase our dreams, take risks, hustle, and go after whatever's on our hearts. If Noodles flops back down into his cozy bed, he calls it a No Bones Day. On these days, Jonathan tells us to take it easy on ourselves and take extra good care of ourselves. As the NY Times Article points out- both are good for us!  How FUN would it be to share this with your students? **PLEASE NOTE-- these videos are the content of the creator, so he doesn't create them with schoolchild...