Book Release! Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners

 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 instructing alone. We serve as advocates for kids and families, as community connectors to local resources, and liaisons between the home and school. We serve as instructional leaders to our peers and colleagues. We wear many hats and serve across various capacities. 

Through writing this book, I wanted to encourage us in this work. I want for all of us (myself included) to stretch beyond the practices that we’ve inherited. I hope to ignite your passion to serve families beyond a newsletter. I implore us to embrace our students’ full linguistic capacities, and not just honor English only, as we move beyond one language. I invite us to remind students of their gifts, assets, talents, passions, and dreams as we move beyond inspiration. I hope to excite us as we partner with community agencies and resources and connect beyond our school walls.  I also wish to acknowledge that we are human beings first, with our own identities, families, passions, gifts, and needs as we move beyond our call to serve.

In writing Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners, I addressed some of my own hardships and struggles. I revisited a really difficult memory of a really difficult time. However, I felt that I needed to be honest with my story and my struggles because many of us serve until we hit personal, professional, and/or spiritual breaking points - and I don’t want that for us. I hope that this story will remind you to ask for help when you need it. I hope to remind us that we all deserve a network of support that encourages us, uplifts us, shows us grace, helps us learn and grow, and shapes us beyond any one of us doing the work alone. You are a gift to be treasured. I hope that you take time to cherish who you are as a human being.

My final chapter is called Beyond Today: Holding onto Hope. I want to acknowledge that the work in disrupting a system can be challenging, discouraging, and disheartening. It can wear you down. I hope that this chapter helps you to be prepared for difficult conversations, celebrate wins of all shapes and sizes, recognize the moments of growth, and recognize the non-linear path to change. We’re in this together, friend. 

Together, let’s Move Beyond for Multilingual Learners.

You can pick up a copy of the book on Amazon! https://bit.ly/movingbeyondedu