Why is it necessary to explicitly teach and foster listening skills, specifically for language learners? What tools and activities can be used to practice listening in a culturally responsive and engaging way for all students? What do authentic conversations and listening comprehension activities sound like, and how can educators more effectively encourage these in their students? Those topics and much more with Theresa Blanchard and Paul Hernandez from Sanger Unified School District in Californ...
Jun 21, 2022•52 min
What are some of the biggest obstacles for multilingual learners in many widely used intelligence tests? How can assessments be altered to more accurately test thinking rather than language skills or content knowledge? As more students are identified as gifted and talented with more accurate testing, how can teachers begin to better support these students? We discuss these questions and much more with Dr. Jack Naglieri. Dr. Naglieri is widely known for his efforts to increase participation of tr...
Jun 07, 2022•48 min
What vital roles do social and cultural capital play in determining the opportunities available to new arrivals? How can peers be leveraged to help newcomers cross the we/them divide while growing academically? What does it mean for new arrivals to “cross the finish line” and what are a few key steps educators can take to help them get there? We discuss these questions and much more with Pamela Broussard. Pamela Broussard is a passionate keynote speaker, presenter, and high school New Arrival Ce...
May 24, 2022•52 min
How can concepts like “teacher identity” and “learning leader” transform how educators show up in the classroom? What is the difference between directive and generative scaffolding, and how can one be significantly more constructive for ELs? What roles can deep culture, identity, and instructional power play in crafting more equitable teaching styles? We discuss these questions and much more with Tanji Reed Marshall, who was highly recommended by our friend Jeff Zwiers form Stanford Graduate Sch...
May 10, 2022•54 min
How does the teaching outlined in his book 7 Steps to a Language Rich classroom help bridge the gap between research and practice? What outcomes or impact has John and his team seen on student performance in classrooms where the 7 steps methodology has been implemented? What would John say to educators who may be interested in trying the 7 Steps but may have lingering questions about the potential loss of agency or the level of fidelity needed to effectively implement? On this episode, we bring ...
Apr 26, 2022•56 min
How can relationship building and interpersonal connection play a vital role in English learners developing a love of reading? What can educators do to encourage students to move outside of their comfort zone at school, especially when it comes to reading academic content? How can providing students with leadership opportunities enhance learning and inspire students to think in new ways? We discuss these questions and more with Shreya Rohatgi, a first-year college student at the University of Ok...
Apr 18, 2022•34 min
What is the relationship between decoding and comprehension when reading, and why is it important for educators to prioritize both? Why are key literacy resources like school librarians or educational media specialists and classroom libraries growing scarce and what are the consequences? How can listeners begin to take steps on a micro and macro level to improve flawed education policies that are impacting multilingual learners? We discuss these questions and much more with Dr. Kathy Escamilla a...
Apr 12, 2022•47 min
We are back with part two of our series exploring the challenges that US born children of immigrants. In part one of the series we spoke with sociologist, author and professor Dr. Joanna Dreby about the work she has done in this space. This week we hear from three undergraduate and graduate students who understand this experience firsthand and worked with Dr. Dreby on her research. These interviews will give listeners a powerful firsthand look at how they can better serve these students in their...
Apr 05, 2022•33 min
How are the challenges and experiences of English learners born in the US different than those who have recently arrived and why is so important for educators to understand them? In what ways does family members’ citizenship status and fear of deportation or separation affect these students? What kinds of social-emotional supports can educators leverage to help support these students in the classroom, and what policy changes can they advocate for at a local level? We discuss these questions and ...
Mar 29, 2022•37 min
Here are some questions we discuss in this episode with our guest Marcy Voss. Why are multilingual learners so often overlooked and underrepresented in gifted and talented programs in schools? How can educators better identify the many gifted English learners, and adopt an asset-based approach moving forward? What are some strategies teachers can use to support language needs without compromising the depth and complexity of the content and instruction? We discuss these questions and more with Ma...
Mar 15, 2022•41 min
Given the fact that passive listening is happening all the time at school, why is creating deliberate, high-quality listening exercises for multilingual learners so important? What are some authentic ways to assess listening comprehension that will better gauge ELs’ understanding while also preparing them for important state assessments? How can in-class listening activities help ELs to build background knowledge and master academic vocabulary - two of the biggest hurdles facing language learner...
Mar 01, 2022•42 min
What benefits does guided reading offer when compared to more traditional whole group instruction? How can guided reading be used to better support multilingual learners and foster cultural responsive teaching strategies? How can schools and districts design and implement professional learning opportunities to support teachers as they roll out guided learning strategies? What different factors and considerations should happen at a school in order to successfully implement the lesson study model ...
Feb 15, 2022•40 min
What is the difference between active and passive vocabulary and how does the transfer from one to the other happen? What are some simple yet effective ways that educators can build in opportunities for multilingual learners to internalize and be able to use academic vocabulary in speaking or writing? How can we build students’ confidence in speaking as they develop new language skills in and out of the classroom? We discuss these questions and much more with Natalia Heckman on this episode of H...
Feb 01, 2022•53 min
How might we design and ensure access to equitable professional learning opportunities, specifically to address the unique needs of multilingual learners? What are some tools that can be used to monitor the progress of educators through professional learning and how do we measure its impact on student progress and learning? What are some strategies to design and implement equitable professional learning opportunities that are both introspective and connected to practice? We discuss these questio...
Jan 18, 2022•54 min
In this episode, we talk about some exciting changes and improvements we have planned for Highest Aspirations. We also preview some of the topics we will be covering beginning with our first episode on January 18th. Learn more and stay up to date by joining our community at bit.ly/getmlresources . You’ll receive our weekly community brief with news and multimedia resources you can use with your colleagues and students right away....
Jan 11, 2022•3 min
The lack of teachers who have the training necessary to effectively support multilingual learners has been plaguing school districts across the country for years. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem putting multilingual learners at greater risk. Panel members from school districts and organizations around the country came together during our annual Impact Conference to discuss how they are responding to this challenge and the plans they have moving forward. Special thanks to Amaya Garc...
Dec 14, 2021•55 min
How can we help colleagues, families and community members become advocates for dual language programs? What does it mean to truly embrace biliteracy? Why is embracing bilingualism good for all students? We discuss these questions and more in part 2 of a 2 part series with Sandra Medrano-Arroyo. Sandra Medrano-Arroyo presently works at Ellevation Education as the Dual Language Instructional Content Specialist, where she has spearheaded the creation of two new instructional practices specific to ...
Nov 23, 2021•22 min
On this special episode of Highest Aspirations, we're sitting down to speak with 2021 Ellevation Scholarship Winner Jesse Ding. Jesse Ding graduated as the class valedictorian from Wilmington High School in Wilmington, Massachusetts. She is planning to study computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. In the future, she hopes to become a robotics software engineer and utilize her knowledge and expertise to program personalized assistive robots for those in need. As you'll hear in the episode...
Nov 22, 2021•25 min
On this special episode of Highest Aspirations, we're sitting down to speak with 2021 Ellevation Scholarship Winner Sirenia Garcia from Deer Park ISD in Texas. Sirenia was born and raised in Texas and plans on attending the University of St. Thomas in Houston in the fall, where she will be studying Music Education and minoring in psychology. She hopes to become a school counselor or school principal - we love to hear that! As you'll hear in the episode, Sirenia is very open about the struggles s...
Nov 22, 2021•28 min
How might growing up as a multilingual learner shape the message that educators communicate to their EL students and families about home language and learning English? What are some of the most important sources of research on dual language programs and how can they help school leaders and educators shape valuable learning experiences for all students? What are the three pillars of dual language and what role does each of them play out in high-quality programs? What challenges do we face in addr...
Nov 16, 2021•30 min
On this special encore episode, we revisit the topic of collaborating, co-planning, and co-teaching with content teachers with Tan Huynh. Tan is a career teacher specializing in language acquisition. Tan has taught students from fifth to twelfth grade in public schools, private boarding schools, and charter schools. Internationally, Tan has taught in schools in China, Laos, and Vietnam. He shares teaching strategies on his blog, Empowering ELLs, and has provided professional development training...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 7Ep. 13
In this special episode of Highest Aspirations, we feature one of our 5 Ellevation scholarship winners, Paola Gutierrez. Paola recently graduated from Tahquitz High School in Hemet, CA. She is currently attending UCLA where she is studying Human Biology on a pre-med track. As an aspiring physician, she looks forward to caring for people in low-income communities in the future. As you’ll hear in our conversation, Paola surfaces some of the challenges she has faced as a multilingual learner, but a...
Nov 02, 2021•43 min
On this special encore episode, we revisit the topic of ensuring multilingual learners have highly qualified teachers to help them achieve their Highest Aspirations - with guests Amaya Garcia and Alexandra Manuel. The lack of teachers who have the training necessary to effectively support multilingual learners has been plaguing school districts across the country for years. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem, putting multilingual learners at greater risk. We will be addressing this ch...
Oct 26, 2021•51 min•Season 7Ep. 11
How can teachers help students assert positive identities so they have the confidence necessary to achieve academic success and advocate for social justice in their schools and communities? What are some strategies teachers can use to infuse language concepts into content lessons while simultaneously providing students with the skills they will need to be successful in school and beyond? Why is it so important to have a network or “professional family” to rely on for professional learning and su...
Oct 19, 2021•43 min
What current limitations do we face in our educational system when it comes to data collection about students with limited or interrupted formal education (or SLIFE students)? How can project-based learning and group work help support SLIFE students and their classmates so they can better learn from one another? What are a few steps educators can take to be more equitable and mindful of SLIFE students in instruction and assessments? We discuss these questions and much more with Orly Klapholz. Or...
Oct 12, 2021•49 min
How can teachers structure one-to-one student conferences to help ELs own their academic growth while also building relationships? What are some innovative ways we can leverage everything from testing data, student work artifacts, and portfolios to help students and teachers set and measure progress towards goals? How can schools make these conferences and learning celebrations more widely practiced and systematic across their classrooms? We discuss these questions and more with Sarah Said. We f...
Oct 05, 2021•36 min
What’s in a name, or in this case, a label? Why do many prefer the term “Emergent Bilingual” over other terminology like English learner, LEP, or even multilingual learner? On the 40th anniversary year of the Castañeda v. Pickard Case , what progress have we made and what do we still need to do to ensure the civil rights for our multilingual learners? How might a name/title change lead to significant changes in how we perceive and educate our multilingual learners? We discuss these questions and...
Sep 28, 2021•46 min
What are some ways mindfulness activities can help multilingual students succeed and how can teachers get started using them successfully? How can educators proactively elevate the voices of their students while decreasing teacher talk time? How can we apply concepts from exercise and other training programs to academic language instruction? We discuss these questions and more in Part 2 of a two-part series with Gina (Lahpay) Lappe and Kent Dwyer. One key to their success has been intentional an...
Sep 21, 2021•28 min
What are some easy ways that content teachers and ELL specialists can collaborate to better support their multilingual learners? How can schools and teaching teams build out systems for housing key instructional resources to support practices like scaffolding? What can educators do to ensure multilingual learners have equitable access to high-quality instructional materials and content - particularly in STEM courses? We discuss these questions and more in Part 1 of a two-part series with Gina (L...
Sep 14, 2021•32 min
What are some steps that educators can take now to build positive relationships with students and their families this school year? What experiences can educators pull from to build empathy and appreciation for multilingual students and their families? How might we go beyond language so we can also build an understanding of diverse cultures, and how might that investment play out in interactions with families? We discuss these questions and more with Rosalie Metro, an Assistant Teaching Professor...
Sep 07, 2021•35 min
