I've been working on something exciting...actually, a dream -- my journey in picture books! 

      Milly’s Journey — (4 BILINGUAL book series)

Serie description: From a small village in Guatemala to a snowy street in America, this is the powerful true story of one girl’s journey to reunite with her mother—and the dreams and hopes she carried along the way.
Milly grows up helping her family, selling oranges, and dreaming of becoming a teacher. When Mama leaves for America, Milly holds onto her letters like treasures. Years later, when the time comes to cross borders and brave the unknown, Milly packs more than clothes—she carries memories, hope, and love in every step.
Told with poetry, heart, and courage, Milly’s Journey is a series of stories of resilience, family, and the strength it takes to follow your dreams—even when the road is long.

From making tortillas to classrooms, from orange baskets to big dreams—this is the true story of a little girl with a very big heart.​

Milly grew up in Guatemala helping her family, walking long miles to school, and dreaming of becoming a teacher. With courage in her feet and hope in her heart, she discovers the power of learning, hard work, and never giving up.

Where the Dreams Take Root is a moving picture book about resilience, family, and the roots and dreams that carry us forward.

I cannot wait to share more information soon. I have several families reading book 1 and book 2 -- BETA readers will provide valuable feedback to edit the book.

The expected day of release for Book 1 is July 1st so mark your calendar!! 

I am so honored to see THE Latinx Education Collaborative, based in Kansas City, Missouri, facilitate this book study with MY BOOK!

I've been fortunate to attend several professional developments and learning opportunities offered by the LEC, and now I'm thrilled to see my book included in their programs. 
Here's a virtual chat we had on February 20th that gives you a sneak peek at the writing process and what led to sharing these stories.

Register Today: leckc.org/springbookclub

I had never had to do this before but this school year I had to. Several of our newcomers (1-2 years in the US) are failing my Math I inclusion course so I had to do something about it.
After watching my co-teacher implementing strategies and methods to make content accessible and using home language to access content, our newcomers were still failing the course.  So, I decided to call our students' parents and bringing into the plan to ensure students' success. 
I called all our newcomers' parents who were failing and scheduled a patent/teacher conference. Of course, not all were able to come to campus to meet with me, so I scheduled a few home visits. 

Before meeting with family, I created a folder for each student and it included a "parents in the web" form (see below) with students' strengths's and grades per course taking during school year 2024-2025. We celebrated courses passed during Fall semester and analyzed current grades during Semester 2.  

Meetings:
Shoutout to Dr. Anderson for sharing this awesome handout I modified & translated. This Reflections & Goal Settings handout is amazing (see below)!

•  Each meeting started by sharing students’ strengths & what I love about them.

I also praised their semester 1 and counted the number of credits earned based of passed courses.

•  We discussed areas of growth based on current performance in each course.
•  We looked at the student’s HS journey & how many credits will each grade level need for promotion AND graduation.
•  We analyzed each course and discussed reasons for failures (if any) & discussed consequences if they fail 2nd semester

TOGETHER we drafted a plan & actions moving forward — LOVED hearing caregivers input & actions to collaborate with us!!
I cannot wait to complete these conferences & continue seeing our students grow linguistically, socially, culturally, emotionally, personally, AND academically!

If you like this form and is something you'd like to use with your students' parents, HERE is link that allows you to make a copy and use as you like.

I'd love to hear from you if you decide having these conferences and using this form. We're in this togethers! This is why I'm sharing not only my experiences but also my resources.

Thank you for reading!

​Just in case you are keeping up with my doctorate journey...I'd like to share my strategies to assignments. As an English language learner, I am always applying strategies I teach my students to be successful in literature assignments. Here's my stamina strategy:

I had to read a 29 page article and annotate...
This week, my homework assignment consisted on reading 2 articles (lengthy), and 2 chapters from our Critical Thinking book, and respond to our readings SUBSTANTIVELY!
Anyway, as soon as I saw the assignments my I felt a knot in my stomach…SO MUCH!!! My ELL brain quickly dismissed my potential and fear took over me.
But, fear is just an emotion! I’ve taught my students how to target lengthy texts…including text above their grade level.

• I started with meta cognition strategies— thinking about my thinking!
• I downloaded the article
• I played the read-aloud feature (listen for fun)
• I played a second time — now annotating (colors)
• I read (out loud) my own annotations & wrote connections
• I responded to the text
• I did this for both articles. I don’t want to just scan the assigned readings. I want to learn!!
• If I have to do this for all my assignments….so be it! But I’m enjoying my Doctoral journey and I want to keep it this way!

Are you an ELL who faces this struggles?!? Share with me? How do you make it through PRODUCTIVE STRUGGLES?!?

And so it begins...the Doctoral journey is real now!! After 12 years teaching ESL and 20 years in Cab Co. Schools, I am beginning a new educational journey - Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities. I will be attending Molloy University in NY but my program is all online. 
Of course, I will be attending part-time and it will probably take me 5-10 years but I am ok with this. I have 10-12 years left in the classroom and I will be prepared by the time I am done teaching in classrooms. 
When I grow up, I want to be a college professor. I want to teach future educators and also provide professional development to teachers in districts who need PDs. 

I am very excited for this journey and I'm so blessed to have many friends on my corner who are offering their support. 
It is also exciting to see my children's reaction to this news. My 10 year-old daughter said, "wow! You'll be Doctor Francis?" and my son who lives in TX received a text with the news and THIS was his respond - I'm a blessed mommy!

My students and former students are also excited for me. They have sent countless messages congratulating me and sharing their admiration for my journey.

If you are reading this, THANK  YOU! I know this is just a personal post but I wanted my readers to connect with me in all I do. My Doctoral student life will be something I will be sharing with you all so stay tuned.

Thank you for reading! 

Yours In equity,


​Emily ​

You are invited to attend a Zoom book study interest meeting on Thursday, November 14th, 2024. During the interest meeting we will discuss the format of our book study and dive into the book's forward by Cornelius Minor and the introduction of the book. This conversation will help you decide if you want to participate in our book study. No need to get the book until you know you're participating...although I HIGHLY recommend getting this book. 

The book: Nourishing Caregiver Collaborations: Elevating Home Experiences and Classroom Practices for Collective Care by Nawal Qarooni - (read all about the amazing author)

Caregiver collaborations and/or family engagement is a topic so close to my heart. Teachers, schools, and districts are always searching for ways to increase family engagement and collaboration with students' parents and caregivers -- Well, here's a great opportunity to learn how to do this important work...but it starts with knowledge and understanding of BEST PRACTICES.

If you want to join this book study, you can comment below this post or email me at [email protected]

I hope you join us!!!

Update: Check out this video with all the book study information! 


Yours In Equity

I couldn't think of a better way to wrap up the school year with my newcomer students than by creating a podcast!
I am ending the school year with 16 newcomers. This is my students' first year in the US and their first course to learn English as an additional language, acculturate, and begin their immersion in the US school system.

Throughout the school year, we engaged in many lessons where students had the opportunity to grow emotionally, academically, linguistically, and socially. Stories after stories and activities after activities, my students had the space and time to process their experiences and continue developing their identity as learners while making connections and creating interactions. 
The core of everything we do in my newcomers' course is HUMANITY. Growing and developing our humanity FIRST is more important than anything else.  
​
I hope you enjoy listening to their learning experiences. 

• Give students a few minutes (or as long as they need to look through their notebook(s) and choose 3 favorite lessons for the school year (or semester). 
• Provide sentence starters or sentence frames for what you expect them to say. Keep it simple and challenge your higher-level proficiency students to add complex sentences. 

My name is ___________. I am from ________. I go to ____________ School. I am in ________ grade.
This is my ________ school year in the US.  I am in _________ class.

My first favorite lesson this school year (semester) was _____________, because ___________.
My second favorite lesson this school year (semester) was __________, because ____________.
My third favorite lesson this school year (semester) was __________, because _____________.

My least favorite lesson this school year (semester) was __________, because ______________.
This was (a great) OR (not great) class because  __________________.

• Allow your newcomers to complete these sentence frames in their home language THEN translate it to English. Once is translated, a one-on-one conference can help with teaching students to see the errors in their sentences and the correct translation.
• Once corrected, have students re-write the text OR type the message onto a blank document. 
• Have the students practice hearing the text. This can be done by pairing the student with another student who can model reading the text OR you can use a read-aloud feature so students are hearing the text out loud. 
• Have them read it to YOU (the teacher) before recording their text so you can approve their pronunciation of all the words. They can record at home or school ONCE you have approved it. There are several free tools online to have students record. We are using our Canvas recording feature - nothing fancy!
• Create a teacher account on Podcasters.spotify.com and open your class podcast. 
• Upload your students' voice messages and add as much as you'd like explaining what the student is sharing. I will be adding a 1-on-1 interview with some students.

If you choose to do this, let me know! I'd love to hear your class's episodes. 

Thank you for reading!

This post is wrapping up the writing lessons I've shared in three previous posts. My newcomers are finishing up their first semester in the US and I wanted to demonstrate how capable and successful they can be with writing and demonstrating their understanding. 

As I stated in my previous post, my newcomers are at all different levels for writing. Some can write in English on their own, others just need a little support from peers, while others need teacher support to guide their writing.

Because all students are at different levels, I incorporated an activity for all students to complete while we were finishing up our final essay draft.

The editing process for newcomers DOES NOT need to be complicated. Do NOT make it too much that they can't handle because is too overwhelming. My editing process was simple and doable. The goal was to have peer and teacher reviews. This allows newcomers to feel empowered because they edit a peer's work.

Objective: I can make my summary better by having my peers and my teacher edit my writing. 
This objective was comprehensible and doable by all students. We discussed that "edit" is simply reading and fixing what you think needs to be fixed. I modeled it with a paragraph adding periods, fixing capital letters, adding commas, fixing misspelled words, etc. Minor edits!

Students changed papers with a peer and they all received a PEN. I instructed them to NOT erase anything but to write over the written work that needed to be edited. Some students used Google Translate to verify some spellings and that was OK!

This is POST #2 of three different posts​​
Read post #1 (It's not Magic)  AND  #3 (Editing Writing Process with Newcomer)

~ "Reading is like breathing in; Writing in like Breathing out" ~ These were the words that helped me understand that the language lessons I provide to my students go hand-in-hand with the language I require them to produce. I understand that my job as an educator is to make my students fall in love with language, words, stories, and imagination. I must maintain classroom walls dripping with language produced by them as a resource as they develop their language domains. I encourage you to read Ms. Allyn's article HERE. 
So, with this in mind, here's the next part of the process that led to my newcomers producing the amazing writing I mentioned in Part I. 

First, I want to state that this was an improvised lesson and planned overnight.
I was in my English II inclusion class when I looked over our Vietnamese newcomer's shoulder who was looking up on Google "What is a summary?" to complete his assignment.
I realized that even if he translated the word "summarize" into his home language, he still didn't know the skill. I did not doubt that I had to cover this skill in my newcomers' class. 
I started the day with our newcomers by having students write their "I can statement" which stated that we were writing a summary.
​
I didn't want to intimidate or discourage students from having to write. I wanted them to feel successful from the beginning. I explained that a summary is just "telling the story in your own words". No grammar complications. Some might say that I need to offer more structure or a more grammatical approach. However, I advise NOT to complicate the process for beginner students. They are in the entering stages of producing language, so we don't want to make them feel that there are too many hurdles to jump through to share our thoughts on writing. In the next lesson, you'll see how editing processes allow room for grammar and more to better their writing.

I read the story out loud again, but this time it was the entire story. I had students follow along with me on the screen or in their paper magazines. Once in a while, I'd stop and they would have to say the word I left out. Again, as I'm reading, there's interaction with simple Q&A, hand gestures, body language, sounds, laughter, and excitement. 
Next, I posted a blank piece of chart paper and told them that to be able to summarize the story, we needed to pull the most important words from the story since we were NOT using the article to summarize it. The list of words we were pulling from the article was about to become the foundation of the events of the story we want to tell in our own words.
To keep them engaged and accountable, I had them also write the words on a black piece of paper so they would have them with them.
I told them that I was going to read again and STOP at the end of a paragraph to make a list of ONLY the most important words needed to retell important events. I'd circle the paragraph and say, "Tell me what is an important word that can help us make a sentence." - Students would blur out words (some good - some not so good) but I'd validate the words that would go with the events that were essential/important in the story. As a teacher, you must know that there are parts in the text that are not essential to the story. If you take that part out of the story and it doesn't affect/change the meaning/plot of the story, then it's not important. Otherwise, you'd end up with way too many words for students to follow.
As students were telling me words, I'd write them on the chart paper until I ran out of room and we got to the end of the story. I tried using a different color marker for each paragraph so they'd remember that it was a different event or paragraph in the story.   
I pointed to each word and I read them out loud. Then, I had them read them with me. 

I introduced the cause-and-effect topic to my students by co-creating an anchor chart. I say co-created because we created it all together. It was not super fancy, but it was multilingual!!!

I wrote the following sentence on the chart and had them read it with me.
"Something happens BECAUSE something makes it happen." 
I had students translate the sentence and had volunteers write the translated sentence below the English version. We had the sentence written in 4 different languages.  I explained that the CAUSE is the why (reason) and that EFFECT is the what (result).
To practice understanding this concept before applying it to text, I had this Jamboard presentation with four sentences to identify the cause (why) and the effect (what). These were simple sentences wit images that helped with comprehension. I gave students sticky notes to place on the anchor chart which part of the sentence is the cause and which is the effect. We did a couple together to model after I read each sentence aloud, chorally reading, and students read alone. I went around and checked their answers before they placed them on the chart. As I went around, I had students read the sentence to me. I was able to assess who was understanding the concept and who needed more support.

My book was published in September 2022 and in a year, close to 5,000 copies have been sold throughout the US and Canada. Thank you all for your support and for reading & sharing our stories. 
Just a couple of months ago, Sonia Rao, shared this wonderful article about my book. I'd love for you to read it and share it with those who may be wanting to buy a book that can inspire and affirm our immigrant students in the US. 

Read the article HERE - This Cabarrus ESL Teacher Wrote a Book About her Experiences as an Immigrant 

To get several copies of my book, please, go to the Seidlitz Education Website
The book is also available on Amazon. 

Thank you for reading! 

I LOVE this time of year - time of reflection and planning. Time to analyze what went well and what can get better. I'm not tough on myself. I know life is life and things happen. Sometimes things go as planned, some other times they just go the opposite of what we planned.

Anyway, while reflecting on 2022 and my #OneWord, I can see how this word really came alive. Many things unfolded in my life. I became an author, I started serving students mainly in an inclusion model, my husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary...and so much more that is UNFOLDING!

I had a busy year. I know I did. But it really hit me when I read my daughter's Christmas card message.  "I know you have been busy this year so I hope you like what I got you."
This message coming from my 8 year-old really got to me. It made me stop and think how many times have I told her "I'm busy" and put other things before her. Or how busy had I've beed that she didn't reach out to me because she knew I was "busy".

Anyway, as I was thinking about my #OneWord2023, I wanted a word that would help me with the "being busy" reflection. 
I don't think I am stopping what I'm woking on since my book just released. What I can do is BE. Unapologetically BE who I want to BE and also BE present. 

What a year!! In October 2021, I started meeting virtually with a group of teachers of newcomers who are interested in learning new strategies, and gain lessons ideas to serve and teach their  newcomers. I have a list of over 300 teachers who monthly receive an invitation to meet and learn together. Of course, not all teacher attend, but sessions are recorded and I know MANY go back and catch up on the recording.

Our monthly meeting routine is basically the same every time. We have an expert and guest speaker share for 30-40 minutes then we go into grade-level breakout rooms to discuss deeper about the topic.
In our breakout room, we have a shared document where we make notes of any ideas or resources we lean about from each other.

I am so grateful to amazing and superheroes in the field who have agreed to join us and share their expertise with us. We are better because of their teaching and guidance.

​A HUGE shoutout to these amazing #PLC4newcomers’ superstars who shared with us from November 2021 to December 2022.

If you are interested in watching our previous meetings, follow this link to my YouTube channel ===> https://bit.ly/PLCplaylist
​
We are continuing these meetings in 2023. If you'd like to joining our PLC email list, please enter your information HERE and I will make sure you're invited to our next meetings. 

November - Supporting Struggling Learners with Patricia Vitale-Reilly -- @pattyvreilly
December - Does This Work with English Learners? Holly Genova -- @GenovaHollyAnn
January - Language Lens with Sarah B. Ottow -- @SarahOttow
March - Re-Imagining Migration with Adam Strom -- @afstrom
March/April -- Ramadan with Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi - @shinram1
May - Wild About WIDA with Courtney Morgan  -- @MrsMorganTeach
June - Celebrating Us with Lee Perez - @LanguagePerez
October 2022 -- Boosting Achievement with Carol Salva -- @DrCarolSalva
November 2022 - Engaging Families with Hannah Levister -- @HannahL_MLP
December 2022 - Sense of Belonging with Valentina Gonzalez --  @ValentinaESL

If you watch any of these fantastic presentations and find it helpful, please share a comment with me. I'd love to know how we're impacting YOU and your students.

Thank you for reading and watching! 

As a longtime ELL teacher and inclusion co-teacher I work alongside content-area teachers to develop more welcoming experiences for our ELL students.
I traveled to the United States as a child with my family from Guatemala. Having lived the experience of learning English as a student, I have an instant understanding of what my ELL students are experiencing. But I know that many teachers don’t share that background. It can be a new way of thinking for teachers: What does a student who is learning English need in order to be successful in a general education setting? What does a student need to feel truly included in our learning communities?
Every teacher I know wants their classroom to feel comfortable and supportive for students. Here are 4 ways my teacher colleagues and I build those communities.

​Thank you for reading!

I had the honor and the privilege to attend and present at the 2022 Immigrants Student Success Virtual Conference. 
If you can, check out the many different recorded sessions that can help you provided support to your immigrant students. 
​
The conference covered:

• How to foster belonging, identity and self-efficacy in your students
• How to incorporate culturally relevant pedagogies
• How more diverse books can improve student outcomes
• How to strengthen teacher-student relationships
• The impact of immigration on school safety
• Using theater to build student confidence in ESOL classrooms
• New immigration lesson plans from The ILC Public Education Institute
• And much more!

You can find the agenda and ALL the recorded sessions HERE 

In May, I was thrilled to share with you the amazing cover of my book If You Only Knew: Letters from an Immigrant Teacher, soon to be published by Seidlitz Education Publishing. 

During the month of June, advanced readers' copies (ARCs) were sent out to selected readers. I don't have the words to describe the feeling when I opened the package and saw my book for the first time. It was an excitement that words cannot explain. Holding the book in my hand brought tears to my eyes. I can't wait for the world to read it.

Some readers received a hard copy of the ARC, others received an e-book. Some readers I selected just because I've followed their work and knew they would enjoy the book and provide great feedback. Other readers were selected by the publishing company or the our marketing company.
I'd have to say that PR by Books is doing an amazing job helping me promote the book and making sure the world know about this great book. Just look at this great Author's Page and the NetGalley page where you can read some reviews. 

I am honored and humbled to read these great reviews. All these authors are highly respected and are authors I personally admire and have learned from. I appreciate them taking time to read and review my book.

If you are a NetGalley member, you can request an e-book the book and provide your review. If you're on Goodreads, please, add this book to your "to-read" list! Click here to read more. 

It feels my heart with so much joy to see my friends and network tweeps reading my book and providing such heartfelt reviews and comments. I was thrilled to see THE Valentina Gonzalez ,author, speaker, and professional development facilitator, make time to read my book. Thank you to all my friends and family for your support. 

As always, thank you for reading and staying connected. Be sure co add your name to this book launch form so you are informed when you can order the book!!

Click HERE! 

​I have to be transparent and share that poetry is not one of my favorite genres to read or to choose as a mentor text to teach my students. Of course, once in a while, I come across some amazing poems that shake me to my core - like "My Name is Jorge: on Both Sides of the River" by Jane Medina

I LOVE using this book towards the end of April to celebrate Poetry month but also to begin introducing our last unit of the school year - Moving Stories. I cannot remember how I came across this book, but what I do remember is turning every page and finding myself reflected in every word. I'd say that this is one of the first books I came across in my first year of teaching and it impacted so much in the material and resources I began using to teach my multilingual students.

What fascinates me about Jorge's story is that each poem is a window for the reader to learn about an event and experience in Jorge's life. Each poem is at a kid-friendly level that children can understand and learn from Jorge and his family. 

Unfortunately, I only own two copies of this book so I had to get creative to have students read the book.
I started by analyzing the book first and deciding which poems are the core of Jorge's story. Even though all the poems are fantastic, I knew that reading the whole book would've been overwhelming for my newcomers since there are 27 poems.  

The poems I chose are: 
My Name is Jorge
Invisible
Why Am I Dumb?
The Busy Street
Dirty Words 
Mexican Dummy Tine
The King of the United States
Ants-On-A-Log 
My Paper
Suspended
Men Don't Cry
The Test
Packing 
​
Once I had selected the poems I wanted to have students analyze, I made a list of themes I noticed were highlighted by each poem.
The themes I came up with were Language, Food, Representation, School, Immigration, Name, Family Divided, Unfairness, and Back to Mexico. 

I made a copy of the poems I selected (along with the Spanish translation) and I placed them all around our classroom. The idea was to have students get up and go around the room reading the poems. The assignment was to read each poem and think about what the poem was mostly about. Each student was given a sticky notepad to share how each poem is related to one of the themes listed by the teacher. I had placed the themes on chart paper on the board so students knew what each theme was. Many of the themes were topics we had discussed during previous lessons. I also left a chart paper with a question mark for students who wanted to brainstorm their theme.

After students created a cover for their story about Jorge, they were instructed to retell Jorge's story using the sentences they created from each poem and for each theme. 

We talked about how a story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end - so as they picked the order of their sentences, they were to consider what might've happened when and in what order.
For example, the poem about Jorge's name is. a great poem to introduce Jorge. Next, poems that share about this childhood, migration, school, family, etc. 
All books were different since everyone had a different perspective of the poems and added their perspective.
Each student's book about Jorge had at least 10 pages and was in chronological order. 

Once the story drafts were ready, students took turns to meet with me to make sure the book was in the correct order. We also discussed ways to make the book interesting and with our perspective and connections added to it to make it interesting. 

I am so excited to share with you the wonderful cover of my book:
​𝙄𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙆𝙣𝙚𝙬: Letters from an Immigrant Teacher  - Published by Seidlitz Education
In my book, I share my immigrant story through letters written to my newcomer students

Originally posted on CALD website on February 14th, 2022 - Click HERE 

It’s not hard to build a wrong sense of belonging. However, the price we pay for a wrong sense of belonging is HIGH.
In a simple Google search, we can learn that “Belongingness is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group.” Here’s the problem, we live in a society that sets certain standards or checklists that dictate what is and what is NOT accepted from an individual in order to offer their acceptance. Hence, that which is NOT accepted from a group is immediately considered negative from an individual in order to belong. This is very dangerous for our students to experience.
​
The 15-year-old me knows this perfectly – It was 1994 when I arrived in the USA from Guatemala and enrolled at Martin Van Buren HS in Queens, NY. I walked into the building with my head held high because I knew my value. I knew what I had accomplished in 15 years after being separated from my mother and caring for my siblings for two years in Guatemala. I knew how to read, do presentations, write, and do critical thinking in MY home language – Spanish. I loved and embraced my culture and my family’s background. However, it didn’t take long for me to feel like an outsider. To question everything I knew and felt about myself. To realize that what I considered valuable was not affirmed or accepted in this school. In order to satisfy the sense of belonging I desperately craved I had to put aside or perhaps pack away my personal identity and cultural background. So, I assimilated. I learned the English language. But in a way – I betrayed who I was. I gave up my greatest treasure. My individuality.
​
So, I felt like I belonged. But little did I know then that it was the wrong sense of belonging. A sense of belonging I reached by paying a high price, because I began to be someone I wasn’t. Someone who broke me from the inside out. I’d go home and live one identity, speak my language, and enjoy a great Guatemalan meal. I’d enter campus and I’d be who I was expected to be in this new place, only to experience a wrong sense of belonging.

As much as we try to fit in where we wrongly belong, our true self has a way of calling us back to our roots. Our family backgrounds, stories, love, and journeys are strongholds that are hard to break. I believe it’s a good thing. In a way, our roots call us from where we are to where we truly belong and who we are to be. I’ve learned throughout my years here in the USA, that true belonging comes from within – A true sense of belonging originates from a clear understanding that who we are, and who our heritage made of us is valuable and important.
So, what can you do to ensure students or any individual around you experiences a true sense of belonging and not a wrong sense of belonging

Do This:

• Ask/Learn students’ stories and journeys
• Validate and affirm cultural background & experiences
• Understand the process of second language acquisition (SLA)
• Allow the use of students’ home language to access content and classroom interaction
• Keep the bar/expectation high for all students regardless of background, and provide scaffolding to help them meet those expectations

Do NOT do this:

• Do not assume you know their story (There is danger in a single story)
• Don’t ignore and devalue students’ backgrounds and experiences
• Don’t be a language oppressor by banning students home language use
• Don’t let them sink or swim on their own; be there for them

I wholeheartedly believe that we, as educators, have the power to make or break our students into how we want them to feel in our classrooms, on campus, and in our society. By simply doing our part, we can help our students find their true sense of belonging without having to obsessively try to be someone they are not. We can easily provide opportunities for our students to accept who they are and not have to be someone they are not.
Together we can create and maintain an environment where students are proud of who they are and where they can be windows of other worlds to their peers. Let’s embrace their greatest gift – their individuality and identity.


Thanks for reading!

hApPy New Year!
As a year ends and a new year begins, we often hear the phrase “Out with the old, in with the new;” this phrase may suggest that to move forward, one must leave it all behind and evolve new ideas and changes.
To some extent, this may be what we want to do, considering the rough year we’ve all had as educators. I feel like 2021 hit us so hard – the uncertainty, the stress, the fatigue, & the emotional roller-coaster in schools drained us. Yet, we showed up. We did what we are passionate about. We poured our heart, soul, and energy into those we love…our students!
As the year came to an end, I began reflecting on the core of my persistence and endurance through these difficult days. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE students. They are why I remain in the teaching field. However, we can argue that we are facing some challenges we’ve never faced before. The pandemic is stealing our strength, love, and passion for what we do. Too many excellent teachers are leaving the field. The teacher shortage is undeniable. So, as I think about the core of my persistence and endurance in the field, I can’t help but think of my professional learning network.
In Late September 2021, I started getting messages from teachers from all across the country. These teachers were not only under the pressure of the pandemic but also facing a fast-growing enrollment of newcomers (English learners new to the USA). I could sense their frustration but at the same time felt their desire to be the best and do what’s best for their students. I felt a very strong connection with these teachers and decided to connect with them. I sent out an invitation on all my professional social media accounts using the hashtag #PLC4newcomers inviting teachers to join a virtual PLC to collaborate.
By October 2021 I had a list of over 150 teachers of newcomers who were willing to meet via Zoom to learn and share.
Our PLC began meeting the first Thursday of the month. We invite guest speakers – professionals and researchers in our field – to share their expertise with us. After hearing from our presenter, we go into breakout rooms and just chat. We encourage one another, we share ideas, we provide resources, we have meaningful collaborations.
Now, I know that Zoom meetings are not new… in fact, some of us have probably had countless Zoom meetings. However, through these PLC interactions with other passionate teachers, we started gaining strength. Through these interactions, we began feeling competent. We began embracing learning as part of growing.
We began validating each other – praising each other for the work we are already doing. Teachers lifting up other teachers. It’s the greatest feeling!

We also began a Twitter chat to stay connected. Every Thursday at 7:00 pm ET, teachers know that we are connected either via Zoom or Twitter chat. We’re just a hashtag away.
Something I realized while interacting with other teachers was that the burden on our shoulders may be blinding us from seeing our full potential as educators. We begin doubting ourselves, not because of what we’re doing or not doing – but because our best is not being recognized or validated.
So, as you reflect on last year and brainstorm New Year resolutions, don’t be hard on yourself. Don’t let your overthinking discredit your growth. You don’t need new strategies, or a new YOU, to be the best version of yourself! Connect with others and continue unfolding your love and passion for your students. Create and maintain meaningful connections that will cheer for you and will lift you up. Share small celebrations with your professional network and seek their support. We don’t need coaching right now – at least I don’t.

I need support.

Support is exactly what we need to continue all fired up while serving to the best of our abilities.
If you’re looking for meaningful connections, please, join us. Add your name to our monthly meeting invite form and come learn with and grow with us: bit.ly/PLC4newcomers.
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So, going back to the phrase “Out with the old, in with the new”: I choose to keep the old – because the old is working for me right now. I’m keeping my meaningful connections, evolving new ideas and changes as they come. Unfolding the real me.

Yours In Equity,
Emily

PLC - "A professional learning community is a team of educators who share ideas to enhance their teaching practice and create a learning environment where all students can reach their fullest potential."
 I love this definition of  what a PLC is all about because I've seen it and experienced it in action. For the past few months, the #PLC4newcomers team has been meeting weekly through Twitter space chat and once a month through Zoom. If you're not familiar with space chats, it is a new feature Twitter provides where a group of users can get together and share about a given topic. What I like about space chats is that you can hear participants share their thoughts and ideas.  Over the past four months, I've been the host of our space chat. Educators from across the country share ideas "...to enhance their teaching practice and create a learning environment where all students can reach their fullest potential."

Anyway, the actual purpose of this post is to share all the notes I have from our Jan. 20th chat. This chat was by far the most attended and the most engaging of all. Along with teachers sharing in our space chat, teachers were also using the hashtag to share tips, images, ideas, and resources. It was an amazing time encouraging one another.

The topic of conversation was "Starting a new Semester - Get to know you activities" - Listed below are all the activities shared. 

• "All About Me" mini-posters- I shared this activity I did with students as we started our second semester. Students received several sentences to choose from to share about themselves. Students choose between 5-7 questions and create a personalized poster. I created my poster right in front of students for them can see what was expected. (see Tweet below)​
• Social Contracts - Class norms - I shared a social contract activity I do with students. I provide them with an electronic copy (click HERE) so they can translate but I have them respond on sticky notes and place them on chart paper. Ms. Patty Vitale-Reilly shared an extension to this activity - After the contract is created, take random pictures of students following the contract and post them in the classroom. It will highlight them and will show the accountability of having a class contract. (see her Tweet below)
• Honoring Name - We discussed how important it is to acknowledge and honor students' names. Marta Garcia shared an amazing activity she does use the mentor text "Alma" (see tweet below) 
• Selfie Kahoots - Read more HERE for all detail on how to create a teacher selfie Kahoot and a class Kahoot. All credit goes to author Carol Salva. We also discussed revisiting our class Kahoots. I know many of us create these at the beginning of the school year BUT revisiting this activity would show so much about students' growth. 
• Identity Maps & I am Poems - Jennifer Frankowiak shared how she uses Jamboard to have students create identity maps by adding pictures as scaffolding. Jennifer uses the book "The Day You Begin" as a mentor text to get her students to share their stories. (see Tweet below)

         Elvira Ledezma shared her amazing "I am Poems" with a Flipgrid activity and an Inside-Outside perspective of who we are. It's an amazing activity you need to check out (see tweet                  below). 

• Timelines - Timeline students' stories...but you can timeline anything! Timeline students' hobbies, places, favorite music, family events, etc. I'm looking forward to exploring this more. 
• Pen-Pals and Google Earth - Kiki Xiraki-Tselios shared how she engages her students by joining pen pals and Google Earth. 

I was trying to balance all the information being shared on Twitter and the information our participants were sharing. I took notes and promised I was going to curate this information and sharing. 
Below you'll see a Wakelet with all the resources shared on Twitter. If you don't have a Twitter account and would like me to share these resources, please let me know.

If you're reading this and can share some ideas with us, please, add them to the comments. I'd be happy to add them to this blog post.
Also, if you can join our Twitter space chats, that would be amazing. We chat on Thursdays evening at 7:00 PM ET, just follow the hashtag #PLC4Newcomers and join. We also meet once a month via Zoom. Hope you join us! 

Thank you for reading!!