“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Maya Angelou
What’s your commitment in 2021? Mine is courageous creativity. Here’s why.
Word Choice and Power
Watching the live reporting of the attempted coup on January 6th, 2021, I was thinking about two things: racial inequities in policing, and bias in the word choice used to report collective actions. This blog focuses on word choice, and how we can teach students to listen and read critically for bias.
Reflecting on Connection – My Top 10 Virtual Collaborations in 2020
In this blog post, I invite readers to back up from the K-12 context and reflect on how we connect and collaborate in our own lives. And in a pandemic, how we build connections that matter when we are miles apart and limited to digital tools.
A Multilingual Message from Educators to Families During COVID-19
Enjoy and share this video with a comforting message to families in sixteen languages.
Observe with an Asset Orientation
We have high expectations. We actively engage students. We observe to take notes on what they say and do. We are feeling on top of our formative data-gathering game!
Then, brain science enters the equation with humbling news: We don’t always see what’s right in front of us. This is especially true when we have implicit biases—which, as humans, we always do. We have all been conditioned by false narratives about racial difference, language hierarchies, and gender differences—whether we believe them or not.
Observation Begins with Active Engagement
To get good observation data, we have to shift from traditional methods (like lectures and silent testing) to challenging, open-ended, collaborative tasks that actively engage students in processing and applying the new learning. If our learning is sit-and-get, there is nothing to observe but student behaviors of either compliance or disruption.
Collaborate for EL Excellence – Part II
This is part II of a coffee chat with Andrea Honigsfeld, Maria G. Dove and Tonya Ward Singer on how to collaborate for EL achievement.
Collaborate for EL Excellence
Bestselling authors Andrea Honigsfeld, Maria G. Dove and Tonya Ward Singer discuss their most urgent calls to action to raise EL achievement in K-12 schools.
What’s the Purpose?
Literacy educator discovers her creative writing on a standardized test, and struggles to answer the comprehension questions.
10 Ways to Value ELs’ Language Assets
You don’t even need to know other languages to lead the change. With a few small shifts, every teacher can transform the classroom learning environment to value students’ multiple languages. Try these ten actions.
Welcome to my blog: a space to ask deep questions and share insights to expand the edge of possibility for ALL learners in K-12 schools.
