Conference attendees, and those still checking out the conference, you can now get up-to-date information about the conference via the WIDA Events mobile app. Not only available as a mobile app, you can also view conference details at a fully functional website. Search WIDA Events on the App Store or Google Play. You can also visit the WIDA Events Website. Check it out now to prepare for the conference!
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Conference attendees, and those still checking out the conference, you can now get up-to-date information about the conference via the WIDA Events mobile app. Not only available as a mobile app, you can also view conference details at a fully functional website. Search WIDA Events on the App Store or Google Play. You can also visit the WIDA Events Website. Check it out now to prepare for the conference!
Monday, July 11, 2016
Let Freedom Ring Promotion
The WIDA 2016 National Conference takes place October 12-15, 2016 in historic Philadelphia, the birthplace of our nation. What better time to announce the Let Freedom Ring promotion. To encourage more educators to participate, WIDA is offering two complimentary Full Conference registrations. We will randomly select two people from the conference attendees who register by July 31, 2016.
Not only is the conference a great place to network alongside your ELL educator and administrator peers, it is also an opportunity to participate in a national discussion about issues surrounding academic language development for language learners from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Register at widaconference.us/registration.aspx by July 31, 2016 to be automatically entered for a chance to receive one of two complimentary Full Conference registrations. The promotion is open to all those currently registered as well as all new registrations received before the end of the month.
Good Luck!
(Two (2) individuals will receive a refund of conference registration fees paid during registration. Promotional giveaway open to all registered attendees and presenters as of July 31, 2016; WIDA Staff and WIDA 2016 conference sponsors are ineligible to participate.)
Monday, February 29, 2016
While learning a new language is part of the education process, there are several physiological factors at play. The following link provides interesting background information.
http://brainblogger.com/2016/02/29/how-do-we-learn-languages/
http://brainblogger.com/2016/02/29/how-do-we-learn-languages/
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Walking the Literacy Tightrope
Is it more important for a student to be a reader or to be a
writer?
We all know that to be a literate person you need both, but
teachers only have so many instructional minutes a day. Where are those minutes
best spent?
Striking the right balance between reading and writing is
the tightrope that literacy teachers across the country have to walk each day.
In elementary schools, many teachers spend most of their
time on reading. They are often highly
knowledgeable and comfortable with reading instruction and with their own
skills as readers.
These teachers are often avid readers themselves both
professionally and personally, some may even belong to book groups. They read
for work and for pleasure. This predisposes them to the idea that reading is
the more important content to teach.
This predisposition is reinforced by standardized tests, “since federal
law required standardized tests only in math and reading” (Layton, 2015) , with little to no
attention paid to other content areas.
Still, “over the past ten years research has shown that
reading and writing are more interdependent than we thought” (k12reader.com, 2008) . The reciprocal nature of the relationship
between reading and writing makes it impossible to teach one effectively
without the other. “A child’s literacy
development is dependent on this interconnection between reading and writing” (k12reader.com, 2008) .
Furthermore, a singular emphasis on reading does not prepare
students well for life in a 21st century global community where the
ability to communicate ideas effectively and multimodally is essential to
success.
So what is a busy teacher to do?
The first thing is to build a stronger pedagogy around the
teaching of writing and writing conferences.
A good place to start is by researching the work done by Lester Laminak,
Katie Wood Ray, and Lucy Culkins.
The second, and possibly more difficult thing, is that teachers
must build their own identities as a writer. Very few teachers, outside of
secondary English departments, see themselves as writers. While some may engage in, and be quite
accomplished at writing for professional audiences; few write for personal
pleasure and fewer still belong to either professional or personal writing
groups. Participating in a writing group can be a great way to start building
one’s own identity as a writer.
Just as a teacher that is a passionate and voracious reader
models a love of reading for their students, a teacher that writes for
themselves as well as for their students models and encourages a love of
writing.
When the teacher is equally invested in both reading and
writing, it will be easier for them to walk the tightrope of balanced literacy.
Works
Cited
k12reader.com. (2008, April). The relationship
between reading and writing . Retrieved from k12 Reader:
http://www.k12reader.com/the-relationship-between-reading-and-writing/
Layton, L. (2015, October 24). Study says
standardized testing is overwhelming nation's public schools. Retrieved
from The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-says-standardized-testing-is-overwhelming-nations-public-schools/2015/10/24/8a22092c-79ae-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html
Saturday, February 13, 2016
The Escamilla Interview: A Must-Read for Teachers of Language Learners
Interviewed by Jackie Moreno and Ashley Painter
Top experts in the field of
bilingual education Kathy and Manuel Escamilla
answer teachers’ questions
on what makes a successful school, hybrid language use, and student identities.
Their answers have affected our practice and could influence yours.
How would you define a successful school?
Kathy: We need to measure
how kids are learning and doing in reading, writing and math. However,
engagement is as important as accomplishment. Are the kids engaged? Are
they motivated? Do they like to come to school? Do they see school as a place
to invent their future? Those factors, as hard as they are to measure, are
equally important to me when it comes to having a successful school.
Are the teachers well
prepared? Is there a positive climate in the school?
I go into too many schools
where the climate is like a prison. Kids are marching down the halls like
soldiers. I don’t think that’s the kind of place where you will find engagement
or the joy of learning that will take kids through graduate school.
What are your thoughts on
hybrid language use and bridging in DLI programs?
Kathy: I think that hybrid
language use has a place. I don’t think it matters if we legitimize it or not
in schools; the human mind is open. We don’t close the Spanish drawer and open
the English drawer, which is why doing things like mixing language is possible,
because the human brain is going to do it anyway.
I know how controversial it
is in the field and why the field took such a strict separation of language
policy because 20, even 10 or 5 years ago, there was so much concurrent
translation. Concurrent translation is not the same as hybrid language
practice.
I see a place for it, and
we have to consider it in the context of the entire school day. Even if we tell
students not to, they are using both of their languages to process information.
We have to understand how to productively use what they know and what they are
bringing to the table.
I don’t see it as a
problem, but rather as a way for us to understand how the human brain is
processing two languages. There is a need for us to better understand that.
How could a teacher
integrate hybrid language use into a guided reading group?
Kathy: Let’s say you are
doing a guided reading group in English and the teacher says the sound is “ch,
ch, ch” and the child responds with chancla. You don’t need to stop and say,
“It’s English time.” Rather you could say, “ You’re right, that’s a good
Spanish word that illustrates the sound ch, just like chocolate.” You don’t
need to put down the child or censor the child. You let them know they were
making a good cognitive connection.
How can we effectively
affirm student identities as bilingual learners when there are so many social
forces that are coming at them?
Kathy: There is absolutely
no problem affirming the identity of kids who speak English at home in terms of
learning Spanish. They value their bilingual identities when they are not even
bilingual yet. For white students who come from the dominant culture, bilingual
is not a bad word, it’s an additive process. You are affirming an identity that
is already there.
In the case of the kids who
come to school speaking Spanish, the identities that we have to affirm are a
little bit different because they are speaking a stigmatized language,
stigmatized in terms of what they are bringing to school. We have to work a
little harder to assure them that what they have is of value to them, to their
family, and to the greater community, and it is not something that they should
lose.
Manuel:
We have two colleagues here at the University of
Colorado, and there are others. They grew up in Mexico, and they went to the
University in Mexico and graduated. The language they spoke was the normal
language that was used there. They didn’t have to be corrected or told not to
use that language. They have a different attitude than I do and other
colleagues like myself. This is a very big issue and a big challenge.
I came to the U.S. as a
young person when I was eleven years old. The experiences that my colleagues
had were different than the experiences that I had or of the students who are
born being simultaneous bilinguals. We don’t often give enough attention to our
native language.
The difference between me
and my colleagues is the confidence that they exhibit. I am a faculty member,
and I teach at the college level. I notice how I react and behave when I teach
a class versus how those two colleagues act. Their accents are heavier than
mine, but that is not important to them. To me it mattered because I grew up
here with the expectation that I shouldn’t have an accent in English.
Two things that are
important in terms of what is happening in education: many of our children lack
the confidence to be more adventurous in their learning. Also, teachers at
low-achieving schools are reminded that they are at low-achieving schools, and
their confidence is not at the level where they think they can teach something
well. Because of this, we have lost the ability to inspire our children.
See more of the Escamillas' work at: www.literacysquared.org
See more of the Escamillas' work at: www.literacysquared.org
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