Bilingual in America

Judith Aucar, Deputy Director of El Centro Hispano in Westchester, New York, joins us to talk about their 50th anniversary and how they will celebrate this important milestone. El Centro offers services to support all immigrants, regardless of language background, as they begin life in search of a better future.

As Judith reflects on the growth of El Centro since its inception, she also shares some of the many classes and services they provide at present. Listen in to hear how this community gem keeps shining brighter and brighter!

David Rogers supports the work of Dual Language Education of New Mexico-DLeNM, whose mission is to promote the effective design and implementation of dual language education (www.dlenm.org) in New Mexico and beyond. As they continue to serve students, families, and educators, they have added the MITOTE podcast to their repertoire! Welcome to the airways, MITOTE!

Valentina Gonzalez is an educational consultant for Rooted Linguistics and a content creator working with educators across the nation to support multilingual learners and their families. Her personal experiences as an immigrant fuels her passion for the work she does. She works with schools and districts to provide professional learning experiences that are tailored to meet the needs of educators. Valentina specializes in creating presentations that are practical, engaging, and interactive.

She is a longtime educator of multilingual students from around the globe and has worked as an ESL Instructional Support Specialty Teacher, serving and co-teaching in first-to-fifth-grade classrooms. As a district leader, she has served as an ESL facilitator for campuses and as a professional development specialist. Currently, Valentina shares her time delivering professional development, writing, and research. She is the co-author of Reading & Writing with English Learners: A Framework for K-5, and the children's picture book Krofne with Baba.

What does it take to truly make an impact in this world?

Author Dr. Vilma Luz Cabán, well known as an educator and dedicated champion for women impacted by domestic violence and social and economic inequalities, has blazed a trail of success and passion. In her wide-ranging and often heart-wrenching memoir, Cabán weaves her personal experiences and lessons from her survival with her deepest wish to change the course of cycles of abuse for women everywhere.

She succeeds in shining a light on a reality often kept in the shadows, and offers hope for a way out and a better tomorrow. Vilma shares how a bruised and broken heart can become the heart of an advocate. And that advocates can make all of the difference.

Julia Chapa has served emergent bilinguals as a Bilingual and ESL teacher in Texas for over 20 years. She has experience providing scaffolded instruction for second language learners, resulting in outstanding student achievement. In 2018, she began her company EDU Specialist, which supports parents and teachers working in bilingual and DL settings. Listen in to hear the ways EDU Specialist supports English learners and the developmental process of second language acquisition.

Michael Rodriguez, Executive Director of Dual Language Education of New Mexico, reflects on this year's Dual Language conference, La Cosecha, that took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this past November, hosting more than 3500 attendees. And YES! We even have a save the date for next year's conference... Let's listen in...

Jesus Cervantes is the National Director of Biliteracy and English Language Development (ELD) for Benchmark Education and a longtime advocate of bilingual education and Dual Language instruction. He has focused his career on providing English learners access to language and literacy. His areas of expertise are in literacy, biliteracy, and language development. He is a published author of children’s books as part of Reading programs and the teaching of Foundational Skills.

Today, he talks about his bilingual journey, flexibility, and creativity within a Dual Language structure. He shares his thoughts on the state of Bilingual Education on the 50th anniversary of the Bilingual Education Act.

A language learner in her own right, Alexandra Güílamo has spent more than twenty years serving a wide range of language learner programs. Alexandra is a former teacher, academic coach, elementary school principal, and district-level director in highly diverse urban and suburban school districts.

She is a leading dual-language expert, author, keynote speaker, and the Chief Equity and Achievement Officer at TaJu Educational Solutions – a company dedicated to professional development, coaching, and technical support for the educators, leaders, and communities of dual-language and bilingual programs.

Alexandra will be at La Cosecha Dual Language Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico from Nov 8-11th.

Claribel Gonzalez speaks with us about how sketch notes serve as an access point for abstract ideas and the various ways that images and visual literacy can support anyone but especially our Multilingual Learners (MLLs).

Claribel has been a bilingual teacher, a bilingual coach, and a staff developer. When she is not designing sketch notes for researchers, authors, and teachers, she is hard at work at the RBERN in West Seneca, NY. Listen in to hear about how what appears to be a simple process is actually very complex!

Dr. Lillian Ardell, founder of Language Matters, is a biliteracy advocate, coach & staff developer. At her core, she is an applied linguist with a passion for teaching and learning. She speaks with us about the work she does to disturb monolingual bias, help educators flex into the bilingual advantage, and the need to experience small brave moments.