I know that teachers are always looking for more ways to be able to provide effective support for their students who are multilingual learners.

In this episode, Katherine Hamilton from Ensemble Learning discusses mindsets and strategies that are able to be implemented without lengthy preparation and will generalize across other areas of instruction.

Katherine shares insights into:

-fostering a supportive and culturally rich classroom environment

-using scaffolds and visual aids

-and leveraging students' native languages to build their confidence and academic English skills

The conversation also covers techniques for structured student talk and the importance of assessing students' prior knowledge.

This episode will be extremely helpful for all grade levels!

For more information from Ensemble learning, visit http://www.ensemblelearning.org

About Katherine Hamilton:

Katherine Hamilton (she/her) is the Vice President of Programs at Ensemble Learning, overseeing the development, implementation, and evaluation of all programmatic activities. With nearly 15 years of experience in K-12 education, Katherine specializes in supporting leaders and teachers to create inclusive and equitable learning environments through instructional leadership. Katherine holds a Master’s degree in education with an emphasis in math education from Stanford University and a BA in economics from Yale University. She has also been a secondary mathematics teacher, an instructional coach, and a Director of Curriculum and Instruction at a public school network in Los Angeles. At Ensemble, she has led the implementation of two successful Department of Education grants focusing on leadership for multilingual learner equity and the implementation of high-quality dual language programming.

About Melissa:

Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education.  Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.

Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction. 

Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.

If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!