Highest Aspirations

On this episode of Highest Aspirations, we feature part 1 of a 2 part series with Dr. Margarita Calderón, former Professor Emerita and Senior Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University and author of several publications about multilingual education. During our conversation, we address the following questions:

For the past ten years Dr. Calderón, has been an Expert Consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights helping States such as Massachusetts and school districts come into compliance. As President of Margarita Calderón & Associates, Inc., Dr. Calderón and her team of 10 Associates conduct comprehensive professional development and coaching on ExC-ELL in many schools, districts, and state-wide Institutes throughout the country internationally (e.g., Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South America). 

Dr. Calderón has over 100 publications, including her most recent collaborative work featuring other well known experts in multilingual education, Breaking Down the Wall: Essential Shifts for English Learners' Success. 

How do we move the needle from over-scaffolded, over-scripted dialogues to student-generated conversations that leverage academic language? What does a math-based conversation look like in a linguistically and culturally diverse classroom?  Why is it so important for teachers to come together to talk about communication in the classroom and how it fosters learning? 

We discuss these questions and much more with Jeff Zwiers. Jeff is a senior researcher at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and the director of professional development for Understanding Language, a research and professional learning effort focused on improving instruction and assessment of English learners and other diverse students. He consults for national and international teacher development projects that promote language, literacy, lesson design, and formative assessment practices. Jeff’s research focuses on developing classroom instruction that fosters high-quality oral language and constructive conversations across disciplines. This is our second episode with Jeff Zwiers.

Many listeners will be familiar with his book “Academic Conversations”, which provides Clear ways to support students in developing authentic, meaningful classroom conversation skills. Zwiers' research and work has impacted tens of thousands of classrooms across the country in providing equitable access to grade-level content for all learners, reflective of college-and-career readiness standards.”

What does a language rich math classroom look and sound like? How do we get past simple repetition to reach a “harmony of concept and language” for English learners in math classes? How do we move from simply getting the right answer and move toward building metacognitive skills and why is this particularly important for English learners? We discuss these questions and more in part 2 of our 2 part series with Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta, authors of the book “Routines for Reasoning: Fostering the Mathematical Practices in All Students”.

How can building routines for reasoning help reduce cognitive load and anxiety for English learners in math classes? How can strategies like Ask-Yourself Questions, Annotation, Sentence Frames and Starters, and The Four Rs help provide equitable access to mathematical thinking? What are some effective ways of teaching students the academic vocabulary necessary to have a seat at the math table? We discuss these questions and more in part 1 of our 2 part series with Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta, authors of the book “Routines for Reasoning: Fostering the Mathematical Practices in All Students”.

Most recently, Amy Lucenta served as a secondary mathematics Clinical Teacher Educator for the Boston Teacher Residency Program. Her experience spans K-12, teaching both middle and high school, then extending into elementary as a math coach. Her passion for helping struggling learners focus on developing the standards for mathematical practice is evident in the book and in our conversation, where she continues to explore how to develop mathematical thinkers through establishing routines that lead to success.

Grace Kelemanik has more than 30 years of mathematics education experience. As a frequent presenter at national conferences, she meets and continues to support countless math educators on their journey as thinking facilitators. She has served as an urban high school math teacher, Education Development Center Project Director, and extensively supports new and pre-service teachers through the Boston Teacher Residency program. In an interview posted on their website, Grace addresses a familiar setting in our classrooms: “English Learners come into our classrooms expected to learn mathematics, which is new to them, in a language that is new to them, in a culture that is new to them.” In this episode, we discuss routines that support these learners. These routines will provide a structure for all of your students to get down to the business of discussing, defending, communicating, connecting and reflecting on the learning of mathematics.

You can stay connected with us by joining our ELL Community. There you can leave comments about this episode and others. You can also engage with great content like our short video series, blog posts, and articles. Finally, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. This will help us continue bringing you the best topics and guests on Highest Aspirations.

In this episode, we bring you a conversation Ellevation co-founders Teddy Rice and Jordan Meranus.  Jordan and Teddy talk about how Ellevation’s origin story is directly connected to an EL teacher working to maximize impact on her students, how diversity and inclusion contribute to innovation, what organizations like ours need to do to stay connected with schools, and what you can expect from Ellevation in the near future. Plus, they provide a sneak peek into what's coming next from Ellevation!

Stay connected with us by joining our ELL Community. There you can leave comments about this episode and others. You can also engage with great content like our Whiteboard Wednesday short video series, blog posts, and articles. Finally, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. This will help us continue bringing you the best topics and guests on Highest Aspirations.

If you have ideas, email us at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to turn your idea into a future episode.

As you may know, Ellevation gives five $2,000 scholarships to deserving English learners every year. On this episode, we talk with Take the Pledge Scholarship winner Paola Martinez. Paola graduated from high school in Soledad, California and is currently studying business administration at the University of California Irvine. Like our other scholarship winners, Paola brings an important student perspective to Highest Aspirations. Listeners will appreciate her sincere reflection of her experience as an English learner, as well as the advice she offers for both students and teachers. Paola highlights her experience with Upward Bound, gives some great advice to EL students and teachers, and stresses the importance of reading in her educational journey.

Stay connected with us by joining our EL Community. There you can leave comments about this episode and others. You can also engage with great content like our Whiteboard Wednesday short video series, blog posts, and articles. Finally, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. This will help us continue bringing you the best topics and guests on Highest Aspirations.

If you have ideas, email us at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to turn your idea into a future episode.

Have you ever avoided calling someone by name for fear of mispronouncing it? Have you given students nicknames to make it easier for you and fellow students to address them? How can mispronouncing, altering, or altogether changing students’ names affect their personal, educational, and social trajectories? Why is it important to change the narrative around names that some might consider difficult to pronounce and what can we do to begin? We discuss these topics and much more with N’Jameh Camara.

N'Jameh Camara is an actor and author currently residing in New York. She is a proud first generation American of Filipina and Gambian roots. Having recently wrapped up the post-Broadway run of JUNK by Ayad Akhtar, she is currently performing in Macbeth at Classic Stage Company directed by John Doyle. She also did a year long run in the principal role of Nettie in the Tony Winning Revival of The Color Purple Broadway Tour, directed by John Doyle. Other credits include the World Premier of X: or Betty Shabazz vs. The Nation by Marcus Gardley, the Off-Broadway run of Julius Caesar and a Bobby and Kristen Anderson Lopez World Premier of Up Here at the La Jolla Playhouse, directed by Alex Timbers. Her voice can be heard on Amazon’s Audible, narrating audiobooks for young adults from Penguin Random House Publishing. For more information, check out the books, “Harbor Me,” “We Rise, We Resist, We Raise our Voices,” “A Peoples’ Future of the United States,” “You Bring the Distant Near,” and Fumbled and Gravity.

N'Jameh received her Master of Fine Art from UC San Diego and has taught acting and movement workshops at various universities including Loyola University- New Orleans, UC San Diego, SUNY Oswego, Northern Arizona University and University of Central Missouri. She is a current member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association where she presented on Intersectional Arts Pedagogy in Singapore at the 2017 VASTA conference. As well as acting, N’Jameh enjoys writing and is currently working on her first book. She has also written and performed a one woman show about a young Maya Angelou, Marguerite to Maya. The show was developed with the Ubuntu Theater Project and was performed at Studio 67 in Oakland, CA, The Alameda Juvenile Detention Hall and the Eugene O'Neill Tao House for New Play Development. Other writing credits include The Monologue Project.

What are some misconceptions about dyslexia and how do they affect English learners? What are some strategies educators can use to help identify dyslexia in English learners? How does family engagement come into play once a student is diagnosed with dyslexia and what challenges might emerge with families of English learners?

We discuss these questions and much more in our conversation with Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley. Kelli Sandman-Hurley, Ed.D. is an author and co-founder of the Dyslexia Training Institute. She received her doctorate in literacy with a specialization in reading and dyslexia from San Diego State University and the University of San Diego. She is also completing her TESOL certification. Dr. Kelli is a certified special education advocate assisting parents and children through the Individual Education Plan (IEP) and 504 Plan process. She has training in mediation and also serves as an expert witness in the area of dyslexia. Dr. Kelli is a Past-President of the San Diego Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. She is a dyslexia consultant working with schools to improve services offered to students with dyslexia and training teachers. She co-created and produced “Dyslexia for a Day: A Simulation of Dyslexia,” and she is a frequent speaker at conferences. She is the author of the well-received book, Dyslexia Advocate! How to Advocate for a Child with Dyslexia within the Public Education System.

Stay connected with us by joining our EL Community at ellevationeducation.com/elcommunity. There you can leave comments about this episode and others. You can also engage with great content like our Whiteboard Wednesday short video series, blog posts, and articles. Finally, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. This will help us continue bringing you the best topics and guests on Highest Aspirations.

Michelle Benegas, of Hamline University and the ELM Project dropped by to talk about site-based EL teacher leadership, the evolving (and elevated) role of the EL teachers, and how Ellevation is serving as a conduit for conversations about EL progress. Learn more about EL teacher leadership and professional development by listening to our full interview with Michelle and her colleague Amy Stolpestad.