Given the fact that passive listening is happening all the time at school, why is creating deliberate, high-quality listening exercises for multilingual learners so important? What are some authentic ways to assess listening comprehension that will better gauge ELs’ understanding while also preparing them for important state assessments? How can in-class listening activities help ELs to build background knowledge and master academic vocabulary - two of the biggest hurdles facing language learners?

We discuss these questions and much more with our guest Monica Brady-Myerov. Monica Brady-Myerov is a content area specialist in audio and its use in the classroom and an expert in podcasting, fact-based reporting and narrative storytelling. She is a 25-year veteran public radio journalist, and is the founder and CEO of Listenwise, a listening skills company.  She is the author of the upcoming book: Listen Wise: Teach Students to Be Better Learners to be released by Wiley in April 2021. The book has personal anecdotes from the author and accessible excerpts from the latest neuroscience of listening and auditory learning, making it a critical resource that will explain why listening is the missing piece of the literacy puzzle.

Find the full episode transcript here.

Get access to all accompanying episode links, additional resources and much more on our EL Community Page.

What benefits does guided reading offer when compared to more traditional whole group instruction? How can guided reading be used to better support multilingual learners and foster cultural responsive teaching strategies? How can schools and districts design and implement professional learning opportunities to support teachers as they roll out guided learning strategies? What different factors and considerations should happen at a school in order to successfully implement the lesson study model of teaching?

We discuss these questions and much more with our guests from Kingsbury Charter Elementary School in California. Joining me are Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Melanie Sembritski, Superintendent Dr. Wesley Sever, and second grade teacher Kelsi Itturralde. You can find their full bios on our show notes and in the accompanying blog post at ellevationeducation.com/ellcommunity/

What is the difference between active and passive vocabulary and how does the transfer from one to the other happen? What are some simple yet effective ways that educators can build in opportunities for multilingual learners to internalize and be able to use academic vocabulary in speaking or writing? How can we build students’ confidence in speaking as they develop new language skills in and out of the classroom?

We discuss these questions and much more with Natalia Heckman on this episode of Highest Aspirations.

Trained in Russia as a technical writer and a translator, Natalia never thought about becoming a teacher, but after her first year in a classroom, she knew that teaching was her calling and her mission. Natalia has taught English and ESOL classes, assisted teachers as a secondary ELA and Social Studies Instructional Coach, and served as an ESL/Bilingual program specialist.

She currently pursues her passion for linguistics and education as an educational consultant with Seidlitz Education. The trainings she authored include “Moving ELs forward on EOC Writing” and “Building Better Sentences”. Natalia holds a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of Houston at Clear Lake and a master’s degree in school administration from Lamar University.

Find the full transcript here.

Visit our EL Community page to find episode transcripts, resources, takeaways and more.

How might we design and ensure access to equitable professional learning opportunities, specifically to address the unique needs of multilingual learners? What are some tools that can be used to monitor the progress of educators through professional learning and how do we measure its impact on student progress and learning? What are some strategies to design and implement equitable professional learning opportunities that are both introspective and connected to practice?

We discuss these questions and much more with Silvia Romero-Johnson and Mariana Castro, authors of the new book, Advancing Equity in Dual Language Education: A Guide for Leaders. One note on the title - Silvia and Mariana define leaders with a wide lens. The information and resources shared in the book and in this episode are relevant and useful for any educator working with multilingual learners - particularly in dual-language programs. We would actually go so far as to say that it is useful for ALL educators. In this interview, we focused on one chapter of the book specifically dedicated to equitable professional learning.

You can read access more resources, including a transcript of this episode, on the accompanying blog post on our learning community. 

Find the episode transcript here. 

Guest Bios

Mariana Castro, Ph.D. is Deputy Director of the Wisconsin Center of Education Research at the University of Wisconsin Madison and a leader and researcher at WIDA, a project with the mission of advancing the academic achievement of multilingual learners. Castro has served the field of education as a science teacher, an ESL and bilingual educator and administrator, as a teacher educator and as a researcher. Her work as a qualitative researcher has focused on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in the education of multilingual learners.  Castro’s research on the language practices and language development of multilingual learners has provided a foundation to her work leading the development of language standards for K-12 students and early years, in both English and Spanish. 

Dr. Silvia Romero-Johnson is currently serving as Director of Bilingual Programs and Instructional Equity in the Verona Area School District in Verona, WI. She has served in the education field in a variety of capacities including: Interim Chief Academic Officer and Assistant Superintendent for the Office of English Learners in the Boston Public Schools in Boston MA. As the Executive Director of the Office of Multilingual and Global Education in the Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, WI, she led the district’s transition from transitional bilingual education to dual language immersion education. She was the principal of Nuestro Mundo Community School, MMSD’s first two-way bilingual immersion charter school. 

In this episode, we talk about some exciting changes and improvements we have planned for Highest Aspirations. We also preview some of the topics we will be covering beginning with our first episode on January 18th. Learn more and stay up to date by joining our community at bit.ly/getmlresources. You’ll receive our weekly community brief with news and multimedia resources you can use with your colleagues and students right away.

The lack of teachers who have the training necessary to effectively support multilingual learners has been plaguing school districts across the country for years. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem putting multilingual learners at greater risk. Panel members from school districts and organizations around the country came together during our annual Impact Conference to discuss how they are responding to this challenge and the plans they have moving forward. Special thanks to Amaya Garcia from New America for moderating the panel and providing perspective on what the research data is telling us. Thanks also to our panelists - Dr. Yolanda Rios, Alice Solis, Magda Grape, and Jeremiah Lack.

This episode was taken from our Impact Conference that took place on December 6, 7, and 9. We will be sharing more resources and content from all Impact sessions on our weekly Community Brief email, which you can get by joining our community here: bit.ly/mllresources.

Highest Aspirations will be back in January 2022. Until then, we wish you a happy and safe holiday season!

How can we help colleagues, families and community members become advocates for dual language programs? What does it mean to truly embrace biliteracy? Why is embracing bilingualism good for all students?

We discuss these questions and more in part 2 of a 2 part series with Sandra Medrano-Arroyo.

Sandra Medrano-Arroyo presently works at Ellevation Education as the Dual Language Instructional Content Specialist, where she has spearheaded the creation of two new instructional practices specific to the needs of Dual Language programs.  In over 23 years in education, she has served the needs of emergent bilinguals and various sub-groups in a number of roles: teacher, academic coordinator, school director, recruiter, instructional specialist, and program planner. Prior to Ellevation, Sandra served as the Manager of Multicultural Education for the 11th largest school district in the US, overseeing the ESOL program for over 34,000 students, including a two-way dual language program that served over 9,000 students. Since 2016, she has also served as a PD Consultant for the National Association for Bilingual Education.

As you’ll hear in our conversation, Sandra has a natural ability to bridge the gap between research and practice by breaking down concepts and findings into bite-sized pieces that educators can use right away, which is one of the many reasons I am happy to have her as colleague at Ellevation and an advocate in the field of multilingual education. As always, thanks for listening to Highest Aspirations - I hope you enjoy part 1 of our informative conversation.

If you have an idea for a topic or guest for a future highest aspirations episode, please feel free to reach out at [email protected].

You can find additional resources and episode takeaways on our ELL Community page at ellevationeducation.com/ellcommunity. If you haven’t done so already, we invite you to join our ELL Community while you’re there so you get weekly resources, strategies and tips from that you can use right away.

On this special episode of Highest Aspirations, we're sitting down to speak with 2021 Ellevation Scholarship Winner Sirenia Garcia from Deer Park ISD in Texas.

Sirenia was born and raised in Texas and plans on attending the University of St. Thomas in Houston in the fall, where she will be studying Music Education and minoring in psychology. She hopes to become a school counselor or school principal - we love to hear that!

As you'll hear in the episode, Sirenia is very open about the struggles she faced in school as a multilingual learner, as well as the important role that her teachers had in encouraging her to persevere. She shares great advice for current students on staying diligent and motivated despite challenges they might face. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. If you'd like to hear more conversations with scholarship recipients, check out the Scholarship Winners playlist on our Spotify. 

If you have an idea for a topic or guest for a future highest aspirations episode, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

You can find additional resources and episode takeaways on our ELL Community page at ellevationeducation.com/ellcommunity. If you haven’t done so already, we invite you to join our ELL Community while you’re there so you get weekly resources, strategies and tips from that you can use right away.

On this special episode of Highest Aspirations, we're sitting down to speak with 2021 Ellevation Scholarship Winner Jesse Ding.

Jesse Ding graduated as the class valedictorian from Wilmington High School in Wilmington, Massachusetts. She is planning to study computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. In the future, she hopes to become a robotics software engineer and utilize her knowledge and expertise to program personalized assistive robots for those in need.

As you'll hear in the episode, Jesse is very dedicated to giving back to her community and using her strengths in STEM and robotics to find ways to improve the lives of those around her. We hope you enjoy our conversation, and to hear more conversations with scholarship recipients, check out the Scholarship Winners playlist on our Spotify. 

If you have an idea for a topic or guest for a future highest aspirations episode, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

You can find additional resources and episode takeaways on our ELL Community page at ellevationeducation.com/ellcommunity. If you haven’t done so already, we invite you to join our ELL Community while you’re there so you get weekly resources, strategies and tips from that you can use right away.

How might growing up as a multilingual learner shape the message that educators communicate to their EL students and families about home language and learning English? What are some of the most important sources of research on dual language programs and how can they help school leaders and educators shape valuable learning experiences for all students? What are the three pillars of dual language and what role does each of them play out in high-quality programs? What challenges do we face in addressing the shortage of bilingual educators and what are some possible solutions?

We discuss these questions and more in part 1 of a 2 part series with Sandra Medrano-Arroyo.

Sandra Medrano-Arroyo presently works at Ellevation Education as the Dual Language Instructional Content Specialist, where she has spearheaded the creation of two new instructional practices specific to the needs of Dual Language programs.  In over 23 years in education, she has served the needs of emergent bilinguals and various sub-groups in a number of roles: teacher, academic coordinator, school director, recruiter, instructional specialist, and program planner. Prior to Ellevation, Sandra served as the Manager of Multicultural Education for the 11th largest school district in the US, overseeing the ESOL program for over 34,000 students, including a two-way dual language program that served over 9,000 students. Since 2016, she has also served as a PD Consultant for the National Association for Bilingual Education.

As you’ll hear in our conversation, Sandra has a natural ability to bridge the gap between research and practice by breaking down concepts and findings into bite-sized pieces that educators can use right away, which is one of the many reasons I am happy to have her as colleague at Ellevation and an advocate in the field of multilingual education. As always, thanks for listening to Highest Aspirations - I hope you enjoy part 1 of our informative conversation.

If you have an idea for a topic or guest for a future highest aspirations episode, please feel free to reach out at [email protected].

You can find additional resources and episode takeaways on our ELL Community page at ellevationeducation.com/ellcommunity. If you haven’t done so already, we invite you to join our ELL Community while you’re there so you get weekly resources, strategies and tips from that you can use right away.