ML Chat: Conversations with Multilingual Educators

Today’s episode is like a pep talk from a friend! Author, speaker, and ELL specialist Andrea Bitner reminds educators to prioritize balance and self-care. Her newest book, When Niagara Falls, tells a story of resilience, a struggling student, and a teacher who never gives up. With over 24 years in education, Andrea offers insights on professional growth, supporting English learners with literacy challenges, collaboration, and connecting with students.

As CEO of Kids Count and Read Too, Dr. Jobi Lawrence has spent 30 years advocating for English learners and at-risk students. In this ML Chat episode, she shares her journey from launching ESL programs in rural Iowa to shaping national multilingual education policy. She also highlights how collaboration and relationship-building can create a lasting impact for students and educators alike.

With nearly four decades in education, Lynda Espinoza Idle is a passionate advocate for all multilingual learners—especially those with dual needs. Today on the ML Chat Podcast, she shares how collaboration, tiered support systems, data, and family partnerships can transform outcomes. She also explains why early identification matters. With an asset-based mindset, she inspires educators to see every student as “linguistically gifted.”

With 26 years of experience, Beverly Kerr joins the ML Chat Podcast to share how Title I schools, among others, can create equitable and inclusive ML classrooms. She emphasizes the importance of building relationships and addressing the needs of dually identified and trauma-affected learners. Discover how foundational literacy, structured interventions, and cross-department collaboration create schoolwide systems of support.

You’ll be inspired by this week’s ML Chat guest, Valentina Gonzalez. Her journey began as an immigrant and language learner, and she is now a 25-year veteran in multilingual education and co-author of Welcome to Teaching Multilingual Learners. An advocate for ML students and language-rich classrooms, Valentina supports teachers through embedded coaching and practical strategies to honor students’ native languages.

How do you serve multilingual learners across a large district using current resources? In this episode of the ML Chat Podcast, Dr. Merica Clinkenbeard, Director of ELD for Springfield Public Schools, Missouri, shares how she leverages collaboration, teacher leadership, and language-rich instruction to drive systemic change. She also reflects on launching a Newcomer Academy to support students and create inclusive schools.

Join the ML Chat conversation with Maggie Churchill, veteran ESL Language Arts teacher and adjunct at William Paterson University. She shares how consistent routines and flexibility create stability for multilingual learners—especially those facing trauma, post-COVID challenges, and disrupted education. Discover how project-based lessons, teacher collaboration, and professional networks fuel classroom innovation.

Tune in to the ML Chat Podcast for practical strategies to create literacy-rich classrooms. Heather Benitez, ESL Coordinator and veteran teacher, shares how she fosters academic discourse and builds structured literacy routines across content areas. Serving a Texas district with 26 languages, Heather champions culturally responsive teaching, ongoing support for teachers, and inclusive practices that put students first.

ELD coach and teacher Heather Nyseth brings a unique dual perspective to the ML Chat Podcast. She shares how coach-teacher relationship-building, professional development with teacher choice, and reflective practices have fueled growth across her district. Heather highlights the resilience of multilingual learners and how collaboration among educators fosters more effective, equitable learning environments.

Join our esteemed panel of educators as they reflect on their mission to integrate the science of reading into ESL instruction. Dr. Jennifer Pendergrass-Bennefield, Dr. Tabatha Tierce, Dr. David Chiesa, and Assistant Superintendent John Parker discuss Georgia’s dyslexia law and how ESL, special education, and general education teams can work together to make research-based literacy accessible to all students.