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Share a recently published academic article or journal in your subject area that you would like to read and why.

I'd like to read this article to learn more about what reasons lie behind my students behavior. They really understand Spanish because they are native speakers! Yet, what would seem like social pressure has actually become something else: a mystery yet to uncover.

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I noticed a slightly perplexing pattern recently when conducting interviews with bilingual Spanish/English speakers: when offered their choice of languages, the interviewees consistently selected English. I did not ask interviewees why they made their choice, but after spending some time reflecting on various elements of the interviews, I have developed some potential reasons. The bilingual speakers may have chosen English over Spanish because of the length of time they have lived in the United States, the workplace- like environment of an interview, or the presence of a non-Spanish speaker.

I recently had the opportunity to utilize my bilingual skills as a native Spanish speaker for a project with the Morton Arboretum when I had the privilege of interviewing 5 bilingual Spanish-speakers from Chicagoland via Zoom. For this project we wanted to ensure that we could talk to some of the Spanish-speaking community around the Arboretum, and thus decided to recruit those who were Spanish-only speakers or bilingual Spanish/English speakers. The majority of our group of participants ended up being bilingual, and at the beginning of every interview we made sure they had control over what language they wanted to proceed in. All of them chose to speak in English despite having the opportunity and ability to speak in Spanish. It came as a bit of a surprise to me because I thought most people would jump at the chance to speak in their native language.

The first reason that I thought of was the fact they had maybe lived in the United States for decades, or their whole lives, meaning English was most likely the language they used most often. However, after digging a little deeper I found that The Pew Research Center conducted a study on Hispanic bilingual people and found that Hispanic respondents chose to use English or Spanish depending on the setting. The study states that 60% of bilingual Hispanic workers are more likely to use English than Spanish in the workplace. Although the participants in our study were encouraged to choose whichever language felt most comfortable for them, it could be that the environment we created played a more significant impact on the choice than we had anticipated. The interview, although not a job, was a task that they were being compensated for, their insights and conversation for an incentive. This could have created an environment similar to that of a workplace, and therefore resulted in people's decision to use primarily English throughout the interview. It should also be noted that these interviews had a non-Spanish speaking person from our team present. We made sure to disclose that there was no need to include them in the conversation, and that they were there solely for any potential troubleshooting we might need. Could their presence have been a motivator to speak in English? Or even a reason to speak in Spanish, to keep certain thoughts between oneself and the participant? I certainly have been guilty of selectively speaking Spanish to prevent unwanted ears from listening in.

Although participants did not choose Spanish as their language for the interviews, there were still advantages to having a bilingual interviewer. Ensuring that the participants have a choice is important to establishing a comfortable environment for everyone in the conversation. If English had been the only option, the participants would not have had the opportunity to slip in Spanish words or phrases that helped them express themselves. I had a few participants speak to me in Spanglish, interweaving Spanish and English words, or flipping from one language to the other. For those that did this, it came naturally, and when they struggled to find the right word in one language, they smoothly transitioned into the other. I find myself doing this often as well, filling in the gaps with the language that can best express my thoughts or feelings. This would not have been possible if the interviewer was not bilingual. The presence of a bilingual interviewer, contrary to my earlier hypothesis, could have created a more open environment, less like that of a workplace and established a space where Spanglish felt welcome.

Language plays a significant role in how we connect and communicate with others. As we continue to do more multilingual projects to better understand a broader scope of communities, I hope to develop my understanding of the multiple factors that contribute to people's use of their bilingualism or multilingualism. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you might choose to speak in one language versus another; feel free to email me .

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Why Might Bilingual Spanish Speakers Choose to Speak in English? | Slover Linett

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I noticed a slightly perplexing pattern recently when conducting interviews with bilingual Spanish/English speakers: when offered their choice of languages, the interviewees consistently selected English. I did not ask interviewees why they made their choice, but after spending some time reflecting on various elements of the interviews, I have developed some potential reasons.

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Share an upcoming conference or academic event that you would like to participate in and why.

Fun in Learning: Using Whiteboard.chat to Gamify Lessons

here

It's important for me to equilibrate how many games I set during class... so, if I am to reduce the number of games, I will make them more impactful. This event can help me reach that goal.

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Host a scavenger hunt activity for your students on life skills or social-emotional learning and take a picture of items collected by students.

Students thought they were going to listen to a song and complete some gaps on the lyrics. Instead, I asked them to pay attention to what the song reflected from the singer's life. They noticed he had a very similar story to theirs. That's why the questions lead them to reflect upon their experience and ponder further about themselves, thus recognizing their value as unique individuals who can share experiences with others. (Ix)

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Implement an activity with students to overcome any one stereotype towards culture, ethnicity, gender, or learning differences.

I asked the following question:

¿Cómo puede el arte desafiar los estándares culturales de belleza? How can art challenge the cultural standards of beauty?  Write a complex answer 50 - 100 words

This activity was the first we did for Unit 5: Beauty and Art.
As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Who is watching? Through which lenses can anyone determine what is beautiful and what is not?  We reviewed the definition which goes as follows:

"Beauty is an element existing in anything that brings an intense pleasure too one's mind and this can lead to feelings of attraction and emotional wellbeing. " (Translated from Canvas' PPT)

You can see a few responses in the picture above. Since it was an Open-ended question and not a Collaborative board on Nearpod, it was not possible to see how the assignment originally looked like. i'd like you to notice that there are a few answers in English. There are some students that did not select that class... they were enrolled there and have no clue of Spansh ( this is a Spanish 3 for Spanish Speakers class!!).

Therefore, I allow them to express their ideas and reflections in the language they prefer. Once vocabulary and structures are taught, I kindly help them through the adventure of writing Spanish.

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Take a picture with your cohort with any educational prop.

I couldn't have met better people. Thank you all.

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Add a post on the Twitter hashtag #tncohort or on the Facebook Cohorts community page with one important thing you learned during your clinical practice.

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Show pictures of a hobby or interest that you share with a teacher colleague at your school.  (e.g. pictures of you and your colleague trekking)

Her name is Dione. We've worked together for several years now. We both love coffee and chatting forever. We are both teachers who were diagnosed with ADHD as adults... so conversations are endless and sometimes we forget to go back to the point. She has a Masters in Physics and Teaching. Or something like that.

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Share one professional ethic that you always live by.

"Be the teacher you needed as a child:
as fair as possible and yet approachable.
Smile. Make it contagious. Make it happen."

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Share the biggest learning challenge you faced in the program and how you overcame the challenge.

Learning all Standards. I'm still learning them.

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InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning Progressions for Teachers 1.0 | CCSSO

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CCSSO, through its Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), is pleased to offer this set of combined resources that both define and support ongoing teacher effectiveness to ensure students reach college and career ready standards.

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What is one area that you might not feel ready as a teacher in yet? Why? What will you do to become ready?

There is only one way to start being ready:  action! Since my reach at the school I am currently at is not precisely involved with families nor other teachers, it becomes hard to identify students who might need extra help. Hopefully next school year I will have the chance to get more involved in these kinds of protocols and preventive systems.

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Add a link to your ePortfolio here.

Then, submit a link to this Padlet in Unit 9: Activity 1 and click "submit."

https://ixarmenta27.wixsite.com/teach-now-portfolio/blog