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What are the issues that affect the immigrant communities in your area? Are immigration issues a problem for the English learners in your school of in schools inyour community? Discuss situations you are familiar with.

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The examples in this chapter are meant to provide a snapshot of the diverse schools settings of emergent bilinguals and the programs that serve these students. How are these vignettes similar to what you have observed in your school of in schools you know about? How does California's commitment to ELs compare with Oregon's commitment? What do you see as differences? What factors in schools in your area are influencing emergent bilinguals, the teachers, and the schools themselves?

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Often, teachers hear complaints at a a school because the parents of immigrant groups do not participate in school events or do not help their children with their school assignments. What might be some reasons for this other than the single-cause solutions that their ethnic or cultural group is deficient?

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Having read about the contextual interaction model, perspectives on failure, and types of learners, what do you see as your greatest challenges as a teacher of emergent bilinguals?

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Think of a time you or one of your emergent bilingual student's communicative competence did not match their grammatical competence. In other words, a time when they said or wrote something usig conventional language in the wrong context. Share your example.

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What strategies have you used to communicate in a language you were acquiring? What strategies do your emergent bilinguals use?

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What techniques or strategies have you used to make academic content comprehensible? When talking to students, do you consciously change the way you speak when you are talking wit emergent bilinguals? Idioms are difficult for emergent bilinguals to understand. Do you monitor your own use of idioms as you teach?

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Think about your own teaching. What factors have influenced your methods? How has your teaching changed over time? Share your reflections. Consider your own orientations toward students' home languages. Have you seen their home languages as a handicap, right, or resource?

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Looking back at the scenarios of different teachers, which one(s) have you observed? Think of one or two specific examples of teachers whose attitudes affect their teaching, positively or negatively. Jot down some notes and share your example (without identifying the teacher).

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Do the programs for emergent bilinguals at your school have a monoglossic view or a heteroglossic view of bilingualism? Consider how the home language is used in the ESL or bilingual class for emergent bilinguals.

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What are some implications of the research on translanguaging by Cummins and Garcia for teaching emergent bilinguals? How is this reflected in your school?

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Have you or other teaachers you know implemented translanguaging strategies with emergent bilinguals? What strategies have you tried or might use?

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Which of the demographics related to diverstiy in schools surprised you? How do you think these demographics inform schools and teachers? How are the schools that you are familiar with or work in reflected in these demographics?

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What are some ways that your school or a school you know is including student's cultures and languages? Be specific. What are some ideas you have to increase the inclusion of students' cultures and languages?

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Yvonne had three ideas parents of emergent bilinguals could implement to support their student's literacy. Can you suggest other ways parents can support thier children's literacy? Do you understand how using the home language will support literacy in English? Explain.

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I appreciated that they discussed such a variety of school districts. My current school has a large percentage of ELs, but there are many home languages. It  is not possible to have dual language teaching. It can be hard to even get translators.  

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I appreciated that they discussed such a variety of school districts. My current school has a large percentage of ELs, but there are many home languages. It  is not possible to have dual language teaching. It can be hard to even get translators.  

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I was somewhat saddened to read about the California initiatives and compare that to my district. Although they are hyper focused on equity, I do not see that being applied to our ELs' needs as much as I'd hope. There seems to be a big push to exit students quickly. Our current ELD model is not flexible and often not best for kids. -Rebecca

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I was somewhat saddened to read about the California initiatives and compare that to my district. Although they are hyper focused on equity, I do not see that being applied to our ELs' needs as much as I'd hope. There seems to be a big push to exit students quickly. Our current ELD model is not flexible and often not best for kids. -Rebecca

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Canby is a small district in the Clackamas area. What I found interesting about working at the High School is that most students who were part of the ELD program had been part of the Canby School system since starting elementary school. In the three years that I have been worked in the building there has not been a newcomer.

However, this does not mean that there are not issues in my area or school district. Most students are first generation, most born here in Oregon, but their parents are not are not legal citizens. The majority of the community in Canby are supporters of our current president and his administration. During the election last year there were many pickets and people with signs supporting Trump ideas and his rhetoric toward immigrants. Since January many English learners have been scared to come to school and scared that when they go home their parents will not be there. Our school and district posted about safety and resources for families, but it was not a priority or something that they have continuously promoted.

Unfortunately, like most schools the staff have lower expectations for MLs and outside of the ELD program, dual language program, and a handful of teachers most do not want to adjust any of their classroom structure or lessons to provide the support that would help make students succeed academically. That support "should happen in their ELD class, isn't that why they are there?"

A majority of the staff don't follow the logic and fact that "every teacher is a teacher of language and content".

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I know that Oregon has the Seal of Biliteracy and is an English+ state, but as others mentioned in our actual school districts and buildings we are not seeing as much support or initiatives for programs for our ML populations.

Like the examples in the textbook so much varies district to district and building to building when it comes to supporting EB students and families. In Canby we were working toward expanding our Dual language program, but now thanks to budget cuts this has halted.

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There are several reasons that families are less involved in school or their children's assignments:

1. Depending on socioeconomic conditions parents/guardians could be too busy working to attend school events or contact the school during open office hours. This might also hinder them from having time to go through their child's assignments with them at home.

2. Does the school question its own deficiency? How welcoming is it to its immigrant populations? How is communication sent out? If families are only receiving emails they rarely check in a language they are not proficient in how are they supposed to get more involved? Do schools always hold their meetings in their building or do they ever reach out to community centers where families might be more comfortable? When families arrive at the school for registration or office visits how are they treated?

3. If English is not the home language and parents and families only know the basic conversational English themselves how are they to help their child with assignments that are academically English language heavy? Especially at the secondary level- how many parents/guardians are chemists or US history buffs?

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This year I have noticed effects of immigration in our school community. I teach third grade and this year I had 8 students in our ELD program. Around the time of immigration being discussed in the news, a couple of my students were absent from class. For multiple days there was a significant absence of students from our school as a whole. Students and families were scared of what this news meant for them. There were also moments in our morning meeting where students brought up the fear of not seeing family members in other countries. This constant state of fear, sadness, and anger can have a large impact on the school performance of an emergent bilingual.

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My biggest challenge as a teacher of emergent bilinguals is promoting their growth of the English language while teaching curriculum, specifically math. When a bilingual student needs help with an assignment, it is difficult to explain/teach them the concept in their language. I find myself getting the iPad, opening the translation app, have them speak into it and translate what they wish to say to me or vice versa. However, after the reading and upon reflection, I want to find ways to promote their learning of English while also teaching them curriculum. I am working on skills to promote students’ home language and teach curriculum. I have trouble finding that balance.

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I agree with your points and see these issues happening daily at my school. There are a lot of barriers in place that can make it difficult for families of immigrant groups to be involved in school events or help with school assignments. This made me think of how communication works at our school. To communicate with parents we are using a platform called "ParentSquare" that can translate messages and posts to families home languages. However, it has been reported to me that these translations are not always correct or not all languages are included. In addition, in order to receive a translator to call home, it takes putting in a help ticket and setting up an appointment with the interpreter, teacher and family. This process can take a couple of weeks to complete. Therefore, making it very difficult for parents to communicate with their student's teacher and be involved.

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Agree.  I liked reading the snapshots of the diverse school settings of emergent bilinguals and the programs that these students.  Each school setting presented a unique set of contextual interactions that was shaped by their evolving students.  It was encouraging to see how schools responded to student needs by advocating for dual language programs, implementing community partnerships for students and families and providing school resources to support students.  I do see the challenges of the schools trying to continue to keep up to meet the needs of students.

I found that comparing the California initiatives to my district there were some significant differences:  promoting equity, availability to resources, and fully implementing meaningful access to a full curriculum.  At the high school level, our EB students are struggling in math and we have a very low passing rate.  However, our model for math instruction, course offerings and how we provide support has remained the same for the last few years (leading many teachers frustrated which contributes poorly to the school climate).  Our math teachers and ELD teachers have been very open to co-teaching and finding other resources to support students.

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Through my work with my high school students, I have noticed the impact of immigration on their emotional well-being and educational progression.  Students have expressed fear, anxiety and stress.  Students have commented on being worried for friends and family members and their own situations.  In January, our school psychologist visited our classroom to speak with our students about their fears and worries and to offer support.  It was very impactful for our students to have a space to voice whatever they wanted to talk about and feel heard.  I wish the class support could have continued but due to limited resources we were only able to have one class visit.

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Rebecca- I agree with Lauren. I whole heartedly agree with everything I am learning about how to help ELs, BUT the time to do it with all the curriculum and planning is overwhelming. Overgrowing class sizes add to my struggle.

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Rebecca- I am seeing less involvement in school activities from many parents now. I think parents are often both working and stretched very thin. I get very little support for minimum homework "projects". I am wondering if this is some "Covid burnout" from parents, but I think it is also economics of time and money.

Several of my ELs have parents who both work long hours (running a restaurant, for example) and are primarily cared for by grandparents. These grandparents often speak almost no English, and they are not familiar with school events common in our schools (Bingo night, Jog-a-thon, etc). Although supportive of education, they do not have the language skills to help with academic work (such as asking comprehension questions about a book).

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I feel your pain about the math! We just adopted a new curriculum,and it is hard for all and very wordy! I have asked all year for some language support- either some push-in or at least language scaffolding help. Nothing was ever done. We have 2 ELD teachers, and there seems to be several ELD TOSAS in our district. It seems like someone could have acknowledged this need and helped us and the students. -Rebecca

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My greatest challenges of teaching emergent bilingual students:

Balancing both content and language goals

Meeting the needs in both content areas and language to challenge and build confidence in all students.  With my newcomers (9th-12th), there is a wide range of school experiences, literacy in home language and attitudes towards learning.   Creating content rich curriculum and building language is a daily challenge.

There is little time for high school newcomers to develop academic content knowledge when they only have 1-4 years until they will graduate high school.  Sometimes they are forecasted into classes due to graduate requirements but not necessarily focusing on developing language proficiency and content knowledge.

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I agree with all of the responses posted and have had similar experiences at the high school level.  In the fall our ELD department decided to give all families the option to do individual conferences in person or a phone conference with available translation instead of arena style.  Many of our families had never been invited in and were very appreciative of the opportunity to ask questions and tell us about their students (education history, hopes/dreams).  Many conferences were emotional like the one described in Tou’s case study.  Many families did not have the needed resources for students to complete homework at home (internet, physical space, unfamiliar with the different class expectations/grades, time to assist students).  The conferences definitely brought up questions similar to the ones that Tiffany discussed in #2.  The conferences were valuable and provided insight that supported students in the classroom and school community. The challenging piece was scheduling conferences which took place over two and half weeks and providing flexible times for families to come in.

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Strategies I have used to make academic content comprehensible when talking with students:

When talking with students I will utilize the same academic language that I use in content objectives and class activities for science.  I have different word walls posted in class that I will refer to that have words associated with a visual that I can reference as we are talking (academic language, content specific vocabulary).  I model academic language in discussions and speak at a moderate pace, enunciating, and giving students processing time.  I like to use nonverbal strategies to express meaning as discussed on p.65 and in science rely on cognates when working with biology and chemistry vocabulary.  I encourage students to speak first and prioritize building confidence in oral development before offering corrections.

Idioms-I will sometimes have a meme, idiom or a funny picture or phrase that correlates to our lesson or activity on the first google slide of the day.  We will use this as a jump off point for the day (warm-up) to get students sharing and talking.  Students will have sentence starters (questions and statements) to assist in guiding conversation.  We will do partner and class shares.  We break down the idiom/meme and connect it to class.

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This chapter reminded me of a student I had this year who often struggled with vocabulary in English since his family spoke Farsi. When students enter they move their lunch card to their lunch choice for the day. Sabhan could not find his card, but he did not know what to call it. He was asking me for the "square thing". He kept telling me it was lost or stolen. He just kept making a gesture like he was holding a square card. Finally I realized it was his lunch card he couldn't find.

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There are many factors that have influenced my teaching methods.  I love that my students have a wealth of life experiences and culture that they bring to the classroom.  One key influence on my teaching is the importance of building a classroom community where students feel safe, comfortable, and empowered to share. I strive to create an inclusive environment that values each student's unique qualities. By encouraging students to bring their backgrounds and perspectives into the classroom, we can not only build strong connections but also enrich our learning as a whole community.  When I first started teaching I was focused upon curriculum and worried about keeping up at a certain pace.  I felt pressure for my students to perform on state and school assessments and meet learning targets.  While content is still essential to student language acquisition and learning, building community and developing relationships has become a focal point that guides my classroom practice.

As stated in Between Worlds, “Teachers also adjust their teaching in response to the needs of their students.” (p.90)   Each year the lessons, activities and strategies applied in my classroom have evolved with my students.  To balance creating a curriculum that was more comprehensible I have incorporated student interest.  I try to seek out  classes and professional development opportunities to stay current and apply new strategies in the classroom.

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I use similar techniques in my classroom as well. I agree with you that I am more mindful when talking/doing a read aloud/presenting to emergent bilinguals. I watch the speed in which I am speaking, I enunciate my words, I pull up visuals of new vocabulary, and give extra processing time. For example, in our morning meeting I have a daily question. Most days, I will have this question up(with visuals) when they walk into class so they can think about it/process it with classmates before our meeting. Then, during our meeting I will have a sentence stem for them to use in answering the question. I have noticed with this extra think time, sentence stems, and visuals more of my emergent bilinguals share during our morning meeting. In regards to idioms, there are times where they come up in conversations or read alouds. I am similar to you Allison, in which we will have student conversation (turn and talks) and as a class we can determine the meaning.

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Over my years of teaching, in each class, I have had several students with Spanish as their home language. This motivated me to get back into learning Spanish. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school and am still familiar with some vocabulary and grammar. Recently, I have been using the app “Dueling” to help and also my conversations with my students. I noticed in my first couple of years of teaching, I would avoid talking in Spanish because I was embarrassed/nervous that I would pronounce something incorrectly. However, I soon realized that they may be the same feeling some of my students feel with learning English. Therefore, I have strived to use my Spanish more often.One strategies I notice that I use a lot are gestures. When I am speaking a sentence in Spanish I will point to what I am referring to or use my hands to demonstrate. I have noticed this helps comprehension. Another strategy I use often is paraphrasing. My Spanish vocabulary is very limited so I put together words that I do know to articulate my thoughts. I also am still working on my Spanish grammar so sometimes it is not correct. I notice that my emergent bilinguals tend to overgeneralize a rule and apply it to words that do not follow that pattern. For example, I often hear them say things like “throwed” or “buyed.” I then will then ask clarifying question (i.e. “you bought a new toy?”). Therefore, correcting the language but not shutting down their confidence. Another strategy my emergent bilinguals frequently use is gestures. They will speak to me in their home language while pointing or using motions to help me understand.

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Many factors have influenced my teaching methods over the years. I have been teaching 3rd grade for 5 years and have noticed positive changes in my teaching.  At first, I felt overwhelmed by teaching to the curriculum and not straying away. Whereas today I still stick to the curriculum, I realized there are ways of doing so but also making it connect with my students. Like Yvonne’s story in “Between Worlds,” I strive to incorporate my teaching with real-life scenarios that interest my students and that they can connect to. For example, when learning word problems in math, instead of just copying and pasting the examples from the curriculum I will use toys/objects/people my students are interested in. I also strive to incorporate students’ cultures/backgrounds into my teaching. For example, I will read read aloud books are multicultural and inclusive. I enjoy seeing the excitement in my students’ eyes when they can connect and share their experience with a story we are reading. I see my students’ home languages as a strength and I use it to create a diverse and multicultural classroom. Some factors that have influenced my methods have been my training at Lewis and Clark MAT program. I learned a lot of strategies and resources that I use to create an inclusive classroom.  Another factor is the professional development I have participated in. The last couple of years, my district has had a major focus on equity training and how we can best support all of our students in the classroom.Lastly, I would say my colleagues/administrators have played a role in my teaching methods. I have been with my current grade level team/principal for about 4 years. We are constantly sharing new ideas, resources, strategies to strengthen our teaching skills. Overall, I plan to continue educating myself on new strategies and methods to continue creating a safe and inclusive classroom for my students.

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I appreciated your interest in getting back to your high school Spanish. I used to work at a school where my basic HS Spanish helped me communicate basically to students and parents. At my current school I have had very few Spanish speakers but rather many Russian and languages from Asia (Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.). Since there is so little overlap with our languages, I struggle to do more than seem welcoming and try to use translating tools. It is frustrating!

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Sadly I have observed several teachers like Mrs. Brown and Mr. Martin who were good teachers but struggled to adapt as our school population changed. They seemed to resent the growing number of non-English speakers, and they verbalized missing "the old days" with more involved parents and little need to modify the curriculum. Despite professional development about multiculturism and the need to scaffold learning and support ELs, they wanted to continue what they always did. These teachers have retired, but this chapter made me wonder how many other teachers like them are still teaching and doing a disservice to students.

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A common strategy that I use personally and in the classroom with my students are cognates and translanguaging. Connecting a Latin root to a word in Spanish or English to help learn new vocabulary.

This is most helpful with new words and reading, not as helpful with conversational practice.

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Unfortunately, to address your wondering there are still more teachers out there like Mrs. Brown and Mr. Martin than there should be.

Honestly, one of the hardest parts about teaching that I have faced is losing faith in my fellow teachers. When entering the profession I assumed that all other teachers were there because they wanted what was best for students and would be willing to adapt and adjust to fit students needs. That has been disillusioned. Not to say that I don't meet teachers who do this but from my experience it tends to be a 2:1 ratio.

For example this year we were adopting our new ELA curriculum. I used this as an opportunity to address issues the classes/pathways we offered our students at CHS. We had Strategic Language Arts classes that had basically become a dumping ground for students with IEPs, but even more 504s. Teachers make recommendations for placement and tracking in the courses for convenience not for student benefit: many teachers in the English department consistently say statements like “they will never get that” (meaning grade-level content). Or, after only three days into a school year, identify a student as a “Strat Kid” because they have blue hair, wear black torn-up clothing, and don’t like to make eye contact.

So after many meetings and support from administration the department agreed to remove the courses and filter students into regular English classes (especially after being notified that be using below level grade content violating IDEA and FAPE) . Once we set our new course pathways a teacher who has been at CHS for 19 years responded by saying: "Well, I hope that they are ready to deal with all those kids failing all their English classes next year." Going on to say that he wasn't planning on changing anything he was doing so students are doomed to credit recovery.

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This chapter made me realize I have implemented translanguaging strategies in my classroom. One strategy I use a lot is scaffolding instruction. For turn and talks, I assign students to one another. When doing so, I am mindful of putting my emergent bilinguals together and encourage them to speak about the topic in their language. This leads them to participate more and share their thoughts. I also strive to have translations of the question/topic of the turn and talk on the board to enhance understanding. Another strategy I use is when students are responding to a comprehension question in reading I allow them to write in their home language. This allows them to still access the material/concept but in a way that may be more accessible to them. Lastly, I use bilingual books in my classroom. For our animal research books we write in the winter, I have a handful of texts that students can use to conduct their research and write out their findings. My ELD co-teacher also works with these students in small groups and helps them translate new words. My goal is to continue growing my library of bilingual books.

On the other hand, there are some new strategies I learned that I would like to start using in my classroom. My goal this school year is to enhance how I teach academic vocabulary to my students. I think adding a bilingual word wall with definitions and pictures would be a great way to increase student involvement and understanding of new words. Another strategy I would like to implement more is affirming students’ bilingual identity. At the beginning of the year, we do a lot of projects/activities sharing our cultures, identities, family etc. However, I have noticed that by the end of the year we are not as active in this conversation. I want to work on implementing more of these cultural activities/projects throughout the year.

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I found the section on Monoglossic and Heteroglossic views of bilingualism very interesting from an educational and parental perspective.  Both of my daughters have been in a dual immersion Spanish program mainly splitting the two languages by subject and time of day.  In primary school there was very little overlap between the two language times and some years depended more heavily on teachers translating to students.  In reflection over my experience as a parent, I have seen years where the girls had large growth spurts in both languages: Spanish and English.  Those years were characterized by less structured language time.  I observed students and teachers going back and forth between languages, teachers primarily speaking in Spanish with little translation, word walls with morphemes in the classrooms and teachers utilizing gestures, visuals and modeling to assist students in comprehension.  My daughters came home singing in Spanish, asking questions, and using Spanish with more freedom (willing to make mistakes).  The environment felt very language-rich and supportive of student development in both languages.  Other years have felt very monoglossic where at 12 pm my daughters knew it was now time to transition to another language and to only use Spanish or English language in class sometimes with consequences.  Those years felt very challenging.  The attitude towards Spanish and English would vary and each language was isolated and taught differently based on the teacher's preference.  As an educator, I observe similarities in my daughters’ educational journeys to my current school community.  There is such a big push for students to become proficient in English and in the content curriculum that home language gets very little attention in core classes.  I do not think this is across the board but is situational based upon teacher philosophies and the repertoire of instructional strategies that teachers possess.  Emerging classes incorporate more home language, use translanguaging, scaffolding and blend a variety of instructional strategies but more can be done consistently and integrated into class to work towards a heteroglossic view of bilingualism.  A few statements that stood out to me:

“Effective practices include helping students make cross-language connections and drawing on all students’ language resources rather than keeping languages strictly separate.”   p. 158

“When the languages are not separated, students can carry out linguistic investigations and build metalinguistic awareness by comparing and contrasting languages.”  p. 127

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This chapter also made me realize the translanguaging strategies that I utilize in my classroom.  I organize pairs and small groups with students who speak the same home language.  I encourage students to use home language in their writing when we do quick writes and notes in their interactive science notebooks.  When investigating our essential question for the science unit, as a class we create a summary board which includes our learning, evidence and claims that support the question.  Students contribute visuals and written statements in English and home languages.  We connect our vocabulary word wall to the summary board that represents what we are learning.  I would love to add cognates to this and more vocabulary in home languages.  We do some work with cognates but this could be an area of growth for next year.

I use a similar strategy similar to the preview, view, review and would like to explore ways to expand and enhance it for my biology class next year.  I would like to focus on the review piece and give students time to meet in groups who have the same home language and have a guided activity that incorporates their learning, builds on their knowledge in both languages.  I like how Lauren talked about using bilingual books for an animal research project.  This is an area that I could further develop in my biology class.  I have bilingual textbooks and articles but am lacking bilingual books for my high school students.

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I think the most significant implication of the research on translanguaging by Cummins and Garcia for teaching bilinguals is that students home language is viewed as an asset to learning. By embracing students' Linguistic Repertoire the classroom becomes a more inclusive and safe space which will make it more effective for all.

This also ties into Culturally Responsive Teaching as it eases the Linguistic and Cultural Capital that is systematic in our education structure.

This is reflected in my school with our DLI program where students at the high school level are taught Language & Literature in Spanish, AP Spanish Language & Culture, and this year some math courses in Spanish. Students in this program are also working toward their Seal of Biliteracy. Although if I had not had so many of my AVID students in the program this year I would not know that it existed as the promotion for the program is lacking. I hope that with budget cuts this year the program stays intact and continues to grow as it is so beneficial for our students.

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Your daughters' bilingual schooling fascinates me. There were not very good options for that when my children were young, and it is something I regret. I also was interested in the part of this chapter that talked about how splitting the instruction in half (am or pm, etc) was not as effective. I could relate to it when a Miami tour guide was speaking two languages. I started just waiting for the English part instead of trying to follow his Spanish.

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This chapter and the article on translanguaging was very helpful to me. This was a new topic to me, and it will impact my instruction. I have long used "turn and talk" partners, but I have strategically placed my ELs with a strong English speaker as a partner. I can see the many benefits of pairing them with someone who speaks their home language. Although I often express the value of speaking multiple languages, I do not hear many students speaking other languages at school. This chapter made me really reflect on what my school and ELD teachers are promoting. I know one hindrance is the very many languages at our school (over 30), but we could do much more to promote the celebration of multilingualism. In my own classroom, I could encourage them to write in any languages. The translation technology would make that quite easy for me. Like I said, this chapter made me reflect quite a bit on my current practices.

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It is interesting to hear your experience of both Monoglossic and Heteroglossic views of bilingualism that you experienced with your daughters. It sounds like you saw first hand the impact of a Monoglossic view versus Heteroglossic view.

As a teacher, I agree with you that there is this intense pressure to push content curriculum. In addition, the curriculum that we are given does not contain bilingual resources that would be helpful for students. Therefore, it is up to me to find these resources, add in the scaffolds and create a Heteroglossic view of bilingualism in my classroom. So, I agree with you that it is situational based upon teacher philosophies. Also, I strive to incorporate more of a Heteroglossic approach to my teaching.

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One suggestion I may offer to parents of emergent bilinguals to support students’ literacy is having students write in a daily journal. Each day the student can write a couple sentences of what they did that day, how they felt or what they wish to do the next day. This can be written in English and translated or their home language. They can also include pictures. This repeated practice can grow a student’s confidence in writing and help them develop strong writing skills. Parents can then read or talk with students about what they wrote about.

Another way parents can support their student’s literacy is through listening. I noticed in my practice the more students hear adults reading they tend to mimic the pace and expression in their voice. By listening to an audiobook or a podcast in their home language or English, students  can hear expression, rate, and fluency. They can then take these skills into their own independent reading. If possible, I recommend having the book or script in hand to follow along while listening.

Using home language will support literacy in English because of translanguaging. Students can use their skills and knowledge in their home language and transfer it to English. For example, the more they build their vocabulary in their home language the more words they will be familiar with/have prior knowledge of when reading in English.

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A few ways that my school includes students’ culture and language is by:

-Inviting families for fall conferences by calling each family in their home language and giving families different options of conferencing (phone and in-person).  Families were welcomed to school and could bring in younger siblings.  Conference times varied which enabled some parents to come in after work hours.  Conferences were approximately 30 minutes in length and families had time to share (with translation if needed).  Conference time was focused upon learning about students and their families, hopes/dreams for students and ways to work together to support their student. Next year, we would love to provide snacks/food for families, and have other resources available for families.  I also discussed conferences in Ch.2 Padlet.

-Communication (email, parentvue, studentvue, paper copies) from school to home is offered in some languages but not all languages.

-As a staff, we have discussed and would like to implement multilingual signage around school. This has not come to fruition but is supported by many staff members and I am hopeful this goal is achieved this year. I also love the "multilingual information board" mentioned in the section on "Including Students' Languages and Cultures" (172)

-There is a fair amount of growth that our school can do to move towards demonstrating an intercultural orientation: integrating home language into curriculum, creating opportunities for family involvement, and working with families to support student literacy.

In Chapter 7, I was introduced to the concept of “drawing on cultural funds of knowledge” (175) which is seen in schools that adopt an intercultural orientation.  I do not think home visits are feasible for all of my students but I would love to somehow emulate this idea with our families, maybe focusing on our Newcomer population to provide support and create intentional connections where more students and families' home language and cultures our seen in our classrooms.  I’m excited about the idea of organizing a family night to welcome families, provide a meal, build relationships, and support them with school resources.  Things that could be included at family nights:  activities for home-language literacy, learning about students’

funds of knowledge, workshops, childcare, meeting content teachers and school liaisons, bringing in community resources (Wichita Center-clothing and food pantry).

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These three suggestions resonated with me because I have made similar ones to parents at conferences. I tell all my parents about the importance of reading together and discussing what is read. Even before children can read, they can listen and discuss. Parents are often surprised by this idea. I even say they can watch a show or movie and then talk about the characters or plot. This will all help students with reading skills. I also encourage them to use small moments at home to get writing ideas. For example, finding a big leaf on a walk could become a small story. Families can use descriptive words about the leaf or the walk. Most of all, I encourage them to maintain their first language which also sometimes surprises parents. I explain how reading and writing skills transfer to their new languages, and I remind them how beneficial it will be to be bilingual. When parents explain how busy they are, I also suggest an older sibling or relative could read or listen, too. That time would be valuable for all involved.

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I appreciate your ideas about how our district can be more welcoming to other languages and cultures. Throughout this class I have read about great ideas other schools do such as parent liaisons and evening cultural events. I am curious if the ELD department promotes these ideas because I have not had ELD teachers at my school do anything about this. Although it seems at the root of their job, I am not seeing it. After this class, I hope to encourage more of this at my school, and I hope they join me.

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Most of the demographics discussed in this portion of the chapter did not surprise me. I grew up in LA and was a student in the LAUSD until I was 16. Then I moved to Las Vegas where I finished high school, attended college, substituted, and started my full time teaching career at a Title I school in one of the highest crime areas of Clark County. Diversity was the norm for me and I remember having plenty of teachers who looked like me and several who did not.

I did not expect to hear that Suburban schools had more diverse teachers, but I have little personal experience in suburban areas (I was always in large cities or rural towns).

My background in education in large cities made diversity the norm. My first year teaching in at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas the English department had 25 members and about 50% were white and 60% female. My team of 9th grade teachers consisted of 5 people- Two were Latinx and bilingual (1 m, 1 f) and three monolingual white people (2 f, 1m). The rest of my department was a mix asian (Korean and Filipino), black, latino, and white teachers. This is not including the diverse ethnicities, classes, sexual orientations, and religious backgrounds of the staff.

Teaching in Oregon has been a major adjustment as staff is much less diverse and so is the student populations in the areas that I been an educator. My first full time teaching position in Oregon was in the rural town of Boardman at a small 7-12th grade secondary school. 100% of the teachers were white and almost 90% of the students were hispanic. Our two office secretaries were bilingual Latinas who had graduated from Riverside and had their own children enrolled in the school. We also had two IAs that were bilingual hispanic women. The staff in the building were challenging for me as I had come from such a different background so I had different higher expectations for all of my students. The students were challenging because they had such little knowledge and exposure to other cultures and backgrounds. When I mentioned Winter Break I was corrected by both students and staff "You mean Christmas Break?". I ended up creating a whole research unit on the Holocaust to accompany "The Diary of Anne Frank" play in our 8th grade curriculum because my students made so many prejudice derogatory comments/slurs/jokes about Jewish people. Overall it was a learning experience.

Yes, in my experience the demographics of students and staff inform school policies and teacher attitudes. Also they impact student performance as teachers and staff are examples of what can be accomplished, especially in smaller communities with less hands on experiences in diverse communities.

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It sounds like there are many ways your school is including student’s cultures and languages. I noticed there are some similarities between our schools. For example, my school/district invites ML families to conferences with a phone call in their home language. We also have interpreters available in their home language for the conference.

I like your idea about implementing multilingual signage around your school. At my school we have about 36 languages spoken. In reflection, there is no acknowledgment or display of this around our building. I would also like to bring this up to fellow staff members and see if there is a way to add this to our building.