Coach’s Corner | Teaching For Biliteracy

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I won't be writing this summer - check back at the start of the school year for more from coach's corner! Read More...

02 Jun

Using a multilingual perspective to design small group and individualized instruction

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Teaching for Biliteracy encourages teachers to take on a multilingual perspective when working with bilingual students. We seek to understand all a student knows, in all domains and in all languages. We honor approximations. We capitalize on resources. We use these as strengths upon which we can build transfer. This blog entry is an overview of how we can apply a multilingual perspective to designing small group and individualized instruction. I will use a fourth grade student Valeria (who Read More...

04 May

What’s the right response to code-switching?

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No resource I am aware of better addresses this topic than Teaching for Biliteracy Chapter 5: Language Resources, Linguistic Creativity, and Cultural Funds of Knowledge. This semester, participants in Edgewood College Biliteracy Development course drew from this resource and others and shared their impressions: Why honor student language? Antonio Morales-López is a bilingual resource teacher at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin. He writes: During my childhood, I remember my mother saying “cualli tonaltin” (good morning) to my grandparents every morning and my Read More...

06 Apr

Let them read!

At this winter’s Wisconsin State Reading Association Convention, I had the opportunity to attend Donalyn Miller’s session Care and Feeding of a Classroom Library. I happened to stumble upon the session, and I’m so glad I did! It was an inspiration. Donalyn asked the audience: “Raise your hand if you like to read kids’ or children’s literature?” (we all did) She then asked: “Raise your hand if you’ve ever learned something about the world from children’s literature?” (we all did) Then she Read More...

02 Mar

Checking for Understanding

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One of the most important things we can ask ourselves as we go about our planning is how we will know if our students learned what was taught. In February of this year, Susan Prior wrote about the many layers of unit design in a post titled "To Plan Together or Not to Plan Together..." She includes a stage of "unpacking the standards", which are essential in understanding what it is the actual learning we'd like kids to take on. Read More...

03 Feb

Voices from the field: Reflections on a Coaching Cycle

Coach’s Corner, El tercer maestro: Classroom environments and materials in dual language/bilingual program

In this post, I interview a colleague who participated in a coaching cycle with me. Read below to learn about her experience. Emily Zoeller, Instructional Coach Valerie Klessig-Palm, Kindergarten DLI teacher Can you explain the format and focus of the coaching cycle you participated in? The format of our coaching cycle included choosing a goal for students and then the coach and teacher working toward that goal through weekly planning and in-class collaboration. (See blog post: un ciclo de coaching) In Read More...

06 Jan

Un ciclo de coaching

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El enseñar la lectoescritura en dos idiomas requiere del estudio de la teoría, el modelo de las prácticas, y el apoyo en la planificación. El coach tiene una oportunidad única de proveer la colaboración y la reflexión necesaria para asegurar los buenos resultados de los alumnos. En esta publicación, explicaré la plantilla de “un ciclo de coaching”, y las características que lo hace exitoso. ¿Qué es un ciclo de coaching? Un ciclo de coaching es un período de 4-6 semanas en Read More...

02 Dec

Orchestrating Academic Conversations

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This week, we hosted relatives for a holiday meal, and I got thinking about the idea of orchestrating. To me, orchestrating means attending to various tasks simultaneously, with a big picture in mind. The cheesy potatoes might be a crowd pleaser, but managing the preparation of multiple dishes, serving courses, and entertaining a variety of guests are fundamental to the success of the affair. Teachers orchestrate on a daily basis! This year, Nuestro Mundo Community School is working with students on Read More...

05 Nov

The norms of conversation

We can all envision the ideal state of conversation in our classrooms: Kids are in pairs or small groups discussing a topic. Members represent diverse language proficiencies, yet everyone is participating. They care about what they’re discussing and the teacher can tell by the students’ postures and comments. The students know how to take turns talking, how to actively listen, and how to respond to one another. They self-regulate. Each comment deepens the group’s understanding of the topic. Each Read More...

07 Oct

Teacher Diversity & Tips for Coaches