Blog | Teaching For Biliteracy

It’s here! SUMMER! A time for teachers to relax by the beach, beverage in hand, care-free, and happy. Or, if you’re like most teachers, a time to finally read that professional journal you received in January, comb the local bookstores for a used copy of those theme-related books you need, clean out EVERY drawer in your desk at school, and maybe every once in a while enjoy a show on Netflix without grading papers at the same time. For me, summer is more of the Read More...

28 Feb

Advocating for Dual Language: It DOES Take a Village!

By Dana Hardt

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How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher

I believe so very much in the power of a well-developed dual language program. The research is so compelling; it motivates me to do my job better and continuously refine my practice to teach more efficiently, especially for my English Language Learners. Here are some research links and helpful articles: Impact of Two Way Immersion on Students’ Attitudes Toward School and College (Lindholm-Leary and Borsato) Bilingual Effects on Cognitive and Linguistic Development: Role of Language, Cultural Background, and Education (Barac and Bialystok) Two is better Read More...

06 Sep

District Mandates and Biliteracy

By Dana Hardt

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How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher

It’s a question we get a lot: “What happens if my district says I HAVE to use ___(insert program name here)____ with my class? I’m not sure how to integrate it with biliteracy instruction!” I’m not here to tell you to NOT follow the directions of your administration! I understand (completely, believe me) that sometimes we are mandated to do things that may not match our philosophy, the most recent research, or the needs of our students. However, I have a Read More...

01 May

Keep the Charts Alive!

By Dana Hardt

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How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher

Doesn’t it feel good? You’re implementing the Bridge! Your students have experience transferring vocabulary across languages! They are applying their academic vocabulary from one unit in one language to literacy in the other language. They are even consciously comparing and contrasting their two languages through your guided contrastive analysis! (OK, maybe you’re just doing parts of this, but remember every step toward full implementation is a good step!) Getting the process of the Bridge going in your classroom is such Read More...

06 Apr

Link to TWI in the News!

By Dana Hardt

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How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher

Hello Biliteracy World! I just wanted to share some brief news footage from our Two-Way Immersion Program! One of our local stations found out about the program, and - looking for some positive coverage on culture and inclusion - asked to interview us. We love that we were able to contribute something positive to the news. :) KOLO 8's news coverage of Washoe County School District TWI Look for my next blog coming mid-late April! I'll be writing about how we use Read More...

28 Feb

Implementing the Bridge in the Two Teacher Model (and When You’re Not Bilingual): Part 2, Building a Bridge

By Dana Hardt

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How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher, Uncategorized

Building a Bridge Several people have asked me to break down the process of how my Spanish teaching partner – Bebi (or Señorita Yossen) – and I plan for and implement a week of language transfer and contrastive analysis, also known as the Bridge, in our two-teacher model. I hope this helps! Here’s a secret – it doesn’t happen on the Friday before. It has taken us five years to get to this point - and it continues to morph, improve, and Read More...

08 Feb

Part 1: Building advocacy for your K-8 dual language program.

By melody

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Shifting Toward a Multilingual View of Biliteracy, Uncategorized

Administrative support is a key element in establishing effective implementation of any program or initiative, including Dual Language and teaching for biliteracy. However, there is a misconception that in order for administrators to effectively support a Dual Language and/or a biliteracy program, they have to speak the languages of that program. In this post, Alyssa St. Hilaire, the Bilingual Coordinator for the Kennewick School District, shares how a walk through process allowed monolingual administrators have some powerful take-aways about Read More...

28 Nov

Implementing the Bridge in the Two Teacher Model (and When You’re Not Bilingual) – Part 1

By Dana Hardt

2 Comments

How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher

The Bridge – it’s been an area of growth for me since I began teaching in Two-Way Immersion five years ago. For a while it really intimidated me. I wasn’t sure what to do, when to do it, or how to do it. It was definitely an aspect of teaching unique to teaching for biliteracy, so coming from a monoliteracy setting I had never heard of it before. AND…. I am not fluent in Spanish! All of these circumstances Read More...

21 Oct

Supporting Monolingual Families

By Dana Hardt

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How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher

"I only speak English. How can I support my child in a Two-Way Immersion program?" We get this question all the time. Both our monolingual English-speaking and monolingual Spanish-speaking families are nervous about providing their children support in the other language. Because I am a monolingual English speaker, many of the monolingual English speaking parents have felt comfortable sharing their concerns and questions with me. My partner, a native Spanish speaker, often gets very similar concerns and questions from Spanish Read More...

19 Sep

Collaboration in a Two-Teacher Model

By Dana Hardt

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How I Fit In: Teaching for Biliteracy as a Monolingual English Teacher

I am extremely lucky. I have the best “work wife” out there. We have very similar teaching philosophies, approaches to parents, passion for learning and reflecting, love of language…even our daughters are the same age! And while I might be nine inches taller than her, I lovingly refer to her as my “Latina Twin”. I am the English teacher in a two-teacher model of our Two-Way Immersion program. My teaching partner, Bebi, and I do not share a classroom. We have Read More...