What in the World? Language Podcast

Mastery Grading & Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching

I had the opportunity to sit down during our planning period with teacher leader and educator Cece Tolliver, M.Ed, LAT,ATC. Ms. Tolliver has lead staff PD during our schools implementation of Mastery Grading over the past three years. Ms. Tolliver is also the chair for our schools SIT team, (School Improvement Team) and continues to be a teacher leader in our school and district. 

During this podcast we discuss our schools implementation of Mastery Grading, and how this leads to equitable grading practices. She gives us in-site into what this looks like in her own classroom as a science educator.

We also discuss our schools implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices via staff PD for our entire school, and what that looks like in terms of classroom management. In this podcast we also take a look at what it means to be a white educator in a predominantly African American and Hispanic school and its impact on our teaching practices.

Enjoy. 

Links:

Ms. Tolliver on twitter

 

#ACTFL19 Noah Geisel (Take 2)

Take 2 with Noah Geisel at ACTFL19 in Washington, D.C. We continue our conversation on issues of equity, social justice, target language use, ICC standards, culture and much more.

I was fortunate to have Noah stop by the podcast booth for not only one recording, but two. Take 2, enjoy. 

 

Links:

Noah Geisel Twitter

Blog on Medium

MarginalSyllabus link 

#ACTFL19 Thomas Soth & Noah Geisel

I was lucky to grab these two guys as they wondered by on the convention floor. They were kind enough to lend their voices for a few minutes on the topic of social justice and equity, a theme that I visit with all the episodes I recorded on the convention floor at #ACTFL19 in Washington D.C.

Noah leaves mid podcast to run to another event on the conference floor, and Thomas keeps the conversation going. Spontaneous and without rehearsal, they share their experiences in the world language classroom. Enjoy!

Links

Thomas Soth Twitter

Noah Geisel Twitter 

Blog on Medium

 

#ACTF19 LJ Randolph

I had the pleasure of having LJ Randolph stop by for a moment while on the floor at the ACTFL 2019  convention in Washington, D.C.  LJ and I discuss topics on equity and social justice in the world language classroom. We discuss in this short 17 minute conversation topics that touch on Trauma and SJ work, being apolitical, working with Heritage learners, and more! Enjoy

"This is hard work, expect discomfort" -LJ Randolph

 

Links:

Website: link

Twitter link

#ACTFL19 Equity & Inclusion Panel Podcast

I present to you a live, panel podcast, all the way from the convention floor in the exhibit hall at ACTFL 2019, in Washington DC. On this occasion, I had the honor to interview four extremely talented educators: Kia London, William Yepes, Abelardo Almazán Vázquez and Marialuisa Di Stefano. 

We discussed a wide range of topics such as: LGBTQ issues, Afro-Latino visibility and representation, decolonizing our texts, Latiné/Latinx/Latin@ identity labelling, and framing our curricula to make our classes more equitable and inclusive. ¡y mucho más!

Links:

Twitter

@MaestraLondon

@will_yepes

@AbelardoAlmazan

@luisa_diste

 

 

CI Midwest Conference Teacher Takeaways

In this podcast I was invited to try something unique. I was asked to set up my podcasting equipment and gather teacher takeaways from the CIMW19 conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the end of September. Teachers were offered the chance to share their experiences and takeaways from the conference in a relaxed setting. Although I did not get as many teachers as I had hoped, it was still a unique experience, and one that I hope I have the chance to do again. 

CIMW is a conference that empowers teachers to create joyful, personalized, effective and equitable language acquisition through instruction based on comprehensible input. I would highly encourage you to attend this conference in the future. 

I would like to thank Grant Boulanger & Haiyun Lu for providing me with the space to try something unique and different. 

Grant Boulanger: Website 

Haiyun Lu: Website

We Are (Working to Extend Anti-Racist Education)

I traveled to Durham, N.C to attend and to interview, Dr. Ronda Taylor-Bullock at the NC Farm to School summit, where she presented on the topic of Racial Equity in Farm to School Curriculum.

After her presentation to a packed house, I sat down with Dr. Taylor-Bullock to discuss her work with her organization, We Are (Working to Extend Anti-Racist Education) and the ways in which her organization works with children, educators and parents using a three pronged approach to dismantle systemic racism. Enjoy

Resources

We Are website. 

Facebook fundraiser for Working To Extend Anti-Racist Education

 

Deconstructing the White Lens (3). Teaching Heritage language classes as a non-native white Spanish teacher

I interviewed Adrienne Brandenburg and Mary Beth Johnson about their experiences as Heritage Spanish language teachers, and about issues surrounding being a white, non-native Spanish teacher, and what that looks like in the classroom. This was an honest and open conversation about a subject that is often difficult to talk about. They handled these topics with the grace and understanding that comes from years in the classroom. Enjoy

Resources:

 You can find out more about Adrienne and Mary Beth at their website, Adventures in Heritage Teaching.   

Also there are two Facebook groups for Heritage language teachers, 1. Teachers of Spanish Heritage Speakers and 2. Teachers of Spanish as Heritage Language in the US. These are great groups for online Heritage language resources.  

CI Mid West Conference 2019 Presenters

In this episode I spoke with several presenters at the upcoming conference, CI Mid West at the University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI. September 27,28, 29. If you plan on attending, please listen to just a few of the presenters that will be there as they describe their sessions. I was honored that all these great presenters took time out of their busy lives to speak with me. Enjoy

 

Notes

CI Mid West Website

Key Note Speaker Alina Filipescu 

Why So Fragile? Equity, Justice and deconstructing the White Lens. Disrupting the master narrative (part 2) with Dr. Krishauna Hines-Gaither

I traveled to Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, to interview Dr. Krishauna Hines-Gaither. Dr. Hines-Gaither and I will discuss her upcoming publication “Reimagining World Languages Education: Equity, access, and Social Justice."

Our conversation also involved the discussion of linguicism, language discrimination in Spanish Heritage classrooms, and we also talked about her upcoming workshop addressing White Fragility, assessing ways in which teachers can go about dismantling their implicit bias. This interview is full of information that is sure to make you think, and question some of you assumptions about language, pedagogy, and your interactions with your students. Enjoy.