Season 1 concludes with one final ‘Making Meaning’ episode—and there is plenty to process. Meta is the word of the day as we think about the utility of meta-linguistic awareness and transfer as tools that empower students to take stock of their own language journeys. Later, Victoria and Anna assess the assessment systems and dive deep into how they…

As a language learner herself, Alexandra Güílamo has spent more than twenty years serving a wide range of language learner programs. Alexandra is a former teacher, academic coach, elementary school principal, and district-level director in highly diverse urban and suburban school districts. She is one of the leading dual-language experts, an author…

As a language learner herself, Alexandra Güílamo has spent more than twenty years serving a wide range of language learner programs. Alexandra is a former teacher, academic coach, elementary school principal, and district-level director in highly diverse urban and suburban school districts. She is one of the leading dual-language experts, an author…

Nicole Knight is the Executive Director of the English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement Office at Oakland Unified School District. She is honored to have served Oakland students for the last 24 years as a teacher, teacher leader and instructional leader at the site and district levels. A National Board Certified Teacher in English as a…

In this making meaning episode, we’re diving into how our time with Dr. Susana Johnson, David Rogers, and Cristina Sánchez-López. We discuss how to acknowledge and build on students’ home language experiences and create rich classroom experiences that focus on strong oral language skills. We also discuss what it means to teach students to be litera…

Cristina Sánchez-López collaborates with educators in the US and Canada on many issues related to the education of Multilingual Learners (MLs) including developing culturally and linguistically sustaining Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS); bilingual special education; middle school mathematics; curriculum development; literacy across the conte…

David Rogers supports the work of Dual Language Education of New Mexico-DLeNM whose mission is to promote the effective design and implementation of dual language education (www.dlenm.org) in New Mexico, and beyond. In his thirty-five years as an educator, David has served as an education volunteer and program coordinator in Peace Corps Paraguay, S…

Susana Ibarra Johnson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education and TESOL at New Mexico State University. Susana is a former bilingual education teacher. Her understanding and devotion go beyond her academic training to her own experience as a bilingual learner. As a former biliteracy researcher and senior consultant for the WIDA Con…

In this making meaning episode, we’re diving into how our time with multilingual researcher and advocate, Dr. Jim Cummins. There was quite a bit to unpack, including: - How the pendulum swings in Literacy pedagogy and instruction - The concept of “Literacy Saturation” - The thread between what we learned from Dr. Cummins and past episodes. You can …

Jim Cummins is a Professor Emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. His research focuses on literacy development in educational contexts characterized by linguistic and socioeconomic diversity. In numerous articles and books, he has explored the nature of language proficiency and its relationship to l…

Jim Cummins is a Professor Emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Dr. Cummins stresses the crucial role of literacy engagement in developing reading comprehension. Explicit phonics instruction plays an important role in developing students' decoding skills but, to be optimally effective, it needs to…

In this second making meaning episode, Anna and Victoria are joined by fellow educator Lillie Ruvalcaba. Together they discus how the time with Dr.Socorro Herrera and Dr. Ester de Jong help educators better understand literacy: the noise of an oracy forward classroom; side stepping the curriculum to meet students needs; and harvesting home language…

Ester de Jong is Professor and program leader in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education program at the University of Colorado Denver. Prior to UC Denver, she was the Director of the School of Teaching and Learning and Professor in ESOL/Bilingual Education at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Her research focuses on equ…

Dr. Socorro Herrera is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education at Kansas State University and directs the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA). Her K-12 teaching experience includes an emphasis on literacy development and her research focuses on literacy opportunities with culturally an…

In this first making meaning episode, we’re diving into how our time with Dr. Laurie Olsen, Dr. Kathy Escamilla, and Dr. Jody Slavick helps us better understand literacy: - the explicit attention to oracy in every classroom - the professional learning needs of educators - and the family engagement “invitation.” The episode is a mix of analysis of e…

Dr. Slavick is one of the contributors to the National Committee for Effective Literacy’s White paper on Comprehensive Effective Literacy Policy and Instruction for English Learner/Emergent Bilingual Students. She currently serves as the director of professional development for the Literacy Squared program at the BUENO Center at the University of C…

Dr. Kathy Escamilla today. Dr. Escamilla a Professor Emeritus in the Equity, Bilingualism, & Biliteracy Division BUENO Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. Additionally, she’s the author of numerous articles and books including Biliteracy From the Start: Literacy Squared In Action. She is specifically interested…

Dr. Kathy Escamilla today. Dr. Escamilla a Professor Emeritus in the Equity, Bilingualism, & Biliteracy Division BUENO Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. Additionally, she’s the author of numerous articles and books including Biliteracy From the Start: Literacy Squared In Action. She is specifically interested…

Continue the conversation with Dr. Olsen, a researcher, writer, advocate, and leader of educational equity with an emphasis on immigrant and English learner education, language access, and rights. Links: Seal of Biliteracy https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/sealofbiliteracy.asp EL Roadmap https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/rm/ ELA/ELD Framework https://www.…

With a Ph.D. in social cultural studies in education, Dr. Olsen has been an educator, a writer, and an advocate for half a century. Dr. Olsen has Designed and led demonstration projects, and evaluation projects in English learner and immigrant education – with a strong emphasis on educational equity. She has written dozens of books, articles, and r…

Meet Anna and Victoria, two educators passionate about reading and all things literacy. Join them as they interview experts from across the nation with expertise in literacy and multilingual education in an effort to better understand research and how to support our students, specifically our multi-lingual learners in becoming literate individuals …