The Unstoppable ML Teacher / Translanguaging
by Tan Huynh · Published 01/25/2023 · Last modified 02/27/2023
As language specialist Tan Huynh learns Khmer, his 6th language, he looks into language acquisition as a skill, not a superpower. He suggests teachers support students’ multilingualism by maximizing translanguaging, learning in context, and integrating all language domains.
Like much of the current K-12 universe, Sarah Cooper is both excited and concerned about the impact of ChatGPT’s disruptive technology. Recently she checked in with her 8th graders for insights into how they might use it and how they think AI may impact their lives in the future.
Star Sackstein’s Assessing with Respect is about focusing on meeting students’ SEL needs and how that allows us to work with them on greater academic achievements. She effectively discusses the theory of CASEL competencies and their implementation, writes NBCT Megan Balduf.
If students develop executive function skills – focus, planning and organizing, self-monitoring – classrooms will run more smoothly, there will be fewer interruptions and repetitions, and teachers will have successfully bridged the SEL/academics gap, writes Marilee Sprenger.
Amber Chandler not only says what many educators are thinking but lives her classroom truth in the The Flexible SEL Classroom. Her compelling case for everyday SEL in middle schools is supported by a multitude of activities to benefit students, writes teacher Jenni Kramer.
Working together in small groups using a book club model has helped sixth graders in Sara Kugler’s K-6 school shift from passive and disinterested to engaged and self-reliant. They’re eager to read and ready to “talk books,” writes the literacy coach and co-teacher.
The curated collection Resurgence is an invitation to dive deeply into authentic and meaningful Indigenous resources, preparing yourself and then your students to journey toward reconciliation, writes Sherry Liptak, a district teacher of multilingual learners in Canada.
Alyssa Hadley Dunn’s Teaching on Days After offers research and narratives on how teachers can respond equitably on days after cataclysmic events so that they and their students “reach the full measure of their humanity.” Sarah Cooper recommends Dunn’s pedagogical strategies.
Pamela Koutrakos’ example-filled “Mentor Texts That Multitask” shows teachers how to design lessons that meet multiple instructional priorities. Sherry Liptak found it to be “a great fit for my professional bookshelf – though I think it will spend more time in my hands!”
Stress, excessive workload, unrealistic mandates, and daily expectations can add up to burnout. Jenny Grant Rankin’s First Aid for Teacher Burnout combines strategies to alleviate stress, streamline grading, tame technology and practice self care. Essential reading!
