Stay ConnectedOn the Highest Aspirations Podcast, we engage in important conversations about the most rapidly growing student demographic in the United States – English Language Learners. We speak with educators and students, researchers and policy makers, and parents and community members about how we can help all students reach their highest aspirations.
Join us on this important journey as we bring the vibrant ELL Community together around the topics that matter most to the students we serve.
How can we determine the difference between pushing our language learners to productive struggle vs. past their frustration point? What can educators do to intentionally address or decrease the impact that our own implicit bias may have on our expectations for our students? How can we support students, particularly multilingual learners, in un-learning low self-esteem or self-confidence for their own learning abilities?
We address these questions and more with Amy King and Yvonne Williams from WCEPS, who each have over 20 years of experience in multilingual education in a variety of roles. They specialize in providing highly effective professional learning opportunities to help educators best serve their multilingual learners.
Download the full episode transcript here and find additional episode resources and takeaways on our EL Community blog. Finally visit our EL Community Facebook pagewhere you’ll find valuable tips from others as well as the connections you need to help you grow professionally. There is also a thread dedicated to this particular episode.
Yvonne is the Director of Multilingual Learner Educator Engagement at WCEPS. She collaborates closely with LEAs to discuss educator goals and needs to develop the best path to topics that align with those goals. Prior to WCEPS, she spent three years with WIDA, as a Professional Learning Specialist working in both international and domestic settings. She has worked in education for 25+ years, teaching a variety of language learners from grades Kinder to High School. She also worked as a District ELL Trainer, ELL Instructional Coach, Family Literacy Coordinator, and High School Parent Involvement Coordinator. Yvonne was born in Chihuahua Chihuahua Mexico and came to the US when she was 5. Her experience as an English language learner adds passion to her work. She is joined by her two sisters as first-generation graduates with a master's degree. Her journey as an EL student has provided her with insights that promote high expectations, recognizing potential and leveraging the cultural assets that bilingual students bring to school communities. She now lives in Washington State with her husband but lived in Las Vegas, Nevada for over 23 years prior to moving to Washington. Her two bi-racial sons are proud to hold bachelor's degrees and live in Nevada and Washington states. She believes in family first and values the value that public education can provide for all students. She earned her bachelor’s in business administration from Angelo State University in Texas and her Master's in Bilingual Education from NOVA Southeastern University, Florida. Her endorsements include TESL, Bilingual, and Computer Literacy.
Amy King has more than 20 years of experience in the field of English language teaching and learning both in the US and overseas. Before joining WCEPS, Ms. King was a Senior Professional Learning Specialist at WIDA for more than six years. She taught ESL in K–12 public schools, private language schools, and adult education programs. Internationally, she has taught in both Slovakia and South Korea. In Banska Bystrica, she was a visiting lecturer at Mateja Bela University. In Seoul, she worked at Shin–il High School as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant and at the Foreign Language Institute of Yonsei University. She was an English Language Fellow at Hanoi Metropolitan University in Vietnam through a program sponsored by the US State Department. She holds a BS in Speech and an MS in Journalism from Northwestern University near Chicago. She earned a TESOL Certificate from American University in Washington, DC and a Multiple–Subject Teaching Credential from National University in San Diego. In addition to certificates in Blended Learning, Microlearning and E–Learning, she earned a Master of Instructional Design from the Association of Talent Development. She is currently working on a MS in Educational and Instructional Technology through National University.
What role do identity and ‘social location’ play for educators and how can we be more intentional about updating the education systems we work in? How can we implement a school wide system of support for educators and a culture that encourages collaboration and empathy? What is some advice or a good starting point for educators who feel overwhelmed at the idea of add-on work to successfully support language learners in their classes?
We discuss these questions and more with Sarah Ottow, a longtime educator with over twenty years of experience in teaching, training, and coaching for English language learner success. She returned to Highest Aspirations to talk with us about creating school-wide systems of improvement for more equitable instruction for ALL students. As the founder of Confianza and author of The Language Lens for Content Classrooms: A Guide for K-12 Educators of English and Academic Language Learners, she has many strategies to share that will help you efficiently apply language instruction in ways that will help all students, including multilingual learners.
You can download the full episode transcript here.
Visit our blog to find episode takeaways and resources as well as additional EL education content.
How can teachers use relationship building to improve learning outcomes for hesitant or disconnected students? How can we encourage our students to embrace and celebrate their bilingualism?
We dive into these questions and more with Sonia Águila, a California dual language teacher who has been recognized in her district, her state, and nationally for the work she has done in the field of multilingual education.
Born in Santa Barbara, California, Sonia Águila grew up in a small town near Guadalajara, Mexico. She returned to California at age 11 only knowing how to count to ten in English. After experiencing many challenges and even being discouraged from pursuing a higher education as a young student, she was eventually selected as her high school Salutatorian and Latino Student of the Year at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She followed her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher after obtaining an Elementary Teaching Credential with an emphasis in Spanish and a Masters Degree in Education.
Sonia is currently a 2nd grade Dual Language Immersion Teacher at Canalino Elementary School and the Dual Language Immersion Chairperson for Carpinteria Unified School District, where co-wrote the Plan Maestro for the Dual Language Immersion Program.
She was Carpinteria Unified School District Teacher of the Year in 2017,
California Bilingual Teacher of the Year in 2022,
And National Bilingual Teacher of the Year un 2023.
Download the full episode transcript here, and find more free resources for multilingual educators on our website.
How can we apply the four aspects of self-determination theory to increasing opportunities for intrinsic motivation to flourish? What can teachers do in their classrooms to make their students, particularly MLLs, feel more connected to their learning? Why is it important to find a healthy balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for students?
In his second appearance on Highest Aspirations, we get into the topic of student motivation and what we can do to spark it, and maybe more importantly, to sustain it with Larry Ferlazzo. Ferlazzo has been teaching English and Social Studies to English Language Learners and English-proficient students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento for twenty-one years. He is the author or editor of thirteen books on education, writes a teacher advice column for Education Week and hosts an accompanying podcast, and hosts a popular resource-sharing blog.
Download the full episode transcript and visit our blog for more resources and free EL educator toolkits.
What is the difference between all student talk and discussions? How can teachers plan for meaningful discussion opportunities for all students, particularly MLLs? What research-proven strategies are there for creating, maintaining and repairing community and relationships in the classroom?
We discuss these questions and more with Dr. Mariana Castro.
Dr. Mariana Castro is the Director of the Multilingual Learning Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also a lead curriculum designer and instructor for the Discussion Project. You can read Mariana’s full bio on our show notes and in the blog post featured on the EL Community.
This season, we’ll cover a variety of important topics, including fostering motivation among students, empowering teachers and students with agency, nurturing strong relationships with students and their families, and much more. But these conversations are just the entry point into a wide variety of free, high-quality multimedia content. As always, our team will transform each episode into digestible blog posts, useful graphics, and compelling posts on social media and post them on our EL Community page.
Speaking of social media and community, I am excited to announce the launch of our new Ellevation Educator Facebook Group. The group’s primary goal is to foster meaningful connections among educators who support English learners in their schools. In this inclusive space, we encourage members to engage in thoughtful discussions, exchange valuable insights, and share best practices that empower multilingual students on their language journey. This group warmly welcomes all levels of expertise - whether you're an experienced educator, seasoned advocate of English learners or just starting to explore the world of multilingual education. To join, just search for Ellevation Educator Community under the Groups tab on Facebook. Then go ahead and post on the group to let us know what you learned from this episode.
Subscribe to the show here: https://open.spotify.com/show/0W4CYdurgYRIwFGif3H6Qk
Visit our EL Community page for episode resources, related content and more. Download the episode transcript here.
How can we support educators in the wake of a significant change, such as integrating newcomers into schools after dissolving all designated newcomer centers? What techniques can be used to best support teachers who are inexperienced with newcomers, including structuring PD and harnessing campus leadership? What is a good approach when preparing staff, families, and other stakeholders for a significant structural change to a school program such as this?
We’re closing out Season 10 of the Highest Aspirations podcast with a topic that is important for everyone working in schools. While your district may not currently have large numbers of newcomers, it is almost certain teachers in your schools will be lucky enough to work with students coming to this country for a variety of reasons. We can learn a lot from colleagues working in places where newcomers have been part of the fabric of their school communities for decades. One such school district is Katy ISD, just outside of Houston, Texas. Katy has been known for its newcomer centers for years - so much so that people from other districts have visited them to learn more about how to create similar programs. But the disruption caused by the pandemic forced district leaders at Katy to make significant changes - and the result has been magical.
I sat down with Kimberly Mitchell, Instructional Officer for Secondary ESL at Katy ISD to talk about how the challenge her district was facing turned into an opportunity, and how other districts can learn from their journey. From change management to rolling out PD programs with very little time, Kimberly shares a wealth of ideas and resources that will encourage you to rethink traditional newcomer programs and energize teachers in the face of significant transitions.
I hope you enjoy this last episode of the season. We’ll be back in August for Season 11, but in the meantime, please visit our EL Community to access all our free resources, including every episode of the Highest Aspirations podcast.
Kimberly Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and a Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on literacy from the University of Texas at Arlington. She began her career in Alvin, Texas teaching English as a Second Language at the high school and junior high levels. Since then she has worked in the Office of Other Languages for Katy ISD in Texas. Currently, she is the Instructional Officer for Secondary ESL. She is passionate about supporting campus staff in effectively providing ESL program services for secondary emergent bilingual students
Visit our EL Community page for episode resources, related content and more.Download the episode transcript here.
What are some key rulings during the history of EL policy and their impact on education equity and access? What challenges are multilingual students currently facing in education and how have policies helped overcome or exacerbate them? How can we better advocate for ELs in policy and legislation?
We discuss this question and more with Ellevation co-founder, President, and in-house policy wonk, Teddy Rice.
In addition to being Ellevation’s President and co-founder, Rice also happens to be our in-house policy-wonk. One of his favorite parts of his job is to facilitate a session for new Ellevation employees he calls EL Policy and Market Landscape. It has been a highlight of the onboarding process for new hires ever since Ellevation was founded over 10 years ago. Recognizing the value of the information he shares in this session, we have attempted to share some key elements in this interview.
Visit our EL Community page for episode resources, related content and more.
Download the episode transcript here.
How is AI currently being used to support MLLs in K12 education? What challenges and concerns currently surround the increasing presence of AI in the classroom? How might this technology transform the work of educators moving forward?
We get into these topics and more with our guest Chris Mah. Chris is a first-year doctoral student in the Stanford Graduate School of Education. He is interested in researching all things writing, multilingualism, and technology. Before Stanford, he taught high school Language Arts in Minneapolis, also serving as an advisor at a school where 100% of first-generation students were accepted into college. Prior to teaching, Chris worked in online marketing, and he is also interested in bringing together his experiences and promoting equitable design and use of EdTech tools.
Visit our EL Community page for episode resources, related content and more. Download the episode transcript here.
What are three mathematical mindsets that can guide instruction for MLs and help them thrive? How can teachers approach academic conversations and building in differentiation in a way that won’t feel overwhelming? What can teachers do to ensure they are building in time for high-quality interactions while delivering instruction?
We discuss these questions and much more with Adrian Mendoza. Adrian joined us at our IMPACT conference last year and we just had to bring him back for a podcast interview. He has provided Professional Development to educators in districts and educational service centers for more than 7 years, working with teachers and parents in United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
Adrian joined our friends at Seidlitz Education from his previous role as an Instructional Math Coach in San Marcos CISD. His commitment leads him to innovate in the education area, and his present action research project is about the importance of Building Mathematical Growth Mindset Communities.
Adrian is an author of the book Teaching Math to ELs, which we highly recommend.
Visit our EL Community page for episode resources, related content and more.
Download the episode transcript here.
Welcome back to a special episode of Highest Aspirations. Our guests this week are 3 students from Lowell High School in Massachusetts. I was introduced to them through our friend Jessica Lander, who has appeared on the podcast and facilitated an inspiring session at our annual IMPACT conference last year. She also happens to be the teacher of our three guests, Lucas, Ana Sofia, and Kasi - all of whom are students at Lowell High School who came to the US in the last 5 years.
You’ll hear elements of their testimonios as they share their immigration stories, their experience contributing to and sharing a class recipe book called “Tasting History” with their classmates and beyond, and some recommendations for any teachers listening on how to help their MLL students be more successful in their schools and communities. You can find more information about Tasting History and much more on Jessica’s website: jessicalander.com.
Thanks for listening to Highest Aspirations and please enjoy this conversation with some amazing students and their contributions to their school and community.
Link to episode transcript download.
Subscribe to the show here: https://open.spotify.com/show/0W4CYdurgYRIwFGif3H6Qk
For additional episodes, blog posts and free resources relating to multilingual education, visit our community page: https://ellevationeducation.com/ell-community.
Visit our EL Community page for episode resources, related content and more.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
