Highest Aspirations

Welcome back to Season 13 of Highest Aspirations, an education podcast focused on providing educators with inspiration and strategies to help multilingual learners achieve their highest aspirations. In this episode, Steve and Sandra will be sharing the mic as they talk about change, why it can be intimidating to some and motivating to others, and what’s next for both of us moving forward. They dis...

We made it to the last episode of Season 12 - and I couldn’t be happier with our guest and the topics we covered. Dr. Sonia Soltero has been a contributor and collaborator in our community since the very beginning. She is currently working with Chicago Public Schools to help support newcomers, so we are excited to bring her on again to share the experience with others. We cover a lot of ground in...

Welcome back to Highest Aspirations, an education podcast focused on providing educators with inspiration and strategies to help multilingual learners achieve their highest aspirations. In this episode, our interview is conducted by Sandra Medrano-Arroya, Ellevation’s National Director of Multilingual Learner Success, who speaks with Sofía Núñez of Empower the Voice. They leverage their vast colle...

Welcome back to Highest Aspirations, an education podcast focused on providing educators with inspiration and strategies to help multilingual learners achieve their highest aspirations. In this episode, we zoom out some to talk about what happens after multilingual learners and other students from marginalized communities leave K-12 schools and what we can do to ensure they are equipped to rewatch...

In this week's episode, we're looking closely at teaching and learning academic language with our friends Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder. We discuss the need to bring in sociocultural context and background knowledge that our students bring with them. We also get into how we can avoid taking a one-size-fits-all approach and personalize learning to accelerate learning. Of course, Diane and S...

What are the primary challenges EL families are facing in their communities and how can programs like FLI address them? How did COVID and other recent challenges in the education world impact absenteeism for students, and how can those issues be repaired? How can we support parents and families to address trauma they have experienced in order to improve their relationships with and outcomes for th...

On this episode of Highest Aspirations, we explore the importance of building personalized professional learning opportunities that provide educators with opportunities to continuously reflect on their work. Our guests Shélynn (Shey) Riel and Anna Ciriani-Dean provide simple frameworks within an experiential learning cycle designed to improve instruction and reframe negative self-criticism into mo...

On this episode of Highest Aspirations, we take a deep dive into how professional learning can help create and nurture the skillsets and the mindsets educators need to best serve multilingual learners. We challenge the often idealized assumption that “every teacher is a teacher of language” and explore ways to make that a reality rather than a desired state. We also talk about how effective leader...

What is cultural linguistic responsiveness and what does this look like in action in the classroom? What are some of the biggest challenges facing the school system in becoming more culturally responsive, and what are some steps to take to address them? How can professional development be an effective lever in improving cultural responsiveness in a lasting, sustained way? We answer these questions...

What are cross linguistic connections, and how can they be used to develop metalinguistic awareness? How can pulling in both English and home languages during instruction actually accelerate learning, among other benefits? How can this holistic approach to language learning lead to biliteracy? who we met last fall at the La Cosecha conference in New Mexico. Dr. Mercuri is a nationally recognized E...

In this shortened final episode before holiday break, we're sharing out a few highlights from the season and what's to come when we get back. As always, thanks for listening, we wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season and will be back with new episodes January 16th, 2024! Visit https://ellevationeducation.com/el-community for more free content and resources. --- Send in a voice message: http...

In this episode of Highest Aspirations, we're discussing dual language programs: what key features make them successful, how we make them more equitable, the steps we can take to further progress in the dual language movement, and much more. For this conversation, we're interviewing Conor Williams, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where he writes about education, immigration, early educa...

Welcome back to Highest Aspirations, an education podcast focused on providing educators with inspiration and strategies to help multilingual learners achieve their highest aspirations. In our last episode, we spoke with Dr. Joanna Dreby and Dr. Eric Macias about the work they are doing facilitate meaningful discussions among undergraduate students on immigration at the University of Albany and ho...

We have a repeat guest on Highest Aspirations today. I first talked with Dr. Joanna Dreby and some of her students back in March of 2022. We discussed the challenges that US-born children of immigrants face in school, family, and social environments. The two episodes we did were really eye-opening for me and many of our listeners. Joanna and one of the students we profiled in the series - Falmari...

How has a misinterpretation of “self-care” led to burnout in the education field? How can heightened emotional intelligence improve our ability to understand and manage our emotions, particularly when advocating for our MLLs? What are some improvements or changes we can call for in the educational ecosystem to provide better, meaningful emotional support for educators? Dorina Sackman-Ebuwa in an h...

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...

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 suppo...

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 multiling...

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 Aspirati...

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 Mul...

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 signif...

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, Te...

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...

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...

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...