What in the World? Language Podcast

I had the pleasure of sitting down with linguistic anthropologist, Mike Mena to discuss issues mentioned in the title of this podcast, and how this all connects to teachers language practices. We also discussed ways in which we can begin to deconstruct some of the Eurocentric, white dominant narratives that are all to pervasive in our pedagogy and content.  Enjoy   Links: Mike Mena on Twitter  Mike Mena YouTube Channel Also mentioned, the book by Jonathan Rosa, Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race.  Jonathan Rosa on Twitter

When thinking about equity and best practices for our students do you ever think about how your lessons are structured? Are your students present in your planning? Are your lessons and your LMS system clear and easy to navigate? Do you even think about how equitable your organizational practices are?  In this podcast, I sit down with Meredith White and discuss organizational equity, and how we can begin to reduce the "noise" in our lessons. Meredith discusses how teachers can organize their lesson plans and unit outlines that move us toward thoughtful planning with the goal of reducing anxiety and adding to, student trauma. Join us for a thoughtful, and engaging conversation. Links: Find Meredith White on Twitter @PRHSspanish Website: Link Resource Article on Trauma. Leveraging the Neuroscience of Now.

Quick sharing of my thoughts on the 2020 school year, and what it looked like. I also pondered questions like: where do we go? What have we learned? How can we re-envision our educational spaces? I discuss observations of inequities I have seen from educators on various social media outlets, punitive classroom practices, and other foolishness I have seen over the past six months. Hope you enjoy. 

Recently, I had the honor to sit down with author Naomi Raquel Enright about her book, Strength of Soul. During our conversation, we discuss topics she addresses in her book such as, issues pertaining to racial and social justice, equity work in and out of schools, language, identity, and race. We also discuss how we can go about dismantling racism in our classroom through critical self reflection of both our pedagogy and ourselves. Last but not least, we speak about language identity construction and the use of  Spanglish and code switching. I hope you enjoy the conversation.  Link to book publisher 2Leaf PressYouTube Presentation ("Strength of Soul" reading w/ Q&A)YouTube Presentation 2 (Excerpt of Book Reading)Photo credit: Adam Whittaker

In this episode, I sit down with J. Eik Diggs & Dr Jenna Cushing-Leubner to discuss their program(s) on Heritage language education.They discuss the program(s) in detail and share their personal stories and motivations for creating their "Growing Biliteries series" &  "Certificate in Heritage Language/Late Bilingual Education" program(s).  J. and Jenna take us on a journey of how we as educators can examine our teaching practices through a critical lens and move our pedagogy toward creating a more culturally and linguistically sustaining classroom. They explain how this course can assist you in transforming your teaching and learning space into a community based, self-determining, language arts classroom that centers the multiethnic/multilingual students that fill our learning spaces.  If you are a Heritage language educator, or perhaps you will be in the near future, this podcast and this course are for you.A link to the program(s) can be found here:Heritage Language EducationYou can contact Dr Cushing-Leubner at cushingj@uww.eduand you can connect with J. Eik Diggs onTwitter @jeikdiggsInstagram @jeikdiggs  

Hoy nos encontramos en tiempos únicos, donde todo parece estar al revés. La normalidad se ha ido, y nos quedamos con la creación de nuevos normales, como un barco en el mar en tiempo tormentoso. Pero no estamos solos, amigos, sino juntos en estas aguas inexploradas. Les ofrezco un podcast con un mensaje de esperanza y e hermandad. Juntos podemos navegar en estos tiempos difíciles, mientras buscamos aguas más tranquilas..Gracias a:(Twitter Linked)A.C Quintero, LJ Randolph, Alejandro Hortal, Amy Tally, Ana León, Ashly Uyaguary, Gary DiBianca, Dorie Conlon Perugini, Françua (Woke Spanish Teacher,) Jim (Señor Wooly) Woolridge, Justin Slocum Bailey, Annabell (La Maestra Loca) Williams, Meredith White, Mundo de Pepita, Noah Geisal, Sarah Breckely, William Yepes, Kia London Music from Blue Dot Sessions 

I introduce the last episode in this series titled: Beyond Febrero. Black History is more than just a month. In this podcast, I had the pleasure to interview Kia London about this topic that white educators often ignore. As Kia states in this episode: "We make time for what we prioritize." It is my hope that, as you listen to this final episode with Kia, you begin to make space in your curriculum for discussing Black and Afro-Latinx History. I leave you with the wise words of Señora London: "Don't make it a side dish." Enjoy! 

I had the opportunity to speak with Jennifer Saldaña Whyte for episode three in this small series titled: Beyond Febrero. Black History is more than just a month.Jennifer brings her #authenticvoices and perspective to this very important conversation. Both her and her husband are Afro Latines from the Dominican Republic, and Panama. Giving this conversation a critical, and authentic perspective that is lacking today in public conversations, around topics of identity and cultural representation.In this conversation, Jennifer discusses the importance of sharing her lived experiences as an Afro Latina with her students, from personal anecdotes, to sharing about her daughter's quinceanera, to even inviting students to participate in out of school activities.  Her perspective is inviting and refreshing. EnjoyFacebook groups: Incorporating Afro Latino Culture in Spanish classrooms, Spanish con Sazón, Bilingual Kids, Inc, Harvest International Ministry, African American Linguists

I had the opportunity to interview Françoise Thenoux for my second episode in this small series. Françoise speaks about the importance of zooming in on content, and really challenging ourselves as educators to do the self-work needed to talk about all aspects of culture. Françoise touches on cultural intersectionality and why she does not approach one group as a monolith, but instead strives to have an inclusive classroom. She also shares some ideas and resources that you can use in your classroom when trying to incorporate Arfo-Latinx and Black history into your curriculum, not just in February, but all year long. You can find Françoise on Twitter: @TWSteacher 

This is the first episode in a short series of conversations about Black History Month, and how Afro Latinx and Black stories are neither more than just a side note, nor a simple add on during the month of February.I had the pleasure of interviewing Jessica Reyes about how she approaches this topic with her elementary students, both in February and beyond. She shares her story as a Colombiana, and how she seeks to represent not only her culture and the one of Afro-Colombianes, but also, black history to her predominantly white students. You can connect with Jessica on Twitter @reyesjessica6  

I had the opportunity to sit down with Jay Wamsted. Jay has been a math teacher at Benjamin E. Mays High School in southwest Atlanta for fourteen years. His writing has been featured in various journals and magazines, including “Harvard Educational Review,” “Mathematics Teacher” and “Sojourners.” He can be found online at The Southeast Review, Under the Sun and the TEDx YouTube channel, where you can watch his 2017 talk During this hour long conversation, Jay and I discuss what it is like as white educators to teach in predominantly African American schools. We discuss politics, being called out, being tested by our students, the good experiences, and the bad ones. We share personal stories about building trust with students, and about simply being vulnerable as we learn to navigate our whiteness. We also discuss things such as the white saviour complex, and the privileges and biases we bring  into the classroom. Links: Jay Wamstead on twitterEmail at wamsted@gmail.comArticles: FORGIVENESS IS NOT THE EASY WAY OUT OF RACISMWe Only LicensedEating the Elephant: Ending Racism & the Magic of Trust Tedx TalkSojourners blog 

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 

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 TwitterBlog on MediumMarginalSyllabus link 

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!LinksThomas Soth TwitterNoah Geisel Twitter Blog on Medium 

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: linkTwitter link

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  

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

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. EnjoyResourcesWe Are website. Facebook fundraiser for Working To Extend Anti-Racist Education 

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. EnjoyResources: 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.  

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 NotesCI Mid West WebsiteKey Note Speaker Alina Filipescu 

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. 

 I had the pleasure to have a panel discussion with Dr. Krishauna Hines-Gaither, the Director for the Intercultural Engagement Center and the Associate Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Liz Torres Melendez the Immigrant Student Coordinator at Guilford college, they discuss their research, Voces Invisibles: Disrupting the Master Narrative with Afro-Latina Counterstories. Dr. Hines-Gaither and Liz offer us a view into their ongoing research with Afro-Latinas at Guilford College, in Greensboro, N.C. We briefly discuss Latinx, and Liz mentions a new program she has this fall titled, Hispanic, Latino, Latina or Latinx. These are real, and honest, discussions with voices that are typically marginalized in world language classrooms. Their work is of utmost importance to bring these voices to the attention of educators.  Dr. Hines-Gaither website Liz Torres Melendez website  

What does "Latinx" mean and how is it different from "Latino/a"? Who can be considered Latinx? Do all Latinx people speak Spanish? Is Latinx a race or a homogeneous ethnic group? Are all Latinx immigrants?These and other questions will be discussed by Dr. Ana León Távora during this fascinating interview, "Decoding Latinx."Some authors mentioned in the interview:Gabby Rivera, Juliet Takes a Breath (visit Rivera's website for more info about her cool work as an illustrator for comic books, too). Emanuel Xavier, Sometimes We're Invisible.  

The second interview in a small series titled "Why So Fragile? Equity, Justice and deconstructing the White Lens."  Bob taps into his 30+ years of teaching experience in many diverse classrooms to discuss his perspective on dismantling systemic racism, and addressing white privilege in our classrooms. Bob invites us into his experiences, and shares his growth over the years in doing equity work, and he challenges us to not turn away from this hard work, but to embrace our true selves in the quest to be better (white) educators. These are tough conversation to have, not only with ourselves, but with co-workers, admin, and friends and family. So enjoy this interview as Bob gently leads us on the path to opening these conversations.Find out more about Bob on his blog  Books that were mentioned:Black Appetite. White Food. Jamila Lyiscott WebsiteWhite Fragility.  Robin DiAngelo WebsiteCI Mid West Conference Website   

The first interview in a small series titled Why So Fragile? Equity, Justice and deconstructing the White Lens.  Listen as I speak with Jon Cowart about what it means to be a white teacher within an urban environment, and how we can better serve our students as we deconstruct our whiteness and better understand our own implicit bias. We also discuss the topic of white fragility and how to confront it. To wrap it all up, Jon shares his journey of becoming a language teacher, and then into admin as an AP. Enjoy!Find out more about Jon on his blog.  Books that were mentioned:For White Folks that a teach in the Hood. Christopher Emdin WebsiteBlack Appetite. White Food. Jamila Lyiscott WebsiteWhite Fragility.  Robin DiAngelo WebsiteCI Mid West Conference Website

Well, here it is guys, THE FINAL podcast in the #iFLT19 takeaway series. These interviews have been a BLAST. Listen as Annabelle takes us on a whirlwind of a journey. Our conversation takes many twists and turns as we discuss her role at iFLT19, her takeaways, and her fascinating journey to becoming "La Maestra Loca." So, buckle up, it's about to get real.

Continuing with my interviews and great conversations about iFLT19, I had the pleasure of doing a phone interview with Carrie Daniels Toth.Carrie is a presenter, language coach, author, and all around great person. Listen as Carrie talks to us about her iFLT19 experiences, her life journey to becoming a language teacher, and some of her struggles during that journey, as she provides great advice on using CI as we move into the 19-20 school year.  She even drops a hint at something special coming this fall during the interview, so you certainly don't want to miss that. Enjoy!

Recorded at iFLT19 in St. Petersburg, FL. Justin sits down with me for a deeply enlightening conversation about his conference takeaways and offers you, the listener, suggestions on how best to navigate the world of CI, and proficiency based classrooms, and offers us a peek look into his very interesting journey on his way to becoming a teacher. Enjoy!

Recorded at iFLT19 IN St. Petersburg, FL. Listen as Sarah discusses her takeaways at iFLT, and then gives us a lens into what her journey to to becoming a language teacher was like. She also talks about her role the Señor Wooly video, FEO, and what that process is like. Visit her beautiful website here to learn more about Sarah. 

Recorded at iFLT19 in St Petersburg, FL. Listen as Mark discusses is experience as a lab teacher at iFLT, past and present, and speaks about his journey to becoming a Spanish language teacher in Denver public schools.  

Recorded at iFLT19 in St Petersburg, FL. Nate is a Poli Instrumentalist, composer and artist in residence with Señor Wooly. In this humorous conversation, we discuss all things Wooly, and the dirt behind the music making process over at Wooly inc. 

This is the first episode/interview that I recorded @iFLT19 in St. Petersburg, FL. Please listen as Jim and I converse in an informal, but enlightening manner about his takeaways from this year's conference.