Early Career Teaching Institute

Flores (2017) mentions the idea of semilingualism being "not fully proficient in either English or Spanish" (p. 77) among Latino students in the United States as an ongoing issue. Today, many Latinx students are being surrounded by the phrase "no sabo" (a non-standard use of the first person, present tense conjugation of the verb saber/to know) as a label for being Latinx but not knowing Spanish. I would like to present the dilemma but offer opportunities for linguistic empowerment for bilingual students. As a former English learner and now teacher educator, Carlos Orozco hopes to allow for space for teachers to reflect on their actions as a teacher for dynamic bi/multilingualism and how teachers can help create a classroom that empowers and affirms bi/multilingual students without centering "academic" language proficiency.

Learning Goals

• Identify the linguistic oppression that Latinx students are facing in-and-out school contexts
• Reflect and identify ways to foster a classroom environment that affirms and empowers bi/multilingualism without thinking of language proficiencies.

Learn more about Indigenous cultures, in Wisconsin and beyond, with PBS multimedia collections like Molly of Denali and Wisconsin First Nations. These free, standards-aligned resources span all grade levels and readily work to fulfill Act 31, which requires all Wisconsin public schools to teach the history, cultures, and tribal sovereignties of its First Peoples. These resources provide the means to teach culturally rather than teach about culture. Each collection includes authentic perspectives regarding historical and contemporary Indigenous peoples and their ways of life by examining various forms of informational texts including videos, maps, games, learning apps, and historical documents.

Learning Goals

• Learn about the wide variety, spanning grade levels, of Indigenous-focused multimedia educational resources from PBS
• Consider new ways to integrate Indigenous-focused resources into your existing curricula and/or to build personal background knowledge
• Connect Indigenous-focused resources and lesson-planning ideas to the mandates of Act 31 to ensure culturally responsible, complaint teaching in your learning space

How do we build strong, resilient communities that foster learning and a deep sense of belonging? In this workshop, led by veteran MMSD educators, participants will reflect on the ways in which our identities and values shape the learning spaces we create. We'll work together to identify elements of communities that have made our own past learning experiences especially positive and meaningful. The tools we need to transform our classrooms and other learning environments can always be found within us and between us, thus our time together will center on making connections with other educators and expressing joy as we explore valuable examples of ways to nurture thriving communities.

Learning Goals

• Participants will reflect on concrete ways to honor and nurture core values in service of building community in learning spaces. 
• Participants will explore strategies for strengthening community by keeping identity expression, relationship-building, and joy at the center of the work.