TeacherGoals Podcast Episode 12
Engage Multilingual Students and Families with Carly Spina
"Just because I send home a newsletter, it doesn't mean that I'm actively engaging the families that I serve."
Author, Moving Beyond for Multilingual Students
Are you making sure to engage and build community with all your students, including your multilingual students and their families? In this interview, Carly Spina shares how she approaches fostering community with multilingual students and their families by engaging them in conversations about their lives. She discusses the importance of reflection in order to create strategies that will work best for you and your students, and she provides examples of how using social media has helped her connect with her students and their families.
Carly Spina has 15 years of experience in Multilingual Education, including her service as an EL teacher, a third-grade bilingual classroom teacher, and a district-wide Multilingual Instructional Coach. She is currently a multilingual education specialist at the Illinois Resource Center, providing professional learning opportunities and technical assistance support to educators and leaders across the state and beyond. Spina enjoys connecting with other educators and leaders across the country and beyond and is an active member of the multilingual education professional learning community. Listen and enjoy!
3 TeacherGoal Tips
1
Tip 1:
Have conversations with students about their home languages
2
Tip 2:
Reach out to families in a way that is comfortable for them
3
Tip 3:
Even if a teacher does not have specific expertise in a particular area, they can still be an effective advocate for change
This Episode Features...
Carly Spina
Carly Spina has 15 years of experience in Multilingual Education, including her service as an EL teacher, a third-grade bilingual classroom teacher, and a district-wide Multilingual Instructional Coach. She is currently a multilingual education specialist at the Illinois Resource Center, providing professional learning opportunities and technical assistance support to educators and leaders across the state and beyond. Spina enjoys connecting with other educators and leaders across the country and beyond and is an active member of the multilingual education professional learning community. Her first book, Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners, was published in November 2021 by EduMatch Publishing and is available on Amazon.
Erica Terry, Host
Erica Terry is a 20-year educator and co-author of the Eva the Diva Girl rhyming picture book series written with her daughter, to empower young girls to build confidence and grow in self-love. She is also the founder of Healthy Wealthy Educators, where she equips teachers with actionable tools and resources to start a profitable online business and build generational wealth without stress.
You can find her hanging out on Instagram @ericanterry_