Your Language Lens Academy Quiz Results:
Your Pathway to Support Your Staff and Students
1.0 Refresh on the Fundamentals
Hooray! Starting with the basics can build a strong foundation for growth. Plus, it's really important to have a shared vision and shared language in order to get a language lens in all classrooms!
***Remember, you can use any sections of the Academy in your leadership team or show videos/articles/tools to your entire school, provided that you've logged into your account. Only those that have registered in the Academy can access it, unless it's being shared during a staff meeting or professional learning workshop. You can always add on more registrations if you'd like more educators to get direct access to the Academy. Contact us at info@ellstudents.com for more.***
3 Ways to Leverage the Academy to Refresh on the Fundamentals:
🎯 1. Take stock of what's working and what needs to be improved, right now.
Leaders including coaches, ask yourselves: What is the typical mindset of your staff when it comes to creating and sustaining inclusive, diverse classrooms? If the answer is unknown, start with the Language Lens Self-Assessment. You can answer the questions holistically on behalf of your staff or you can have everyone on your staff take the self-assessment individually. Either way, take stock of the current strengths that are working for students and also note the areas of improvement.
Do your educators see themselves responsible for all areas on the self-assessment? The answer to this question shows the mindset shift needed. The areas of improvement should drive your school improvement goals and your professional learning goals.
🎯 2. Model the right mindset right now.
To reinforce the message that all educators are responsible for all learners, mindset matters, along with the tools to get there. You may want to go to Foundations of Equity, Language and Literacy in ALL Classrooms. This leadership lesson shares the vision that I've created and sustained with thousands of educators through my work at Confianza.
What mindset are you modeling? How could you improve? I encourage you to take any of the ideas, skills and tools shared here and elsewhere in the Academy and make them your own!
🎯 3. Equip educators with fundamental tools now.
As far as tools go, I always recommend to start by getting to know our students and bringing awareness to the language domains. By centering students and having everyone attend more to language in the classroom, we can really get that sense of urgency across to all staff members.
Get the fundamentals of student stories out there in the school by sharing Getting to Know Students Overview and the tutorial on the Student Data Dive process. Use the tool or adapt the tool as you see fit!
Make explicit how easy it is to notice and improve how students are using the four domains of language in their school day—reading, writing, listening and speaking. Watch the Teaching with a Language Lens Overview leadership lesson. Then, go deeper by implementing the ideas shared in the coaching tutorial for the Domain Analysis Tool.
If you have the 2nd edition of my book, I also recommend reading p. 55-87 plus Tips for Teachers and Tips for Coaches and Leaders at the end of that chapter.
🧭 What else can I do right now?
Your Needs Assessment results brought you to the 2.0 pathway yet feel free to peruse the others pathways for getting started in the Academy:
If you’re not already familiar with the concept I use in my work called the sphere of influence, I invite you to peruse that section, Your Sphere of Influence.
Check out the Example Professional Learning Road Map for ideas on how to structure a school year or multiple school years through the mindset and skills taught in the Academy and in my book, The Language Lens, 2nd. ed.
If you’re looking for more guidance, we have limited spaces available each year for tailored support. Learn more here.
🤔 Don't forget!
Stay tuned for monthly updates on new Language Lens Academy [LLA] content. Sarah's ongoing work in the field helps inform what educators need now. You can also provide feedback directly to Confianza about what you need. Simply reply to the LLA emails OR send us a note at info@ellstudents.com anytime.
-Sarah Bernadette Ottow
Founder & Director
Confianza LLC & The Language Lens Academy
2.0 Refine Your Toolkit
Congrats! Your school is making progress on behalf of your students yet you could use some cohesion to accelerate growth. Let’s refine your toolkit for planning, teaching and assessing with a language lens.
***Remember, you can use any sections of the Academy in your leadership team or show videos/articles/tools to your entire school, provided that you've logged into your account. Only those that have registered in the Academy can access it, unless it's being shared during a staff meeting or professional learning workshop. You can always add on more registrations if you'd like more educators to get direct access to the Academy. Contact us at info@ellstudents.com for more.***
3 Ways to Leverage the Academy to Refine Your Toolkit:
🎯 1. Asset map what’s working and take note of what can be tightened up, school-wide.
You may have already taken (or have had your educators take) the Language Lens Self-Assessment to focus your professional learning with a language lens. A step beyond this is to consider reflecting on the Confianza Indicators for Equity, Language and Literacy school-wide.
To reinforce the message that all educators are responsible for all learners, mindset matters, along with the tools to get there. You may want to go to Foundations of Equity, Language and Literacy in ALL Classrooms. This leadership lesson shares the vision that I've created and sustained with thousands of educators through my work at Confianza.
What mindset and practices/strategies are you modeling? How could you improve? What could be made more explicit especially when you or your team lead professional learning. We want to practice what we preach, after all! I encourage you to take any of the ideas, skills and tools shared here and elsewhere in the Academy and make them your own!
🎯 2. Model and coach towards the target behaviors and strategies, right now.
If we want more equity of voice for all learners in all classrooms, we need to not only notice that in our walk throughs and coaching sessions, but we also need to model it in every interaction with other educators.
Equity of voice which is a central practice I believe every educator must not only value but know how to do. You now have an opportunity to go deeper into student discourse and engagement.
Coaches and evaluators can up-level their observations by using my Mapping Classroom Interactions coaching tool tutorial. This easy template is an entry point into meaningful feedback conversations with instructional staff because you can track real-time student engagement including student discourse and participation.
🎯 3. Equip educators with practical tools for planning and collaboration now.
A need you likely have is strengthening collaboration so that all educators can learn from each other. How this need can manifest in the classroom for students is that collaboration isn’t always happening there, either. I find that less is more especially in terms of strategies. Let’s focus on routines for interaction for both students and educators. With this in mind, check out the following:
Engage instructional staff in our Ensuring Equity of Voice for ALL Language Learners digital workshop. I have laid out a sequential learning plan and several practical tools for all educators to reflect on upon current practice for student talk and share low prep ways to increase student talk right now.
Review the concepts and strategies for specialists to collaborate with general educators (and vice versa) so that all are seen as co-equals in Teacher Leadership and Collaboration Skills leadership lesson. You’ll also see an example collaboration/coaching session where I offer a vision of peer coaching to share expertise and support student growth, together.
If you have the 2nd edition of my book, I also recommend reading p. 92-111 plus Tips for Teachers and Tips for Coaches and Leaders at the end of that chapter.
🧭 What else can I do right now?
Your Needs Assessment results brought you to the 2.0 pathway yet feel free to peruse the others pathways for getting started in the Academy:
1.0 - Refreshing on the Fundamentals
If you’re not already familiar with the concept I use in my work called the sphere of influence, I invite you to peruse that section, Your Sphere of Influence.
Check out the Example Professional Learning Road Map for ideas on how to structure a school year or multiple school years through the mindset and skills taught in the Academy and in my book, The Language Lens, 2nd. ed.
If you’re looking for more guidance, we have limited spaces available each year for tailored support. Learn more here.
🤔 Don't forget!
Stay tuned for monthly updates on new Language Lens Academy [LLA] content. Sarah's ongoing work in the field helps inform what educators need now. You can also provide feedback directly to Confianza about what you need. Simply reply to the LLA emails OR send us a note at info@ellstudents.com anytime.
-Sarah Bernadette Ottow
Founder & Director
Confianza LLC & The Language Lens Academy
3.0 Strategize and Sustain, School-wide
Woohoo! Your school has established successful mindset, practices and systems. How can you sustain this growth so that any student or staff member can experience the same kind of equitable learning environment?
***Remember, you can use any sections of the Academy in your leadership team or show videos/articles/tools to your entire school, provided that you've logged into your account. Only those that have registered in the Academy can access it, unless it's being shared during a staff meeting or professional learning workshop. You can always add on more registrations if you'd like more educators to get direct access to the Academy. Contact us at info@ellstudents.com for more.***
3 Ways to Leverage the Academy to Strategize and Sustain, School-wide:
🎯 1. Calibrate on shared practices across all classrooms.
Two key tools we use at Confianza are the Language Lens Self-Assessment and the Confianza Indicators for Equity, Language and Literacy school-wide. However, when schools are at this level of scaling up and sustaining promising practices already in place, we recommend the getting crystal clear on your instructional vision.
The leadership lesson Equity-Based Leadership Overview explains field-tested ways to build consensus around and articulate what all classrooms should exemplify. Furthermore, you’ll discover a practical framework for “levels of equity” for schools and multiple measures of data ideas. Please reflect on your own school/district’s current state and take stock of where you can collectively improve for the benefit of all students.
🎯 2. Model and develop all educators to reflect and improve, all the time.
If we want more equity of voice for all learners in all classrooms, we need to not only notice that in our walk throughs and coaching sessions, but we also need to model it in every interaction with other educators.
Here are some ways to build in reflection and continuous improvement:
Give yourself and others the gift of reflection! Use simple yet powerful processes that make reflection and growth visible like the Coaching Log and Reflection Log. In this coaching tool tutorial, you’ll see how I use a three-step process for myself and for those I coach. As always, I encourage you to take any of the ideas, skills and tools shared here and elsewhere in the Academy and make them your own!
A vision without a plan is just a dream, as they say. Go beyond reactive school improvement initiatives to focused commitments that really pay off. The Action Cycle coaching tool tutorial shows you my four-step cycle that thousands of educators have used to focus—and show impact of!—their professional learning.
🎯 3. Go back to basics by making sure that every student is getting daily opportunities to reach the depth of grade level standards.
I can’t stress this enough: Students need to be doing the heavy lifting, ultimately learning how to learn, and this means reaching grade level standards. Long gone are the days of watering down core curriculum.
Make sure you know how to observe for cognitive engagement. Make sure teachers know how to design rigorous instruction which includes what kinds of tasks students engage in and what kinds of questions students are asked regularly. Refer to the Depth of Knowledge leadership lesson for practical tools to use the DOK framework to bring deep learning to all classrooms.
If you have the 2nd edition of my book, I also recommend reading p. 1-36 plus Tips for Teachers and Tips for Coaches and Leaders at the end of that chapter.
🧭 What else can I do right now?
Your Needs Assessment results brought you to the 2.0 pathway yet feel free to peruse the others pathways for getting started in the Academy:
1.0 - Refreshing on the Fundamentals
If you’re not already familiar with the concept I use in my work called the sphere of influence, I invite you to peruse that section, Your Sphere of Influence.
Check out the Example Professional Learning Road Map for ideas on how to structure a school year or multiple school years through the mindset and skills taught in the Academy and in my book, The Language Lens, 2nd. ed.
If you’re looking for more guidance, we have limited spaces available each year for tailored support. Learn more here.
🤔 Don't forget!
Stay tuned for monthly updates on new Language Lens Academy [LLA] content. Sarah's ongoing work in the field helps inform what educators need now. You can also provide feedback directly to Confianza about what you need. Simply reply to the LLA emails OR send us a note at info@ellstudents.com anytime.
-Sarah Bernadette Ottow
Founder & Director
Confianza LLC & The Language Lens Academy