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Closing the Gap for ELLs through Social Justice Education

by Amy Melik

This article was written before Teaching Tolerance changed its name to Learning for Justice.

Amy currently serves as ELL Teacher and Coordinator for a school district near Milwaukee, Wisconsin and through her new coaching role with Confianza, serves as the organization's Equity Specialist. Amy is proudly serving her second term on the Advisory Board for Teaching Tolerance, and is a certified trainer in materials related to the organization.  Amy’s passion is with culturally relevant practices as it relates to educators, parents, and students, especially equitable opportunities for multicultural and bilingual families.  

Where do you go for the most current and relevant culturally responsive materials for your classroom and school?  The answer at the top of the list is Teaching Tolerance, without a doubt.  This has been my answer since I started my teaching career in 2000.  At the time, I was serving English Language Learners in an inner city middle school of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Teachers I worked with were doing their best to help our ELL students, but with so many needs in the classroom, where were we to start?

We started with the Teaching Tolerance magazine that we found in our mailboxes.  And in every district I’ve worked in since, I continued learning of more and more resources that Teaching Tolerance offers to teachers for absolutely no cost.  It started with the magazine, but continued with DVDs accompanied with lesson plans, weekly emails, and hundreds of lesson plans online.  Teaching Tolerance was a hidden gem that, with each passing year, gained popularity and momentum.

A few years ago I accepted a teacher/coordinator position in an affluent suburb.  And this is where I leaned on Teaching Tolerance more than ever.  I was in a situation similar to that of Sarah Ottow, Director of Confianza, who has written of her experience serving ELLs in a Milwaukee suburb.  This ELL population was small yet diverse, with no majority language or cultural background, and teachers had not yet experienced the opportunity to work closely with a teacher whose full time job was to serve ELLs within the classroom.  Teaching Tolerance gave us the common ground for classroom materials that provided cultural and linguistic mirrors that represented our student backgrounds yet provided grade level, rigorous texts for all students in the classroom.  

As I gained visibility for myself and the students we served in the classroom through my use of these culturally relevant materials, I began to get asked to lead professional development, and naturally leaned on Teaching Tolerance materials yet again.  Publications such as Speak Up at School, the Social Justice Standards, and numerous other articles, modules, videos, and texts became our professional development home base.  It was ambitious work, but because of the passionate colleagues I had on my team, it was some of the finest work that I’ve ever been a part of.  This district just announced that they have began to close the achievement gap in both reading and math, and I’m proud to have been a part of that initial educator work.

In 2015, my mentor suggested that I apply for a position on the Advisory Board for Teaching Tolerance.  And in speaking with my fellow board members just last summer, I realize now that we all completed our application with the same raw sense of passion that must have piqued their interest.  I was awarded a position, and am proud to be serving my second term.  I am the only Wisconsin member of a 25 person board comprised of educators from across the nation and in addition to that, currently the only educator who works with ELL students.

One week of my summer is spent working at the Southern Poverty Law Center with my Teaching Tolerance colleagues and advisory board members.  We hear about cutting edge possibilities within the organization and give advice on how best to move forward.  This summer we learned and discussed ideas related to the Digital Literacy work that was recently rolled out to the public in response to the “fake news” theories and opinions that we are hearing on social media.

We contribute to blogs, network, and spend time learning about the nationally recognized work each other is doing.  With work that spans from gender inclusive spaces to creating a Latina civic empowerment program, it is easy to become absolutely inspired at the fearless engagement our board members have with their own communities.

We travel together during this time as well.  Getting a private tour at the Equal Justice Initiative and taking trips to Selma, Birmingham, and Tuskegee are just a few important civil rights spaces I have had the opportunity to visit during my time as an advisory board member.  We’ve also had the opportunity to hear from civil rights leaders, descendants and friends of Martin Luther King, Jr, civil rights lawyers, activists, and exonerated prisoners, all who have a unique story to tell and who inspire me to continue with my own work.  What I’ve learned throughout this time has helped sharpen my philosophy of education, and I bring these golden experiences back to students and teachers within my sphere of influence as much as anyone else would if given the same opportunities.

The week I spend with my Teaching Tolerance family is the single best week of my year, and the entire advisory board agrees that our time at the SPLC gives us momentum to continue with our efforts during the school year.  Teaching Tolerance feels the same way about us.  We are the educators “on the ground”, doing the work that they have helped design for us, our students and our staff.  We are all committed to equity and social justice in our schools, and are passionate in a way that has tied us together permanently.

Our work and ties to Teaching Tolerance continues during the academic year as we participate in monthly video conference calls and connect with Teaching Tolerance on assignments and networking throughout the month.  I am proud to have helped Teaching Tolerance revise their Best Practices for Serving English Language Learners and Their Families, a publication meant to serve as guidance for equitable practices in schools who serve English Language Learners.  I also had the opportunity to co-present a Speak Up at School webinar in collaboration with both the National Education Association and Teaching Tolerance organizations.

In the spring of 2017, board members were offered a chance to get certified to lead professional development on the Teaching Tolerance Curriculum.  At Confianza, we have the rare honor to showcase two of our coaches as certified Teaching Tolerance presenters.

Teaching Tolerance has recently released its brand new redesigned website, which puts Learning Plans, Student Tasks, and Perspectives Texts at an educator’s fingertips in a streamlined and efficient manner.  Culturally responsive materials as they relate to English Language Learners are a natural fit, and something that educators have been connecting together for years.  With Confianza trainers and this new website, the question now becomes this: In what way will you bring the most current and relevant culturally responsive materials for your classroom and school?