“ If we change the way we engage with teachers , if we change the way we do science to really partner with the practitioner , we can have a big impact on the end experience of the teacher , the families and the child .”
— Alison Wishard Guerra , associate professor of education studies at UC San Diego
Jefferson wanted guidance on how to connect with the Spanishspeaking families of her students . “ I was really hungry for feedback about my teaching .”
Today , the changes that she has made in her classroom are evident everywhere . There are Spanish labels on desks , computers and other classroom fixtures . The dramatic play center is a busy hub of creativity where students tell stories and take on the personas of chefs and letter carriers . Jefferson has introduced Family Read , a weekly Friday morning program where parents and other caregivers read to the class in Spanish or English . She assigns take-home projects that encourage family participation , uses the home language throughout the day , makes references to the students ’ culture and traditions , and incorporates the details of their lives , such as pets and favorite foods , into her
Did you know ?
17 % of students in VUSD are English learners .
94 % of the district ' s 3,000 English learners come from Spanishspeaking families . lessons . She often asks her students how to pronounce Spanish phrases .
“ It shifted the hierarchy of power to where the children became the experts ,” says Wishard Guerra . “ It ’ s hard for us to document certain things like how their faces would light up when they heard a word that was part of their knowledge and to see that they are valued in the classroom , or the smiles on their faces when the teacher fumbled on a Spanish word .”
The study period has seen remarkable improvements in the language skills of English learners . In their end-of-the-year evaluation , researchers found that English learners were having more decontextualized conversations , or talk extending beyond the immediate context , and had longer chats with teachers and peers .
The findings of the UC San
28 SPRING 2024