Welcome to the Lingual Lighthouse Blog! I am so excited to have a space to share ideas and resources with K-12 Teachers of English Learners. After teaching ESOL for 9 years and then serving as an ESOL Instructional Coach for 14 years I feel motivated to create a space for teachers to support each other.
Providing English learners with an atmosphere in which they can quickly learn English and feel confident about their future is of greatest importance in the life of a teacher of ELs. Many times we find ourselves spending a lot of time searching for materials or coming up with ideas that will adequately support the students. I am hopeful that this space will assist you with those tasks.
Be sure to join me also in our Facebook group Lingual Lighthouse! Invite your friends to join in and share their resources and experiences. We can learn from each other and encourage each other.
Why am I so passionate about providing teachers of ELs with resources and inspiration?
My parents and their family had to flee Cuba as teenagers when Castro took over the country. They married here in Atlanta, GA and raised me, my sister and two brothers just outside of Atlanta. Since I was the oldest, I am the one who was given the gift of learning Spanish as my first language and thankfully I continued to practice it and learn it at the higher levels as I went through high school and college. I even spent 3 years of my teaching career teaching Spanish to K-5 students. What a joy!
I grew up hearing my parents' stories of what it was like to come to the US as a teenager not being able to speak English fluently and being expected to excel in school. They had some rough times!
I decided to become a teacher and enjoyed being a 4th and 5th grade teacher, teaching all subjects for 3 years. Then I taught Spanish for 3 years and then I realized that there was this program called "ESOL" for students learning English. I quickly signed up for the ESOL certification and was thrilled to be given an ESOL teacher position. After teaching ESOL for 1 year I was asked to teach ESOL Summer School for the K-5 students. What a wonderful experience of providing enriching content and a fun learning experience for the students. Later that year I was also asked to assist with providing professional development for teachers. I jumped in with both feet! I loved it!
I realized that I truly enjoyed teaching teachers and seeing them have those beautiful "aha moments" about what English learners need in the classroom in order to make sense of what is happening around them and in order to quickly acquire English. I had found an even deeper passion!
So, in 2008, as my husband was returning from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, I was hired as an ESOL Instructional Coach. In that position I worked with amazing teachers and was given the opportunity to learn from incredible colleagues in the field all over the country.
Today, I work from home providing consultations and coaching for teachers of English Learners all over the country. I am an Instructional Consultant for SupportEd and for Dr. Margarita Calderón and Associates as well as providing support to teachers and administrators on my own.
This is a great journey I have been on and am continuing as I encourage teachers of ELs! Thank you for joining me on the journey!
