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    • Annual Voices Journal Submission Guidelines
  • Annual Voices Journal 2025
    • Journal 2025 Picture Word Indicative Model (PWIM)
    • Journal 2025 Creating ESL Bilingual Units
    • Journal 2025 Creating Lessons for All through Picture Books
    • Journal 2025 Faculty Resources for ML Student Success
    • Journal 2025 Fostering Inclusive Environments
  • 2025 Spring Weekly Voices
    • Teaching Newcomers? Effective Writing Strategies for ELL Newcomers
    • Proposed Changes of HS Requirements for Districts and Students
    • Congratulations to April’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Daryl Perkins
    • Preserving Family Culture and Language: A Parent Workshop in Irvington’s Early Childhood Department
    • Trauma Informed Considerations and Strategies for Multilingual Learners
    • Addressing Student Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression
    • Free Resources to Explore and Use ChatGPT and AI
  • 2025 Winter Weekly Voices
    • Professional Development Opportunities in 2025
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Scholarships and Awards for your students and you!
    • Congratulations to January’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Brittany Fuentes
    • English Learners With Disabilities: The Rules Schools Have to Follow
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • Resources for Educators Pertaining to Immigrant Students, Families, and Preparation for Response
    • How to Identify and Serve English Learners with Disabilities
    • 2024 Raquel Sinai Newcomer Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • How to Connect With English-Language Newcomers: Teachers Share Their Favorite Lessons
    • Congratulations to March’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Juliana Neno
    • 2024 Pedro J. Rodriguez High School Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference Invited Speakers
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Executive Board
    • Membership Information
    • The Hotlist
    • W25 January 21

Contact Us by Email

webmaster@njtesol-njbe.org
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  • Home
    • Annual Voices Journal Submission Guidelines
  • Annual Voices Journal 2025
    • Journal 2025 Picture Word Indicative Model (PWIM)
    • Journal 2025 Creating ESL Bilingual Units
    • Journal 2025 Creating Lessons for All through Picture Books
    • Journal 2025 Faculty Resources for ML Student Success
    • Journal 2025 Fostering Inclusive Environments
  • 2025 Spring Weekly Voices
    • Teaching Newcomers? Effective Writing Strategies for ELL Newcomers
    • Proposed Changes of HS Requirements for Districts and Students
    • Congratulations to April’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Daryl Perkins
    • Preserving Family Culture and Language: A Parent Workshop in Irvington’s Early Childhood Department
    • Trauma Informed Considerations and Strategies for Multilingual Learners
    • Addressing Student Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression
    • Free Resources to Explore and Use ChatGPT and AI
  • 2025 Winter Weekly Voices
    • Professional Development Opportunities in 2025
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Scholarships and Awards for your students and you!
    • Congratulations to January’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Brittany Fuentes
    • English Learners With Disabilities: The Rules Schools Have to Follow
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • 2024 Higher Ed Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • Resources for Educators Pertaining to Immigrant Students, Families, and Preparation for Response
    • How to Identify and Serve English Learners with Disabilities
    • 2024 Raquel Sinai Newcomer Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • How to Connect With English-Language Newcomers: Teachers Share Their Favorite Lessons
    • Congratulations to March’s NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month: Juliana Neno
    • 2024 Pedro J. Rodriguez High School Scholarship Winner’s Essay
    • NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference Invited Speakers
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Executive Board
    • Membership Information
    • The Hotlist
    • W25 January 21

Communication is KEY!

As another school year has begun, I wanted to share an article that has reminded me of why parent/guardian communication is key. During a time when we can get caught up in all the chaos of a new school year and the stressors it can create, we need to remember our students’ parents and guardians go through this as well. Below are just a few of the ideas presented in the article. Read it in its entirety to help you get your school year started on the right track.

  • Ensure that families know how to contact you and the school.
  • Find out how families prefer to communicate.
  • Find out when they prefer to communicate.
  • Identify your translation options.
  • Identify information and updates your families will need to know.

 

Shared by Luigina Finneran, Bilingual/ESL Middle School 6-8 Representative

Announcements

CABR (Countering Anti-Black Racism) Committee, Wednesday, October 16, at 7:00. Our Summer Book Study was “Black Immigrant Literacies: Intersections of Race, Language and Culture in the Classroom” authored by Dr. Patriann Smith. This month Dr. Patriann Smith will join us for a Q&A session during our October Meeting. Register on Eventbrite.

Advocacy Committee: Thursday, October 17, at 5:00. Join us for discussions on issues that impact Multilingual Learners and their families in New Jersey. Register on the Google form to get a Zoom link.

NJTESOL/NJBE Professional Development: Teaching Foundational Reading Skills to Multilingual Learners. Tuesday, October 29, at 5:00. This PLC series will explore instructional practices for teaching foundational reading skills to MLs in English, research and current topics in education pertinent to this topic, and an overview of the Science of Reading and what it means for MLs in New Jersey. We have already “sold out”, but the event will be recorded. We now have a waiting list & YouTube notification form for the PLC. Here is the link to the signup form.

Nominate the member of the month!
NJTESOL/NJBE has so many amazing teachers throughout our state that it would be fitting to highlight some of them. Nominees could be colleagues who are available to answer questions about ELLs or the Bilingual Education code; educators who support students and their families beyond the classroom with projects, college applications, and extracurricular activities; someone who joins committees in support of ELLS or to implement positive change for the community. The nominee must be a member of NJTESOL/NJBE. Nomination Link

T-Shirt Design Contest – All NJTESOL/NJBE members and their students are invited to participate in this first-ever competition. The winning design will be featured on the 2025 Spring Conference t-shirts sold to raise funds for the NJTESOL/NJBE Scholarship Fund. Submissions are due by Nov. 15, 2024. See more information here.

Spring Conference Call For Proposals
Presenters play a key role in our Spring Conference. We invite proposals that will strengthen systems of support for students, their families, educators, support staff, and the communities in which we work and live. Proposals may focus on any educational level, from Pre-Kindergarten to university, as well as on adult school and workplace literacy settings. Proposals can be submitted for an in-person presentation, a pre-recorded presentation for the Video Library, or a combination of both. You can submit your proposal here. The deadline is Nov. 17, 2024.

Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Has Consequences.
What Schools Can Do to Help

By Ileana Najarro

Najarro observed that the consequences of false political rhetoric against immigrants have become evident after the presidential debate on September 10th. The misinformation about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets has resulted in bomb threats against schools and government buildings in Springfield City, Ohio, requiring the protection of state troopers and making children and their families feel unsafe.

Nevertheless, teachers can proactively counter this by providing support for immigrant students. Najarro cited the following recommendations from Missy Testerman, an ESL teacher in Tennessee and the 2024 National Teacher of the Year; Viridiana Carrizales, ImmSchools’ founder and CEO; and Astou Thiane, director of policy and advocacy at ImmSchools.

Testerman suggests that teachers talk one-to-one with students who may be bullied or harassed, and let them know that they can come to their teacher with these issues. Action is necessary if the bullying stems from strong opinions. She also proposes having lunch with new students in the classroom to help them feel more comfortable talking about their experiences.

When children are worried about what they might have heard, such as talk about deportations, Thiane recommends talking about it in class in a manner that is appropriate for the class depending on their age. Posters, flags, and cultural symbols can help students feel comfortable about their culture.

Testerman also states that principals and other staff in schools should communicate with families and try to correct misinformation. Carrizales advises that policies be developed and school personnel be trained about what to do if officials from immigration come looking for a student or member of their family. School leaders should also be able to recommend local organizations that can assist students’ families.

School personnel need to do their part, but support for students is not one sided. “‘Our immigrant families tend to be very, very supportive of schools and school personnel,‘ Testerman said. ‘They place a very high level of trust in us to not only educate their students, but also to ensure that they’re safe. We have to treat that as a gift, because it indeed is a gift.’”

You can read more about it here.

Science of Reading Podcast 3:
Diagnosing Dyslexia in Multilingual Learners
and
Science of Reading Podcast 4:
Practical Strategies for Multilingual Learning

 

ARTICLES:

Meet Our New Executive Board Members

Science of Reading Podcast 3:
Diagnosing Dyslexia in Multilingual Learners
– with Francisco Usero-González
and
Science of Reading Podcast 4:
Practical Strategies for Multilingual Learning
– with Diane August, Ph.D.

Communication is KEY!
and
Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Has Consequences. What Schools Can Do to Help

Congratulations to October’s
NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month Kellie Cuccaro

and
Every Teacher Is a Language Teacher: Strategies for Supporting Multilingual Learners of English in the Mainstream Classroom– Naashia Mohamed

3 Ways to Ensure English Learners Benefit from the Science of Reading
-Leslie Villegas
and
Supporting Multilingual Learners in Developing Reading Fluency across the School Day– Kate Kinsella

Announcing the 2025 Spring Conference Keynote Speakers!

Congratulations to November’s
NJTESOL/NJBE Member of the Month Mrs. Singh

and
4 Ways to Support Long-Term English Learners – Sarah Said

Word Analyzer Vocabulary Tool
and
Online Dictionaries

Notebook LM
-Jessica Duran
and
5 Ways to Use AI-Generated Images in Your Classroom -Brent Warner

Inspirational Quotations
and
A Chorus of Reasons Why We Teach

Invitation to Write an Article for the Yearly Voices Journal
and
Padres con Poder/Parent Power Parent Expo

5 Ways to Bring Cultural Diversity into Your Classroom -Carol Higho
and
Defying Labels at Tables -Joyce Farr

Season’s Greetings from the NJTESOL/NJBE Executive Board

NJTESOL/NJBE Voices Editorial Board

Executive Director
Kathleen Fernandez

President
LeighAnn Matthews, Bridgewater-Raritan Public Schools

Past-President
Michelle Land, Randolph Township Schools

Layout
Dale Egan, Bergen Community College

Technology
Marilyn Pongracz, Bergen Community College

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