Introducing the Seidlitz Education Blog

by John Seidlitz

Welcome! I’m honored to be kicking off a project that’s been in the works for a while here at Seidlitz Education. Inspired by so many of our fellow educators, our desire to share research and insights on a regular basis, and the ongoing need for new forums for conversation among educators of English learners, we’re thrilled to launch the Seidlitz Education blog!

We’ll be publishing roughly once a week, and we’ll keep our posts short and digestible (except for the occasional, meatier “Professional Development Spotlight”), but they’ll be packed with insights on current issues related to ELs, concrete ideas campuses and districts can use to better support their language learners, and stories about our own experiences with teachers, students, and the joys and trials of language acquisition. Some of the topics we have in mind are motivating ELs, content-area literacy strategies, and ways to extend academic conversation. We’re also open to suggestions—just let us know what you’d like to read about!

One of the most exciting things about this project is that everyone on the Seidlitz team will be involved.

Our most consistent contributor will be Valentina Gonzalez, a sheltered instruction and ESL coach from Katy, Texas, who recently joined our team. Valentina served for many years as an ESL and language arts teacher, and her experience as an immigrant and language learner fuels her passion for advocating for ELs and supporting teachers. We’ve admired Valentina’s work and shared her vision for years, and we’re so excited to be joining forces with her for this initiative.

You’ll also be hearing from our senior consultants—Dr. Mónica Lara, Nancy Motley, Anna Matis, and myself—on a regular basis, along with all of our other authors, as well. Every contributor will be writing from his or her own perspective, experience, and expertise. We want you, our readers, to feel like you’re having authentic conversations with everyone on our team.

With this blog, we hope to accomplish three things:

1. To give educators ideas for how their classrooms, campuses, and districts can better met the needs of their English learners—both informally and in PD-ready materials.
2. To provide our team and colleagues an opportunity to share research and give and receive feedback on new ideas.
3. To create a space for dialogue. We want to hear from you and your colleagues about what’s working, what’s worrying you, and what’s inspiring you in the field of EL education. So please always feel free to leave us a comment, send us an e-mail, or give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you!

I’ll be back later this week with a look at Sheltered Instruction versus Second-Language Acquisition Methods, and then will hand it over to Valentina for her first post.

Stay tuned, and thank you for joining us on this adventure!