Domain IV

Artifact 2

I aim to incorporate more translanguaging strategies into my classroom after learning about the benefits of it through research. In my music classes, I have incorporated strategies in my instruction that encourage bilingual students to access their various language knowledge. In my early years classes, this looks like simple activities such as counting in various languages and replacing simple words in songs with their second language. For example, when we sing our ‘Apple Tree’ song, sometimes we sing the word ‘apple’ in English, and sometimes we sing the word ‘apple’ in Korean (사과). Since encouraging students to access their non-English languages in my music class, I have noticed that students have started to offer their language knowledge without my prompting. Additionally, this strategy does not require me to hold the language knowledge. While I know a little polite Korean, my students often teach me and share new words with me. They also access other languages that they know, such as Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and French. In my upper years classes, I allow and encourage students to use their home language when writing non-assessment work. For example, during our hip-hop unit, I do not assess the quality of their lyrics but instead assess the structure of their song and how they use the lyrics to create musical structure; therefore, I allow students to write in their home language. Outside of my classroom, I have encouraged other teachers through conversation to utilize these types of strategies as well as introduce them to technology tools that can aid their bilingual students. One tool that I advocated for access to and shared with my specialist team is Widget. This website allows teachers to make flashcards with simple pictures and provides translation services. This website has helped many of our students bridge the gap in their bilingual skills. It has also helped teachers to create visuals and provide translations for students that support their content learning quickly and easily.