Liz: Instructional Coach for School Leaders

Meet Liz—the Manager of Programs at Teaching Lab serving Milwaukee Public Schools.

What first inspired you to become an educator?

When I was in Kindergarten, I was placed in a General Education classroom as our school did not have a bilingual program. Because of this, my years in elementary were so hard. I struggled academically and with my cultural identity. No one looked like me, sounded like me, or brought the same food in their lunchbox like me and I felt very isolated. It was not until my college years where I did a lot of community service in one of our Latino communities that I learned about my own cultural history and more about my cultural identity. This led me to feeling the need to be the mentor I longed for growing up.

My years as a bilingual education teacher in elementary were by far the most beautiful and rewarding years of my life. I have so many beautiful stories near and dear to my heart that I could share.

What's the best or most fulfilling part of teaching for you?

As an Adjunct Instructor, it is really neat to work with other educators that are wanting to better service our English Learners (ELs). Supporting other educators with identifying hidden biases that often get in the way of teaching our ELs by providing research and tools is a way for me to feel like I am doing my part to assure our ELs get an equitable education. Also, sharing more about the trauma our ELs face prior to even walking into our classroom, their cultural history, and how to support the continuous development of their cultural identities is important for me and find it rewarding when other educators share the same passion.

Could you share an interesting, moving, or humorous anecdote featuring your language skills?

There was never a dull moment when I taught bilingual Kindergarten. At the beginning of the school year, I asked one of my students in Spanish to bring a folder (carpeta) to school the following day. If she couldn’t, I would find a way to provide one. The following day, I went to my desk and there was a small floor rug on top. I asked my students about the rug and my little student that needed to bring a folder (carpeta) said that was the smallest ‘carpeta’ she was able to fit in her school bag. ‘Carpeta’ can also be interpreted as rug (alfombra) in Spanish which obviously caused so much confusion. This was such a great teachable moment for my students.

What is your favorite word or expression in another language and what does it mean?

"Ponte Las Pilas" which in Spanish means "get cracking," or get focused and started on something you’ve been putting aside.

Complete the thought: "My #LanguageDream for the future is..."

My #LanguageDream for the future is that our ELs continue to be in an environment where academics and language acquisition occur while simultaneously acknowledging and celebrating diversity and their cultural identities.