This is an introductory post about creating an OER for the Education Program’s course EDC 2400, Teaching Emergent Bilinguals.  This is a relatively new course in the Education Program. I submitted a proposal for the course in the Fall of 2020 and I taught it for the first time in the Fall of 2021.  This course explores: It focuses on the role of educators in supporting emergent bilinguals’ learning language and literacy across content areas. I plan to create an open syllabus with twelve modules that include zero cost materials that can be accessed online or through our library.  Why is this course important for Educators? New York City is the largest urban center…

During the last session, I shared two possible assignments that I would like to do with my students. The first one was based on the idea of having students create a “Languages of New York” resource in which they write a short guide for educators about the home languages that their students bring to their classrooms.  Based on the feedback from colleagues and students, I revised that assignment, adding a few resources to help guide students and a section on how it will be assessed. One new resource that I will provide to students for example is NY state: http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/ell_home_languages_2017.pdf The second assignment was for students to write reviews of children’s books…

In a few of the education courses that I teach, the students write lesson plans based on a read aloud.  Reading to children requires a set of strategies to make sure that the audience is engaged.  They also need to help children make connections between the text, their experiences, other texts, and the world. Reading aloud provides a foundation for literacy development by demonstrating fluency and developing the children’s interest in books and the desire to be readers.  For the education students, it is important to be able to observe strategies that a reader can use during a read aloud.   Two resources that I think are promising for teaching read alouds are the NY…

What initially drew me to open pedagogy is the idea of engaging students in content creation.  My students are working to become future educators, and one of the conversations that we often have in our class is how important it is for children to engage in creating work for authentic audiences. For children, those audiences might be their peers, family members, or others in the community. However, in the context of the courses in which my students participate to become educators, the audience for their work is often limited to their peers and their professor.   Over the years, I’ve been excited, impressed, surprised, and challenged by the ideas, experiences, and overall…

Teachers in New York State have the unique privilege of teaching children from a wide variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It is essential that teachers learn about their students’ home languages so they can use their families’ linguistic practices as a resource for learning.  The goal of this assignment is to create a  project about a language used by NYC children that can be shared with educators and future educators so we can all learn from it.  If a student in my course or members of his/her /their family speaks a language other than English at home, I encourage them to choose it so they can share their knowledge with the…