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La Noticia

7/2/2020

Maestra usa sus experiencias como estudiante inmigrante para capacitar a otros profesores
“Teacher uses her experiences as an immigrant student to help others”

I am so honored and humbled that Julian Berger would take his time to write this fantastic article about my immigrant journey and teaching experience.

What makes it even better is that Julian graduated from my HS not long ago and knows teachers and students mentioned during our conversation. What a small world.

Here's a link to the article posted July 2nd, 2020

Thank you so much for reading!

Supporting Immigrants Webinar

6/30/2020

How to support immigrant students in challenging times?

Just wanted to make sure you knew about this fantastic (and FREE) webinar opportunity to learn how to support our immigrant and refugee students.

This free webinar is hosted by Re-imagining Migration and The Immigrant Learning Center's (ILC) Public Education Institute.

It is a two-day online workshop featuring researchers, teacher trainers and pedagogical experts.
Participants will learn:

the impact of current events on immigrant and refugee students
strategies to improve distance learning
how to support students during times of crisis
how to bring the immigrant voice into focus across the curriculum

You can register HERE for the 2020 Immigrant Student Success: Strategies and Tools for K-12 and Adult Educators on July 8 and 9, 12:00 to 3:00 PM EDT, three hours each day

I am honored and humbled to present on July 9th - My topic is: Personal Stories to Build Strong relationships. I also will also be part of a discussion panelist sharing our thoughts on Immigrant StoryTelling.

I hope you can join us but if you can't, I will be providing links to the recordings if you cannot join us live.

Thank you for reading!

June's BookTalk

6/29/2020

Book #1

I was so excited to read this book that I pre-ordered it and received it 2 days after it was released. As soon as I found out that this story was about 3 Guatemalan teenagers - I knew I had to read it.

Of course the story does not disappoint! We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez is a hard book to read just because the journey Pulga, Chico, and Pulga (3 main characters) go through are VERY difficult. This book tells the raw journey of 3 teens who ride La Bestia (a monster train) to immigrate to the USA and their journey will stay with you long after you finish the book.

As a Guatemalan and immigrant myself - I was able to identify with the characters which is something I long for my students to do when reading our class books. I am going to be so excited to share this book with my students...especially when the Spanish version is released!!!

You can find my full booktalk/review of this 5-Star book here on my YouTube channel!

BookTalk time ?

We Are Not From Here by @jetchez #StoriesMatter & these stories must be told!

⚓️ Pulga
⚫️ Chico
? Pequeña

3 historias fantásticas & their journey will stay with you FOREVER ?????????☀️? #DignidadLiteraria

Hear full review: https://t.co/yWPZ5OZUTW pic.twitter.com/HVpPfN6gEn
— Emily Fɾαɳƈιʂ ? (@emilyfranESL) June 17, 2020

Book #2

I read this book over a weekend! I usually take much longer to read books because I read in between errands, parenting, cleaning, cooking, etc. THIS book, however, was a book I couldn't put down.
Laurie Halse Anderson's book SHOUT - is a book that that will make you want to shout and stand up for those who have experienced or are experiencing sexual abuse, rape, and/or harassment of any type.
I would not even think twice about having this book on my class bookshelf for HS students to read. Not only will this book encourage and empower readers to stand up and speak up agains sexual assaults, but also will ignite the desire to want to know more about this topic and advocate for those who are hurt.

Check out my review on my YouTube channel here!

I was super excited when the author Laurie Halse Anderson shared my BookTalk - see it below!!

We can. We should. We are. #DestroyRapeCulture #SpeakUp #ShoutTogether @PenguinTeen @PenguinClass https://t.co/b6PkJzYlob
— Laurie Halse Anderson (@halseanderson) July 1, 2020

If you read any of these books, please share with me on the comments below. I'd love to hear from you and your thoughts on any of these books or other books written by these authors.

Thank you for reading and keep on reading!!

Power Of Unity Virtual Symposium

6/24/2020

The Bilingual/ESL Department at Region 10 ESC in North TX holds an annual symposium for their 500+ educators. This year, due to the COVID pandemic, the event was help virtually.

I was honored and humbled to be invited as their 2020 Symposium 'Power Of Unity' keynote speaker. I was so excited to connect and meet so many passionate educators who are working hard to provide their very best for all students.

Day 1

Keynote Presentation

The keynote presentation was on June 23rd and it was a way to kick-off the symposium - teachers had a long day of sessions to attend right after the keynote.
My presentation title was 'Shifting from Statistics to Stories'

The presentation was streamed LIVE so you can find the recorded version on my YouTube channel below.

DBC Feature

5/1/2020

8. DBC, Inc. Live- Teacher Appreciation Series Featuring Emily Francis

I wanted to share this interview with you. On March 30th author and friend Tara Martin invited me to be on the Dave Burger Consulting, Inc Facebook live Teacher Appreciation Series.
During this interview I shared a story about a teacher and friend who has had a power impact in my life - professional and personal life, Angie Power.

I hope you tune in and hear how Angie Power took me under her wing and helped me become the teacher I am today.
Of course I made sure Angie hear this interview so I shared it with her and she responding with the message below.

Watch the recording on the DBC, Inc Facebook page or on Youtube - video below.

Tweet ##DBCincBooks

Sometimes...

4/29/2020

**This post appeared originally in Seidlitz Education on April 21st, 2020.**

It doesn’t happen as often as it should, but when it does, it is the most amazing feeling one can experience. That moment when you’re reading a book and you see your life and family experiences reflected on every single page. That moment when you see text and images intertwine on a page to bring forth cultural validation and acceptance. That moment when you close the book and cry tears of happiness because you realize that stories are so much deeper than you ever thought.
I experienced all this and so much more the day I read Sometimes… by Hugo Ibarra and John Seidlitz.

(video of me reading the book aloud for International Children’s Book Day.)

Sometimes… is just the book we need right now. Ibarra and Seidlitz share with us a story in which immigrants’ experiences are legitimized, one that opens doors for connections and much-needed conversations. It is a story that made me think about how experiences and family stories don’t have to be forgotten. And about how significant it is when stories are shared, because they validate what is core in our existence and our hopes for what is to come.
Sometimes… is a story of hope. A story of courage and strength. A story of a family who worked together through difficult circumstances to make their dreams come true. And even though sometimes things don’t go as planned and changes need to happen along the way, we see the characters rising through it all. We see Andrés and Clara holding tight to the hope offered by their mother and teachers. A hope that helps them get through every situation that comes their way.
The International Children’s Book Day theme for 2020 was “A Hunger for Words”, and as much as I identify with this phrase, I also believe there’s a hunger for cultural understanding — a hunger for identity and individual acceptance.

Children all over our nation deserve to open a book and see their families’ experiences and languages heard and represented.

Through the lens of an unaccompanied and undocumented immigrant, an English language learner, and an educator, I closely analyzed each page of Sometimes… and wrote down a few essential points at which the book authentically reflects many of our students’ experiences.

COVID19 & ESL Students

4/18/2020

March 13th was the last day students attended class on campus here in Cabarrus County, North Carolina.
As soon as we started discussing going to online learning, our county began to provide resources and ideas to support our students through a new norm.
Our county schools provided computers and local internet services provided services to those who needed it.
Teachers began receiving instructions on how and when yo provide remote lessons and student online engagement.

What I started noticing though was that my HS students were finding themselves having to go to work since they were not attending school.
The financial need families began to experience led to students having to get up early and spend all day working or staying at home taking care of their siblings.

I began to share these observations on social media and the comments were notices.
Below you'll find a couple of press releases that highlight what our ESL students are going through this pandemic time.

Ruben Jones - COVID-19's IMPACT ON STUDENTS:
High Schoolers Find Jobs While Balancing Virtual Learning

Here is a fantastic article published by Alex Granados - Senior Reporter for EducationNC.

How is COVID-19 Affecting ESL Students?

Thank you for reading!

Children's Book Read Aloud

3/29/2020

Last week I found out about International Children's Book Day - a wonderful worldwide celebration.
I immediately started looking into it - If you know me...you'd know that I am passionate about children's books. I love picture books. I used them when I taught elementary with students in Kindergarten through 5th grade and now I use them with my newcomer high school students.

There's just something magical about a children's books & picture book. I've used them to teach all genres and I've found that students connect with these books and encourages them to learn more.

So, as soon as I found out that International children's Book Day is celebrated on April 2nd, 2020 - I started brainstorming about what book to focus on. Of course, all my cultural and diverse background book collection is in my classroom and there was no way I was going to be allowed in the building to get some.
So I started digging through the books I have at home found a book author John Seidlitz sent me. I had not taken the time to read it so I started reading it...and...Oh...EM...Geeeeee! I started crying while reading it. I couldn't believe there was such an amazing book on my bookshelf and I have not read it!!!