Celebrating National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month

Did you know that April is National Bilingual/Multilingual Learner Advocacy Month? As a multilingual/ELL educator, I wanted to offer helpful resources to celebrate.

During my teaching career at Fairfax County Public Schools and Prince George's Community College, I struggled to find resources on the latest trends, resources, and news specific to my area of teaching. With multilingual learners being the fastest-growing student population, more blogs and publications are coming out for this area of pedagogy. Still, it can be challenging to weed through the endless list of education blogs and articles to find resources specific to your learners and classroom. Here are some of my favorite English Language Development blogs to help you discover helpful best practices from other educators and find new ideas and activities to implement in your classroom. 

Colorín Colorado is a bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners (ELLs). It provides articles, resources, and activities to help support ELLs' academic and social success. What I like most about Colorin Colorado is the family element. They provide free research-based resources for the classroom and at home. 

Tan Huynh, an ESL teacher with over 22 years of experience, created this blog about multilingual learner (ML) strategies and empowering students. He shares an assets-based narrative and insights into his experiences as a language learner. What I appreciate most about his blog is the inclusion of his personal experiences and other vital topics in education as they relate to his students. He has found strong partnerships with other ML teachers, leaders, and researchers, many of which are featured in his podcasts!

TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) is an international professional organization for educators working with ELLs. Their blog features articles, insights, and news about teaching and learning English as a second language. I think it’s great that they allow educators and other thought leaders to submit blogs to their page, offering a wide range of perspectives and peer guidance! 

Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages is a blog created by Valentina Gonzalez to share valuable ideas and best practices with educators of multilingual learners. This blog offers an insightful look into teaching ESL. From lists of supplies to ways to support ELLs while they learn, you’re sure to find something valuable on her site!  Valentina is an educational consultant, content creator, and author. Check out her recent books, Reading & Writing with English Learners and Krofne with Baba, published by Seidlitz Education. You can purchase a copy of her books here! 

Larry Ferlazzo is a high school English language teacher and education blogger who focuses on issues related to ELLs. His site features updates on the latest resources, news, and trends for teaching English learners and posts about teaching across multiple disciplines.Check out his “best of” series, where he compiles excellent resources in an easy-to-read list. 

EdTechTeacher is a site dedicated to exploring the intersection of technology and education. It features articles, resources, and professional development opportunities for teachers and often shares content focused on multilingual learners. As a former teacher who transitioned into edtech, I appreciate that they highlight useful technology and keep educators up to date with constantly evolving classroom resources. 

I hope you’ve found this guide valuable and enjoy these blogs as much as I do. If there are any other great blogs I may have missed, let me know!  

P.S. Check out the Speak Agent blog The Language of Content, for other valuable insights into teaching emergent bilinguals/multilingual learners. Our blog provides classroom resources, implementation strategies, research-based perspectives, and updates regarding our Content+LanguageSM platform.

Want to learn how Speak Agent can support your Multilingual Students?