Dr. Maylén Sullivan—(Re)envisioning world languages instruction for social engagement and change as the 2026 California Language Teacher of the Year

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Yeah.
So I think in in a world where

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it's becoming increasingly tech
heavy with AI and everything,

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anyone could, you know, put on
their headphone or whatever and

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converse with someone in another
language, but through the

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intermediary of AI, it's
absolutely not the same thing.

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So by learning another language,
students learn lifelong skills

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like empathy.
They learn how to recognize

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different perspectives, how to
situate cultural perspectives in

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a certain context, how to
understand why people do the

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things they do, how to empathize
with the problems that are

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happening abroad.
And learning how the solutions

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that are also being created
abroad and how those solutions

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can then inform how we can take
local action and national action

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in our own backyards.
I'm a huge believer that we are

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all interconnected and with
world languages.

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As students learn about
challenges abroad and what

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countries abroad are doing to
solve those challenges, that can

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inspire them to take local
action.

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This is where I bring in the
civic engagement piece, which is

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very, very important to us.
So we try to have at least one

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unit per year that engages the
students in some sort of

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reflection and action.
This is Doctor Rosa Rivera

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McCutcheon, author of Radical
Care, Leading for Justice in

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Urban Schools, and you're
listening to Add Up Accelerated

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Excellence.
Welcome to the Add Up

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Accelerated Excellence podcast,
and we would like to share an

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opportunity for educators to
contribute to our XE Listening

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tour this week.
Take time to listen to a

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community member regarding their
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equity experience because we
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unlock the engine for powerful
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That's the XE Listening Tour at
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School Leaders this summer your
leadership journey continues in

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Orlando.
Join the National Association of

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Elementary School Principals for
the National School Leaders

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Conference July 13th through
15th at Disney's Coronado

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Springs Resort.
Connect with principals,

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assistant principals, and
education leaders from across

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the country for powerful
conversations, practical

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strategies, and inspiration you
can take straight back to your

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school community for
instructional leadership and

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school culture to Wellness and
success.

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This conference is designed for
leaders at every stage.

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Learn more and register today at
NAESP conference.org.

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That's NAESP conference.org.
Welcome, welcome.

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Welcome to Add Up Accelerated
Excellence, the podcast for the

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advancement of educational
excellence and equity.

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And I am your host, Jacob
Easley, the second PhD PMP.

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And today's guest is someone
who's going to talk about a

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topic very near and dear to my
heart, language learning, in

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particular, foreign language,
having had my first job as a

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foreign language teacher in
education, teaching high school

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in particular.
So this just really warms my

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heart.
Our guest is Mylan Sullivan,

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PhD.
So, Mylan, will you please

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introduce yourself to the Ed Up
Accelerated Excellence

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community, giving voice to your
name as only you can, and tell

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us what is your classroom like
now?

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What can we if we were to peek
our heads?

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And what will we see given that
we're at the end of academic

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year?
Yes, thank you so much, Jacob.

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Really appreciate you having me
on.

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So my name is Mylan Sullivan,
and I'm a world language teacher

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in Southern California,
specifically in the Coronado

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Unified School District.
And right now, you know, a

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spring kids are pretty tired and
you know, everybody's like dying

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to get out of here, let's be
honest.

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But if you were to peek into,
for instance, my Spanish one

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classroom right now, what you
would see is the students are

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engaged right now in a project
where they're they're building a

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website for an ecotourism tour
that from a place in the Spanish

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speaking country that they have
selected.

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So they're in groups of three.
So they're working on reading

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authentic resources, gathering
the research that they need to

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put their tour together.
They're working on identifying

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actions that help the
environment so that when we

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travel, we do our best to work
with the local communities and

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help the environment and, you
know, just conversations,

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journal entries and other forms
of input around those types of

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topics.
So I have to tell you that's a

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bit of a pressure.
I have to tell you, I'm, I'm,

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I'm saying that because I'm
thinking back to my first year

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teaching Spanish one O 1 in high
school, just leaving college.

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My classroom did not look like
that.

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I was given a textbook and of
course each textbook their

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chapters and the curriculum was
essentially to follow so many

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chapters or 1 chapter more per
week.

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So most of the focus was on
grammar.

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So for your Spanish one class,
are these advanced learners or

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are these this is the first
Spanish course they've had?

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I'm given the type of
assignment, so I'm wondering is

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the assignment in Spanish or is
the assignment in English?

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Well, the project, the project
task card usually is in English

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and we do that in English
because, you know, we want to

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make sure they understand all
the instructions and also if

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parents have questions about
like what are my kids doing.

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So the task card itself is
written in English with, you

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know, a lot of Spanish in it as
well.

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But the project that they're
doing is in Spanish.

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We have a real mix of kids.
We have kids who this is their

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first experience with Spanish
and we have, you know, a few,

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maybe a handful of kids that
they hear Spanish, but maybe

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they don't speak it very well.
So those are all together.

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It's, you know, it's a mixed
classroom and we are now almost

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at the end.
So this is the second to last

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unit of the school year.
So by now, most students have

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already reached the novice high
level and many, I would say more

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than half are at intermediate
low and then we have a handful

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that are already heading towards
intermediate mid.

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So I would say it's a real mix,
but there is a lot of support in

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terms of the structure of the
task card.

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There's a lot of center starters
that are provided so that they

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know for all the different
sections of the website what

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what could it sound like.
In addition, I have provided

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them with a template, a fully
developed website, which I made

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that's like a sample of what it
could look like.

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So essentially they're taking
the template they're reading and

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then they're going off and
researching their own city or

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their own tour and changing the
information.

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That's what they're doing.
Wonderful, brilliant.

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And you know, I had to keep in
mind that yes, you you did tell

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us at the beginning that this is
the end of the year.

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So this is a culminating
project.

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So in my mind, I went straight
to, as I mentioned that first

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year teacher hears the book.
The book is the curriculum.

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So, Milan, you came to the US
from Cuba at the age of 10,

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speaking no English.
Can you take us back to that

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moment and what effect do you
think that moment had on you as

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a learner and as well as as a
future educator?

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Yeah.
So it's such a great question.

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I mean, I think this is probably
the pivotal moment that changed

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my life, immigrating from from
Cuba to the US So I came and

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obviously I had 0 English.
I probably just knew 1-2 and

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three, the three numbers.
And at first it was really hard

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because I was like, Oh my God, I
don't understand anything like

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this language is so hard.
But one of the great assets that

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I had working for me is that I
had very high literacy skills in

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Spanish.
And you know, I always loved to

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read.
I was a voracious reader.

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So I started at the school
library.

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Obviously I didn't understand
anything, so I started with just

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children's books, very simple
with just a few words.

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And then I started reading
those.

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And then when I understood
those, I went a little up, up,

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up up until by the end of 5th
grade, I was reading Babysitters

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Club.
And then on the other side of it

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as well, watching TV.
I would watch so much TV in

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English with the English only
subtitles, like the subtitles

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for the deaf so that I could
figure out how is this language

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even spelled.
And through hours and hours and

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hours of that, plus the books,
plus the support in in my

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school, which the program that I
was in started, I was like maybe

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half the day taking classes in
Spanish like history and

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science, and half the day in the
standard classroom.

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They eventually phase me out so
that by the end of the year, I

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was in the standard classroom
basically 90% of the time.

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With those supports, with
wonderful teachers, with a great

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family support, I was able to
acquire the language.

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You know, that's interesting
that you talk about it.

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Really it sounds like a dual
language program that you were

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in with pull out services.
We just interviewed the Arizona

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State Teacher of the Year who
teaches special education and

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her program looks similar to
that, where students who have

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Ieps or or individual education
programs are sometimes pulled

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out of one classroom for one
subject and and are moved to a

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different classroom for a
different subject based on their

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level of proficiency and skills.
And was it indeed a dual

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language program in your in your
school?

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I don't know to be honest, when
they called it, but to me it

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felt like there were certain
lessons and certain subjects

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that we would get pulled out
for.

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And of course we had our ELD, we
had an ELD classroom.

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We would get pulled out for that
classroom maybe an hour or

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something a day.
And then we would go back to the

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regular classroom with everybody
else.

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And then the amount of time that
we were pulled out would

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decrease as our English
increased is what is what I

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understood.
So I don't honestly know what

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that's called.
I'm not sure.

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But you mentioned 2 points in
that experience was I think we

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should probably highlight.
One is you were already high

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proficient in your first
language and two, you talked

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about or you mentioned learning
outside of the classroom.

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So listening to English
programming list and, and using

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the closed caption.
So, and I think that's a very

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important tool because I when
usually when I travel and in the

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language that I may have some
proficiency in, I find one way

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to, to really gear up on local
language is by listening to

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television and honing in on
commercials in particular and

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reading commercials on the
billboards.

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Because the the language that
they use often reflects everyday

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language that that is is
somewhat universal within that

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context.
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

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I just didn't even like seeing
how things are spelled,

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understanding how the sounds
connect to the print, the

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idioms, you know, I would watch
like babysitters, clubs, you

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know, Full House everything, all
those things.

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So, babysitters, that's a show.
That's the book.

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That's the book.
Sorry.

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That's a book, okay?
Babysitters.

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The book Full House was the show
and I had other ones.

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I had a bunch.
Yeah, because you said full

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house.
I it took me right to television

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side.
And so Babysitters Club is is a

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series of books.
Yes, it's the little novels.

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Excellent.
SO you were named both the 2026

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California Language Teachers
Association of the Year teacher

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as well as the Southwest
Conference Language Teacher of

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the Year.
So that represents California

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specifically and then also a
broader region.

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Can you talk about the
difference in these two and how

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profound is that the whole 2
awards at the same time?

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And are they and how are they
related or interplay with one

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another?
Yeah, that's a great question.

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So these awards are kind of all
part of the national ACT Full

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Teacher of the Year program.
So ACT Full Language Connects is

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our national language
organization, language teaching

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for language teachers.
And So what it is, is if you win

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at the state level, then you go
to the regional level, which is

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Southwest cold.
And Southwest Cold includes 9

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states, So California, New
Mexico, Arizona, Texas, I don't

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want to forget anyone, Nevada,
Oklahoma, etcetera, I don't want

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to forget anyone.
Hawaii as well.

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So if you win at the, at the
regional level for the 9th, in

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my case, it's nine states, then
you go on to the national actual

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teacher of the year competition,
which is then taking place in

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November.
So in November, there will be

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five of us there sort of
engaging in the national process

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for that, for that award.
So this really isn't Gauntlet.

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What do you mean?
So you, you go so there's a

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state and then you go from
state, you have to compete at

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the inside of national, I mean,
sorry, regional and then from

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regional you go to the national.
So it's sort of like whitewater

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rafting where you're, you know,
you're, you're headed down some

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of these really heavy terrains
to get to whatever be the

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pinnacle, which would be the
national or finishing the finish

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line and so to speak.
Yes.

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And, and no matter what, for
anyone participating in this,

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being one of the state
representatives or maybe

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regional or maybe even obviously
one of the national finalists,

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it's a great honor to represent
the the profession, win or lose.

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It's a great honor for your work
to be highlighted.

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And you sort of like have the
sense of like, wow, OK, maybe

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what I do have some value.
Maybe I can help others and I

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can collaborate with teachers
from all over the US, so.

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So in the prep in preparation
for each of those levels, so

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there are three levels and you
have achieved the award at the

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00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,200
state and the and the regional
levels.

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How do you get ready for each of
those?

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Is there are there different
strategies for each level?

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And then I'm sort of double
barreling these questions.

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But the next one is how
impactful has this been for you

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00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,280
and just preparing for the
competition?

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That's a great question.
And it's a little different per

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level.
It, it's a little, it gets a

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00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,040
little more complex in terms of
the number of things you have to

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put together to participate in
the competition.

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For the state level, you have to
have one like a state

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outstanding teacher or
outstanding teacher leader

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prior, so a year or two prior or
anytime.

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So for that one, you are
nominated by a colleague for

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your, you know, your
accomplishments and your service

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to the profession and the things
you've done.

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So once you've won that one,
then you can apply to become

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your state's teacher of the
year.

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For the state Teacher of the
Year application, there's like a

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small, small little essay and
things you have to do and then

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an interview.
So if you are selected for that

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one, then you have to put
together a very substantial

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portfolio for the regional
competition.

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And as you can imagine, a
portfolio will include letters

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of recommendation, videos of you
teaching, reflections, student

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work samples with more
reflections and more

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reflections, more reflections
after that.

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And you have to show evidence of
your professional

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accomplishments.
You know the how you've been

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engaged in leading others
professionally, etcetera,

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etcetera.
And then when you show up at the

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at the regional conference, you
have an interview and you also

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have to give a 5 minute policy
speech which has to be entirely

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memorized, no notes and
obviously you know, written by

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you on a topic that you care
about.

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So I would say that's about 90%.
Now as I head into the into the

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national competition, the
portfolio is, as I said, 90%

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done.
But there's a certain parts of

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00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,960
it that need to be redone.
Like you need a 20 minute

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00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,320
teaching video versus a 10
minute 1 and you need now a 5 to

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00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,920
7 minute, 5 to 7 minute policy
speech and so on, which may not

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00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,040
necessarily be the same thing
that you did before.

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00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:40,480
It could be something different,
right?

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So there's quite a lot of work.
The value for me has been

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reflecting on my practice.
It's always great to just really

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00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,520
not just reflect, to be proud of
everything you've done.

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00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,400
That really helps, you know, I
would also reflect to see what

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00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,600
areas I still want to grow in.
I sit things, things that I

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00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:02,920
still want to learn about and I
there was something else I was

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going to say.
So the value I'm reflecting and

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00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:11,400
it just also see in putting
together the portfolio and

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00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,960
gathering all the materials, you
realize everything that you have

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00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,160
done and it's sort of like gives
you any appreciation and

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00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,440
refreshes you in the teaching
profession, which as you know,

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00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,920
because you were a teacher,
it's, it's very difficult and

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00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:29,040
we, it's, it's hard to retain
people.

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00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:30,480
It's hard to stay in the
profession.

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00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,880
So this processor of like has
even like refreshed me even

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00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,360
more, if that makes sense.
Oh, it definitely makes sense.

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00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:43,080
Those reflections in particular
sounds similar to applying for

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00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,800
the National Board Certification
for Teachers.

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And I know in this idea of video
yourself creating a new video

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00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:59,520
reflecting on those, how have
you brought your students along

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00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,000
in this process and how have
they responded to the idea that

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00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,160
their teacher is an
award-winning teacher?

315
00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,320
Well, I, I'm, I'm like literally
so lucky because right now I

316
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,120
have the, the Spanish one class
that I have where I ended up

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00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,040
doing my videos.
They are literally the sweetest

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00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,480
and they are so curious.
I mean, I don't even have to

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00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,040
tell them to like ask questions.
They ask questions.

320
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,720
So it's, it's been really great
to do the process with them.

321
00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:34,160
I let them know in advance, This
is why I need to do it, you

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00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,360
know, explain the rationale.
You know, these are some of the

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00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:39,600
things that I want to make sure
that we're able to show the

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00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:41,120
judges this and that and the
other.

325
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:42,440
And they're all like, we got
you.

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00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,120
We can do this and they're just
the absolute sweetest.

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00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:49,360
So you know, it's been great to
to do that with them.

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00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:52,880
And I think it's also been like,
OK, guys, we really met.

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00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,160
We really better make sure we
show them that we are in the

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00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:59,320
target language the whole time.
So like, OK, we will try even

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00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,320
harder to be in the target
language and we will, you know,

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00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,880
I, I did give them I, I do give
them normally anyway, video or

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00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,720
not, this yellow card.
That has things that they can

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00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,760
ask when they're confused or how
to ask questions about the

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00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:17,600
Spanish in Spanish so that that
helps you know, so that they can

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00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,000
think simple things like what
does this mean?

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00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:21,800
Or can you slow down or can you
repeat?

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00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,280
So they should be able to do all
that in Spanish using their

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00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,520
yellow card.
We're speaking with Doctor Mylan

340
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:33,840
Sullivan, who is the 2026 SW
Conference on Language Teaching

341
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,880
and the California Language
Teacher Association Teacher of

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00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:43,440
the Year.
So, Mylan, you represent the

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00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:48,440
1.4% of classroom teachers who
hold a doctoral degree.

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00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:53,040
This makes you part of what some
might consider a an elite

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00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,880
minority.
And we're, you know, of course

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00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,120
we're familiar with the
expression representation

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00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:00,320
counts.
In your mind, what does

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00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,560
representation matter in this
regard?

349
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,280
Or how does it matter in this
regard?

350
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:15,520
That's a great question.
Well, I think, I think what

351
00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:20,200
matters to me is that I always
wanted to reach what I perceived

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00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,960
to be as like the pinnacle of
education, right?

353
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,920
I always wanted to take it as
far as I could go.

354
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,120
And you know, as you know, PhD
is a terminal degree.

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00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:36,680
So I I was able to do that and.
I I like how you're smiling.

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00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,000
You're very modest about this.
And you and I had a chance to

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00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,360
speak a bit early and I, and I
referred to you as as Doctor

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00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:46,920
Sullivan.
And I can tell that, you know,

359
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,240
it, it made you feel a bit
uncomfortable.

360
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,120
And, and so having been, I
remember being a newly minted

361
00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:56,720
Dr. it was the strangest thing
for someone to call you doctor

362
00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,200
anything because you're like,
wait, who are you talking to?

363
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,800
You know, you look behind you,
really you're talking to me.

364
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,360
But I, I just want to lift you
up on that.

365
00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,200
So congratulations.
Because that is no small feat.

366
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,880
And as I, as I mentioned
earlier, 1.4% of classroom

367
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:15,880
teachers hold a terminal degree
within their field.

368
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,640
And it's in this case, I mean
specifically a doctorate degree.

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00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,400
So what does high quality
language instruction look like

370
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,200
across your classrooms?
So you gave us an example from

371
00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,600
your Spanish one.
And this is really in contrast

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00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,800
to something you mentioned
earlier that span that language

373
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,760
learning is more than just a
matter of engaging with

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00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,560
worksheets and grammar drills.
Yes.

375
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:39,960
Absolutely.
Yes, Yes, yes.

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00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:44,560
So in the past I've also taught
French, for example, I mean,

377
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,320
I've taught all levels in, in
the different things, but in

378
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:52,720
French 3, for instance, one of
the really important threads in

379
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,200
that class is French identity,
one of the units that we do.

380
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,680
And so we are very mindful
throughout the whole French

381
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,320
program.
My my teaching partner and I,

382
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,680
Alexandra, we're very mindful of
making sure that students

383
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,120
understand that France isn't
just about, you know, the Eiffel

384
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:12,280
Tower or baguettes or, you know,
Paris or anything that we expose

385
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,600
students to the wide richness of
the French speaking world.

386
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,360
All the different countries
that, which speak it, we bring

387
00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:22,280
in during the our unit on
identity.

388
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,760
Our essential question is what
does it mean to be French?

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00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,960
And we bring in a guest speaker
from Algeria who's one of my

390
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,400
friends.
And so she talks to the students

391
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:35,480
about her experiences moving to
the US, all the different things

392
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,560
that she has faced in her
community.

393
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:42,080
And she is currently fighting
against discrimination against

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00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,760
Muslim students in, in our, in
our region.

395
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,520
So wonderful, wonderful person.
And we also engage the students

396
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,760
in a project where they research
and learn about a well known

397
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:55,640
francophone, but from any
country.

398
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,760
And we encourage them to pick a
variety of different people from

399
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,680
different countries.
And then so we sort of discuss

400
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,120
and bring all these people's
experiences that they learned

401
00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:08,200
about together and we dissect
them and say, OK, this is what

402
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,240
it means to be French.
This is what this person's

403
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,680
version it means of what it
means to be French and so on.

404
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:20,360
And so weaving that thread of
identity, social justice and

405
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,200
diversity throughout the
curriculum is something that has

406
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,760
been really, really important
with us in addition to the the

407
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:31,680
civic engagement like the the
ecotourism type thing that I was

408
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,680
describing earlier.
Oh, that's wonderful, Absolutely

409
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,960
beautiful.
Let's transition to business a

410
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,520
bit because we know that you
have to have a platform.

411
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,960
And I don't know if you want to
give too much of this away

412
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,680
because you mentioned you had to
have a policy position that you

413
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,080
addressed.
So if you can, as much as you

414
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:54,560
can, share it with us today.
What is your policy in brief or

415
00:24:54,560 --> 00:25:00,600
what is your position in brief
around the value of world

416
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:04,440
languages or language learning?
Yeah.

417
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:10,000
So I think in in a world where
it's becoming increasingly tech

418
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,920
heavy with AI and everything,
anyone could, you know, put on

419
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,040
their headphone or whatever and
converse with someone in another

420
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,720
language, but through the
intermediary of AI, it's

421
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,880
absolutely not the same thing.
So by learning another language,

422
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,360
students learn lifelong skills
like empathy.

423
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,160
They learn how to recognize
different perspectives, how to

424
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,600
situate cultural perspectives in
a certain context, how to

425
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:40,200
understand why people do the
things they do, how to empathize

426
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,160
with the problems that are
happening abroad, and learning

427
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,360
how the solutions that are also
being created abroad and how

428
00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:49,640
those solutions can then inform
how we can take local action and

429
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:51,560
national action in our own
backyards.

430
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:56,720
I'm a huge believer that we are
all interconnected and with

431
00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,200
world languages.
As students learn about

432
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,480
challenges abroad and what
countries abroad are doing to

433
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,600
solve those challenges, that can
inspire them to take local

434
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:07,360
action.
This is where I bring in the

435
00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:10,320
civic engagement piece, which is
very, very important to us.

436
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:15,760
So we try to have at least one
unit per year that engages the

437
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,800
students in some sort of
reflection and action on a civic

438
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:24,720
project.
And in your mind or what I'm

439
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,600
going to say in your mind, but
from your the evidence you've

440
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,640
seen, how has that been
transformative in language

441
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,120
learning?
So I think that a lot of the

442
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:39,440
times, because languages has
been taught traditionally in

443
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,480
such a real manner of like,
learn this chart, memorize these

444
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:45,640
20 words and then apply them,
right?

445
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,160
A lot of the times, because
languages has been taught like

446
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,800
that, kids don't really
understand the value of it.

447
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,200
They don't see the why, like why
should I learn this language?

448
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,520
So bringing these ideas of
diversity, equity, social

449
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,880
justice, and civic engagement
into the curriculum serve gives

450
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,400
students a bigger why they
should learn because through

451
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:09,760
language they can make a
difference.

452
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,400
So language is a vehicle to
solve problems.

453
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,800
Language is a vehicle to serve
the community and especially

454
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,120
down here in in California, we
have so many, obviously we have,

455
00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,040
so we live in a border town, so
many Spanish speakers.

456
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,360
Spanish of course is, is hugely
important.

457
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,560
So I believe that it builds that
greater Y that we've been

458
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,880
missing.
Yeah, I I agree with you and I

459
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:38,400
think in some ways it is.
It can really serve as an entree

460
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:45,960
or the foyer foyer for folks to
enter the world of others

461
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,760
through language in a deeper and
more passionate way and and in

462
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:54,840
some ways it becomes part of
their own world, particularly

463
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,480
around language learning.
Yeah.

464
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,160
And then they change.
What a wonderful adventure to be

465
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,640
changed by language.
So it's not like, you know, I

466
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,720
have my world and their world
and you know, now their world is

467
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,760
a little bit part like the, the,
the boundaries become more

468
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,360
porous and so who I am now it's
more expensive.

469
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,960
Right, right, right, right.
I can I agree with you on that.

470
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,640
So with that being said, what do
you think of some of the

471
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:28,080
misconceptions held broadly
about language learning that you

472
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,520
wish other educators and parents
understood better?

473
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:41,560
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think 11 misconception is that

474
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,240
students can't talk or discuss
or learn about complex topics in

475
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,840
level one in the earlier levels.
And this is something that I

476
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,920
feel very passionate about
because we know that our

477
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,240
students, especially if you're
teaching secondary, our students

478
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,200
are ready to think about complex
topics.

479
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,440
I mean they're they're, you
know, emerging adolescents where

480
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,480
they're already adolescents.
So they are ready to think about

481
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,080
these topics and they know
things about the world.

482
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,160
They might not know them in
Spanish, but they know things

483
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,680
about the world and in their own
languages and, you know, with

484
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:21,280
their own language backgrounds.
And so really in a Spanish wine

485
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,760
classroom, yes, of course
there's the basics that we need

486
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,240
to teach and, and you know,
whatever the community wants to

487
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,400
learn with that.
But we can also strive to create

488
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:34,280
a curriculum which is really
meaningful and scaffolded for

489
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,520
the language so that we are
giving them the linguistic tools

490
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,680
they need to discuss the topics
that they are interested in and

491
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,600
that they should be discussing.
So I think that's one one big

492
00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,760
misconception.
Yeah, I, I think if, if, if I

493
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,960
had to sum all of this up, this
really is about connectivity.

494
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,600
So, and, and I'm thinking about
that because it's a complete

495
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,120
contrast.
I have to say thank you for your

496
00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:06,240
approach to world languages and
language teaching because it's,

497
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:10,400
it's a radical shift from what
has been the traditional norm.

498
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,480
So I remember in high school,
my, particularly my mother who

499
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,800
had studied French, I was taking
Spanish and I took two years of

500
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,200
Spanish and one year of French.
But there were two stories

501
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,720
really quickly.
One was when I wanted to take

502
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,640
Spanish 2:00 and French.
One, the school counselor told

503
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:33,760
me that I, I could not because
she thought that you're taking

504
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,920
honors English, you're taking
Spanish 2:00 and taking French

505
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,920
one would be 3 languages.
And I kept thinking to myself,

506
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,760
I'm, I'm not learning English,
honors English.

507
00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,320
I think this was would have been
11th grade is literature.

508
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,040
It's not you're not learning the
language.

509
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:57,880
So which, so that was 1 was a
barrier, but then two, it was

510
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:01,600
difficult to have folks in my
community help me outside of the

511
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,160
Spanish teacher or, or the
French teacher themselves in

512
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:09,000
school, because folks in my
community who had taken foreign

513
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:13,080
languages only knew basic
grammar and this and, and some

514
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:17,480
principles of, you know, I, I
speak French, you speak French,

515
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,840
they speak French, we speak
French.

516
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,680
That was the extent of it.
They couldn't remember the

517
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,880
fundamentals beyond this idea of
just translating a verb.

518
00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:30,840
So I appreciate the approach
that you're taking because it

519
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:35,240
really is about connect.
Connectivity both to the world,

520
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,480
but for the student to connect
to aspects of the language that

521
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:44,840
are important to them as as is
reflective of their own real

522
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,520
day-to-day lives and thoughts
about the world in general.

523
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:53,840
Thank you for listening to the
Ed Up Accelerated Excellence

524
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,800
Podcast, and we would like to
share an opportunity for

525
00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,600
educators to contribute to our
XE Listening tour this week.

526
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,480
Take time to listen to a
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527
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,960
educational excellence and
equity experience because we

528
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,360
believe that by listening, we
unlock the engine for powerful

529
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,600
educational transformation.
Share your insights via

530
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:18,160
voicemail at Ed Up xe.com, and
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531
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,640
air with the podcast.
That's the XE listening.

532
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:22,800
Torrid, Ed.
Up xe.com.

533
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:28,120
Have you ever felt like everyone
else in education has their

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together to reconnect with their
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That's NAESP conference.org.

548
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:49,400
So you talked about also not
just in your classroom, but this

549
00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:54,800
idea of study abroad and the
importance of removing financial

550
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,960
barriers for study abroad.
Why is access to Study Abroad

551
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:05,760
Act opportunities important from
your perspective and and what

552
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:09,360
impact have you seen when
students have the opportunity to

553
00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:12,600
study abroad?
Yeah, absolutely.

554
00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:14,560
This is an area that I'm
actually really passionate

555
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:15,639
about, so I'm glad you're
asking.

556
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,679
So I mean, when you think about
it, I mean, unless there there

557
00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:23,320
are some students that have
access to travel and they travel

558
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:24,639
a lot with their parents and
that's fine.

559
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,480
But unless you have access to
that, I would say the vast

560
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,280
majority of high school students
don't have the opportunity to

561
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,840
study abroad.
And if you, if, if all of us

562
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,679
listening right now could just
picture their first time, you

563
00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:40,880
know, if, if they have their
first time traveling to another

564
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,040
country and being in a culture
and trying to like, understand

565
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,320
what's going on and we're just
really immersing themselves, you

566
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,199
could probably think it was
probably one of the most

567
00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:51,760
powerful learning experiences of
your life, right?

568
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,880
So I think that the younger that
we can provide students the

569
00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:01,040
ability to do that, the better.
So in, in the high school, we,

570
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,520
we work on students applying for
travel scholarships through CIEE

571
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:08,320
and we get the students going to
study languages to study, you

572
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,040
know, STEM, robotics, business,
art, culture, a bunch of

573
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:13,640
different things, whatever
they're interested in.

574
00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:18,600
And honestly, they come back
100% more confident.

575
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,240
Well, one of my students said
300% more confident Oak.

576
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:27,080
Ferry then.
And they left because, well,

577
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,080
it's just they have to be on
their own.

578
00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,040
They have to figure things out.
Yes, they have a lot of support,

579
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:33,640
so you know they're not going to
fail and that, you know,

580
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:34,760
nothing's bad is going to
happen.

581
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:39,600
But they have to figure out how
to be on their own 2 feet, how

582
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,120
to ask for help.
They connect with people who are

583
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,120
native speakers of the language,
who are teaching them the

584
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,040
language.
Then they go out into the

585
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,840
community and they actually go
to a restaurant and they order

586
00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,480
in the language and they do all
these wonderful things that

587
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,160
really also help them grow their
intercultural skill set.

588
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,560
I think it's a wonderful
opportunity that should be

589
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:03,200
accessible to everyone.
So if you're a multimillionaire

590
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,880
listening, please donate to
Students Study Abroad.

591
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:08,960
Students study abroad.
There you go.

592
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,200
I mean, there you go folks, you
have there's your challenge and

593
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:17,360
one way to engage definitely by
supporting on that, that this

594
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:20,160
program and an opportunity or
one way to support the

595
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,600
programming opportunity for
students, students to study

596
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,120
abroad for sure.
Thank you for that.

597
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:28,160
I'm going to ask you to dream a
bit, if you will.

598
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:33,120
So imagine you were to design a
program, a world language

599
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:34,680
program.
You can choose your language

600
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,480
from the ground U.
What would be the three to five

601
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:47,280
core components or attributes?
I think 1 component would be

602
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:50,760
like the task based, project
based approach where students

603
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,680
have to use the language to do
something with it because it

604
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,600
helps the students own it.
You know, it's not, they're not

605
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,240
just like we're not just opening
the brain and pouring in

606
00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:02,400
language and then they can
verbalize it.

607
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,160
They have to do something with
the language they have to

608
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,120
create.
So I think that would be 1

609
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:09,600
component.
Now that we're on the topic, the

610
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,520
second component would be study
abroad for everyone.

611
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,840
It would have to be, you know,
it would have to be part of it.

612
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,800
Another component I think would
be really amazing to get the

613
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:25,600
latest and best AI tech, AI tech
tools to help students, to

614
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:29,360
monitor the students progress
and their growth in proficiency

615
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:33,400
and to just provide rich and
varied feedback like, you know,

616
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,440
minute by minute to really
accelerate their language

617
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:41,040
acquisition.
Another component would be

618
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:48,640
perhaps access to and a way to
help the students build clubs or

619
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,480
community groups where they're
practicing the language with

620
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:56,880
people on a on a clear basis.
And then my final component

621
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,880
would probably be one this has
been really fun to think about,

622
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:04,760
but one that I would take away.
I would take away grades because

623
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:11,240
I do think that now I wouldn't
take away assessment and knowing

624
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:13,360
where they are, but I, I would
definitely take away grades

625
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,680
because I think that they get in
the way of true learning and

626
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,360
true curiosity for many kids.
But you know.

627
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,080
OK, I'm laughing now externally
because I'm going to give you

628
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,280
some insights into a recent
situation, which is definitely,

629
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:30,720
and I use grades as an example.
I was evaluating a staff member

630
00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,960
so the person had competed in
their self evaluation, but I had

631
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:39,200
to give my evaluation and of
course the the ranking went.

632
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,440
I think I don't know what was at
the bottom, but meets

633
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:48,080
expectations, exceeds
expectations in one is sort of

634
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:52,480
in the some ways super exceeds
and there was some few

635
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:58,120
descriptions of tasks and roles
for each area, but there were no

636
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:03,360
metrics of quality to define
meets exceeds or super exceeds.

637
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:08,920
And so we had this discussion
because of course, overall the

638
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:12,280
evaluation was fine.
But for some of the metrics, I

639
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:17,160
would, I was told last year I
got this level and I said,

640
00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:20,720
here's the issue with these
levels is there's no sort of

641
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:25,920
qualitative or descriptive
language around each of the

642
00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:28,920
levels so that we can have a
common conversation.

643
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:33,200
So overall it means great.
So their interpretation was meet

644
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,880
is a grade of C and I said,
actually, I don't interpret it

645
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:40,400
as grades.
So to me it's, it's a quality,

646
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:43,800
but not necessarily a grade.
And I said, so this is one of

647
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:48,440
the errors, one of the
shortfalls of the current

648
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:53,640
evaluation system when we don't
have clear metrics because it's

649
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:57,240
still so subjective.
So you're absolutely right about

650
00:39:57,240 --> 00:40:00,760
this idea of grades, because
grades mean certain things to

651
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,960
different people.
Yeah.

652
00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:06,880
Oh, I was going to say to follow
up on what you said.

653
00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:09,880
You know by not having clear
metrics like you don't have a

654
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:12,160
clear rubric, is that what you
mean, right?

655
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:18,160
And and it's rubric.
Yeah, even the script of rubrics

656
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:23,400
can be biased and can be not,
not fully.

657
00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:26,800
In other words, in order for the
rubric to work, you have to

658
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:29,800
calibrate it.
You have to celebrate it with

659
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:31,680
your peers.
You have to have evidence.

660
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,720
OK, This is what meets looks
like.

661
00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:37,280
This is what we're looking for
and this is where I think a lot

662
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,920
of these hopefully new AI
programs and dashboards that are

663
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:43,280
being built to help accompany
students in their language

664
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:47,320
acquisition journey where they
can really help us make this a

665
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:49,240
lot easier.
Right.

666
00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:52,200
So you think about this on the
instrumentation of development

667
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:54,800
of instrument.
So from my perspective, valid,

668
00:40:55,040 --> 00:41:00,360
reliable and bias free.
And so getting and getting to

669
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:03,640
those 3 levels, you're
absolutely right, requires

670
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:09,840
community and requires requires
calibration and it has to make

671
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:13,000
sense not only for the
developers, but ultimately has

672
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,480
to make sense for the users who
are the students.

673
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:22,120
So that when you mark someone on
this at any level, just the

674
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:24,840
marking by itself, there's
enough descriptive and

675
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:29,400
descriptive language and clarity
in the language and and the

676
00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:33,160
examples that serves as a form
of feedback.

677
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:38,760
And and students should readily
agree if they're honest with

678
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,120
their assessment that the
outcome, if it's now valid in

679
00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:46,960
terms of integrated reliability
in this in this regard, who's

680
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:50,120
rating it?
It's also rating it rating the

681
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:54,560
student properly.
And and that brings me to the

682
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:57,920
point, I, I did want to add a
fifth one then or a 6th 1.

683
00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:00,720
I don't know which one.
That is that students should

684
00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:03,680
have the opportunity to reflect
on their growth self-assessment

685
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:06,000
portfolios.
I think these are great tools as

686
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,640
well to have in the Dream World
language program.

687
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,800
I agree with you, definitely.
That almost sounds like in some

688
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:17,280
ways your application for your
state and regional awards.

689
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:26,040
So what advice would you give to
folks who might be interested in

690
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:29,040
foreign language teaching in
particular?

691
00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:34,120
So teachers, what would you say
to them that would attract them

692
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:37,080
to the profession?
And again, since we have been

693
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:40,400
double barreling your questions,
the second part of that would be

694
00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:44,120
what would you say to school
administrators and policy

695
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:47,040
makers?
What needs to happen to keep

696
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:53,680
those folks in the classroom?
So the first question is what I

697
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:56,480
would say to them is, well, do
it if you're interested in it,

698
00:42:56,480 --> 00:42:57,840
right?
If you're not interested in it,

699
00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:00,240
I would never force you to do
something you're not interested

700
00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:02,200
in.
But if you're even, you know,

701
00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,440
remotely interested in
languages, you love, the idea of

702
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:08,120
helping young people grow and
acquire another language, and

703
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,880
essentially you're changing
their lives because language is

704
00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:12,520
a new language changes your
life.

705
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,400
I would say it's one of the most
rewarding careers that one could

706
00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:19,600
ever have, seeing the growth in
young people.

707
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:24,040
So that is so, so worth it.
And seeing the difference that

708
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:27,320
you have that, you know, I have
students still contact me years

709
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,000
after like, you know, telling me
what they ended up doing with

710
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,640
their careers and how I impacted
them, etcetera, etcetera.

711
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:36,200
It's so wonderful to see that
what you do makes a real

712
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:39,280
difference in society.
So that's number one.

713
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:43,520
And #2 for policymakers, we have
some, some real obstacles that

714
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:47,680
we need to solve.
You know, the salaries and I

715
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:51,000
know I, I'm at the opposite end
of the pay skill now with a PhD

716
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:54,760
and everything, but teacher
salaries are not anywhere near

717
00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:58,240
worth what teachers are worth.
So double it, triplet,

718
00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:00,280
quadruplet, quintuplet.
I don't know.

719
00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:03,680
We need better salaries.
And then we also need better

720
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:06,960
systems of support within school
districts, which I know can be

721
00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:08,880
really every school districts
very different.

722
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:12,440
We need better systems of
support to keep those teachers

723
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:16,400
in, to keep them invested in
their growth, to keep, you know,

724
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:19,600
having coaches and planning
partners and collaborative

725
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:23,240
partners and people to bounce
ideas off of because teaching

726
00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:26,600
can be a very isolating career.
But by building all these

727
00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:30,080
networks of support, systems of
support, teachers will stay.

728
00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:33,160
If you are satisfied, if you
feel that you are growing and

729
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,680
you are continuing to make a
difference, they will stay.

730
00:44:37,720 --> 00:44:43,840
Well, well stated indeed.
So, Doctor Minor Sullivan, I

731
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:49,640
have absolutely appreciated this
opportunity to learn with and

732
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,960
from you.
But before we end, I had to ask

733
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:56,800
what is next for you either at
your school level?

734
00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:00,320
I know you, you will be
competing in the National

735
00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:05,400
Language teacher competition, 5
of you.

736
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:07,320
Is that correct?
In November?

737
00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:12,080
You're currently hold the
Southwestern Regional Language

738
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:16,560
Teaching Award for for 2026 as
well as the California State

739
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:19,600
Language Teachers Association
award.

740
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:24,680
So the award is coming next in
in November, but what else is

741
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:28,080
next to you and how might the
add up Accelerated Excellence

742
00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:31,640
community engage?
Yeah.

743
00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:34,200
So what's next?
I've got a couple conferences

744
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:38,600
coming up this summer.
I have the ATDLE conference in

745
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:40,640
San Diego, which is for dual
language education.

746
00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:43,080
So come check it out if you'll
be here mid mid June.

747
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:46,800
And then I have the the World
Languages Summer Seminar.

748
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:49,040
I definitely want to plug this
event.

749
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:52,280
It's for any world language
teacher across the US and we've

750
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:56,600
even had people from abroad,
from abroad sign up and come to

751
00:45:56,720 --> 00:46:01,200
beautiful, sunny Santa Barbara
in mid to late July for five

752
00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:04,920
days for an intensive experience
where you can sign up.

753
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:06,320
There's a number of different
workshops.

754
00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:09,200
There's workshops for Japanese,
Chinese teachers, Spanish

755
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:11,600
teachers.
I will be teaching the Spanish

756
00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:15,000
Teachers strand with my friend
and dear colleague Michael

757
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:18,920
Silva, also a long time veteran
educator in the San Francisco

758
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:21,840
Bay Area.
So definitely if you're

759
00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:25,640
interested in growing your
professional practices, updating

760
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:28,640
your your skill set with the
latest frameworks, with the

761
00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:32,440
latest standards, the the World
Languages Summer Seminar in

762
00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:34,320
Santa Barbara is the place to
be.

763
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:38,680
And in terms of how people can
keep in touch with me, I'm

764
00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,800
pretty active on LinkedIn.
So you can just look for me and

765
00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:45,400
my name on LinkedIn.
So we would definitely add those

766
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,840
to the show notes.
And again, I want to thank you

767
00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:53,040
for this opportunity to learn
with and from you here at Add

768
00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:56,960
Up, Accelerate Excellence as we
seek to advance educational

769
00:46:56,960 --> 00:47:01,280
excellence and equity.
It was a real pleasure talking

770
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:02,720
to you, Jacob.
We've.

771
00:47:02,720 --> 00:47:09,200
Enjoyed it, thank you so much.
Thank you for engaging with ET

772
00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:12,920
UP Accelerated Excellence, a
member of the ET UP Experience

773
00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:16,280
network of educational podcasts,
and we encourage you to

774
00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:19,600
participate in our XE Listening
Tour by listening to the

775
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:22,760
educational stories of others
and sharing your thoughts with

776
00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:27,600
us at EDUP. xe.com school
leaders join us at the National

777
00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:30,600
Association of Elementary School
Principals conference in

778
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:33,680
Orlando, FL, July 13th through
15th.

779
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:37,680
Learn more and register at NAESP
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780
00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:40,440
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00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:44,480
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782
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:46,560
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783
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:49,880
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784
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:52,680
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785
00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:57,720
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786
00:47:57,720 --> 00:48:00,440
Thanks to our research
assistant, Emma Worthington,

787
00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:03,800
APHD student of Fordham
University School Psychology

788
00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:05,760
program, and we want to hear
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789
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:09,400
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790
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:14,240
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791
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792
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:18,600
That's at UP xe.com.