RBERNing Questions
RBERNing Questions is a professional learning podcast, produced by Mid-State RBERN, where we answer your most compelling questions about teaching, serving, and supporting multilingual learners. We connect teachers and leaders of English Language Learners (ELLs) and Multilingual Learners (MLs) with experts in our field who will address timely and specific questions relating to instructional practices, teacher collegiality, and outreach to students and their families.
If you are a K-12 educator, to receive CTLE credit for listening to this podcast, go to our website: https://midstaterbern.org/2023-2024-podcasts/.
To find out more about the Mid-State RBERN team, visit https://midstaterbern.org/who-we-are/.
Episodes
31 episodes
Student Perspectives on Integrating AI Language Models in Writing Instruction w/Yasmine Telwana
Episode Summary:In this episode, Yasmine Telwana, a first-year writing lecturer at the University of Minnesota, discusses her insights on integrating AI into academic writing courses. Telwana, a multilingual educator with e...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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38:16
Tech-Savvy Language Education: The Role of Apps w/Dr. Linh Phung
Episode Summary:In the first episode of our TESOL 2025 Presenters Series, Dr. Linh Phung, an entrepreneur and tech enthusiast, shares her journey from Vietnam to the U.S., where she pursued her passion for English education and te...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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36:56
Educating with Love: Using Powerful Talks to Cultivate Habits of Success w/ Lizette Roman
Episode Summary: In this episode, Lizette talks about the impact of being “all in” in education, and being part of a “systematic change” through her dynamic EMS Talks event. She delves into her childhood experience of being educated in a...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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51:07
Creating Synergy with Curriculum, Instruction, and Equity with Nate Franz
Episode Summary:“The Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District has an uncompromising commitment to excellence in preparing students to achieve and succeed, to respect themselves and others, and to practice life-long learnin...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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38:48
It Takes a Village: How a District is Collectively Supporting it’s Students w/ Dr. Harmony Booker-Balintfy
Episode Summary: In this episode, Dr. Booker-Balintfy shares her professional and personal experiences in supporting multilingual learners since 2002. She discusses the diverse student population her district serves, including ove...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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55:06
Achieving District-wide ELL Success: A Community Effort w/Lyda Ragonese
Episode Summary:Lyda Ragonese grew up in a bi-lingual household where her father was fluent in English, French and Hmong. She attended a school without an ENL program and quickly adapted to academic life in the US. Listen i...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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38:56
Supporting our ELLs: A Parent’s Perspective with Adelina Blanco-Harvey
Episode Summary:In this eye-opening conversation, we engage and learn from a parent who has put 4 of her children through the Uniondale school system; all success stories who have graduated. Adelina Blanco-Harvey herself is...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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42:55
Using Social Media and Relatable Resources to Build a Culture of Reading w/Lorraine Radice
Episode Summary:In this episode, Pre K-12 Director of Literacy, Lorraine Radice, shares her extensive experience and strategies for supporting multilingual learners by enhancing literacy. She highlights methods to promote reading amo...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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43:24
Showcasing Cultural Stories Globally: The Cross-Cultural Storytelling Project w/Melissa Campesi
Episode Summary:In this episode, Melissa discusses impactful ways to showcase the rich cultural landscape of our multilingual students on an international level. Through the Cross-Cultural Storytelling project, both students a...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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33:31
Ungrading: A New Way to Look at Assessment with Babi Kruchin
Episode Summary:Does receiving a grade help students focus on becoming better writers or getting better grades? What is the concept of ungrading and how is it implemented? How can you stop students from making “superficial changes” t...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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42:47
From Invisible to Visible: Changing the World One Student at a Time with Principal Samantha Power Pugh
Episode Summary:Are you “Illuminating the voices of the voiceless” through your teaching? If not and you want to know how, listening to this episode is a must!Principal Samantha “Power” Pugh kicks off this episode by givin...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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58:20
Dispelling the Myth of Mimicry as a Measure of Success with Tasha Austin
Episode Summary:What kind of world does your teaching create? In this episode, Tasha Austin gives all educators food for thought to ponder this question. She challenges us to think about how separated communities inside the sc...
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Season 2
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Episode 20
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40:14
The Power of Podcast PD w/Tan Huynh
Episode Summary:Are you interested in starting your own podcast to share your knowledge as an educator? Are you an avid listener of podcasts? How do you prefer to consume Professional Development? In this open, candid discussion, Tan...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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50:34
Building Virtual Reality (VR) Worlds to Enhance the Multilingual Learning Experience w/Amany Alkhayat
Episode Summary:This forward-thinking, tech-focused episode delves into the innovative work of guest, Amany Alkayat, an educator and researcher specializing in virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) for language educat...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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54:57
Technology: A Bridge Between the Real World and the Classroom w/ Dr. Yu Jung Han
Episode Summary:Dr. Yu Jung Han’s first interest in English came through music and wanting to understand lyrics. Having artists like Michael Jackson and New Kids on the Block as her first English teachers, then experiencing a ...
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Season 2
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Episode 17
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47:36
Rethinking Meaningful Writing: The Responsible Role of the AI Citizen in the Future of Education w/Chris Mah
Episode Summary:Chris says that as an educator, he wants to critique the way language holds so much power. Are we now allowing AI to take over the power dynamic we hold over language as human beings, or is it up to us to shift the wa...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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45:25
Creating Digital-Age Learning Ecosystems with Heather L. Rubin, M.S. Ed.
Episode Summary:What exactly is a project based technologically infused learning journey and how can we bring parents into the digital fold to be part of their children’s learning journeys? In this episode, find out what digit...
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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47:57
Lifting Your Voice to Create the Refuge You Seek w/Zaynab Abdi
Episode Summary:Today, RBERNing Questions welcomes Zainab Abdi, an immigrant and refugee youth ambassador, humanitarian aid consultant, and social justice advocate. Zainab shares her inspiring journey from Yemen to the US and ...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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45:56
Eye on Immigration: Advocating for your Students’ Humanity with Dr. Tatyana Kleyn & Daniela Alulema
Episode Summary:Do you have enough information on immigration policies, struggles, and realities to support your immigrant PreK- 12 students? In this episode, Dr. Kleyn and Ms. Alulema discuss CUNY IIE - City University of New York I...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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49:49
Language and Science to Empower All Students w/Dr. Okhee Lee
Episode Summary:Dr. Okhee Lee, a professor at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, talks about both challenges and opportunities in integrating STEM and language with multilingual learners. She shares h...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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1:10:00
Teaching as a Lifestyle: Biology, TESOL & Philosophy w/Agbor Effiom
Episode Summary:In today’s episode, Agbor Effiam, a lifelong science educator with extensive experience teaching in the US, Thailand, and the Netherlands, shares his transformative journey from struggling to connect with Thai ...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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44:02
All About LACI- A Language-Based Approach to Content Instruction with Dr. Luciana de Oliveira
Episode Summary:In this episode, Dr. Luciana C. de Oliveira takes us on a deep dive into the teacher education model called LACI- a Language-based Approach to Content Instruction, featured in her latest book:
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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47:57
Challenging our Perspectives: How to Empower Newcomers and Ourselves as Educators w/Dr. Denise Furlong
Episode Summary:This episode’s featured guest, Dr. Denise Furlong, shares insights from her award-winning book 'Voices of Newcomers.' We dive deep into the concepts and practical strategies in the book, which aims to help educators b...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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43:17
Translanguaging and Descriptive Processes: Using Children’s Literature as a Holistic Confidence Booster w/Cecilia Espinosa & Laura Ascenzi-Moreno
Episode Summary:When Laura was growing up, “Spanish is a liability” was the societal idea that was so deeply ingrained in the immigrant community that at an early age, she was deprived of learning the very language that all of...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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1:02:26
Assets Based Pedagogy: Tapping into your Students’ Magic w/Joy Scantlebury
Episode Summary:Today we welcome Joy Scantlebury as she discusses how immersive classroom experiences and “living the language” led to her career as an educator of ELLs who’s been refining her craft for 15 years. A prevailing theme i...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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53:44
