Host Multi-lingual Parent-Teacher Interviews with Microsoft Translator

This is a real time translation program that can be used with text and also supports some voice translations. This is a quick video showing some features:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/translator/education/microsoft-teams-multilingual-meeting/#:~:text=iOS%20or%20Android-,Download%20the%20free%20Microsoft%20Translator%20app%20from%20your%20device%27s%20app,the%20teacher%2C%20and%20select%20Join

Incredible Immersive Reader

Have you taught your students how to use O365 Immersive Reader with Word? It is  a game changer. Here are some of the features:

1. Turn any document into an audio file.
2. Built in picture dictionary.
3. Built in translator for individual words or whole documents.
4. Once a document is translated into one of several languages, it can also be read to the student.

Kamal Parbhakar at Burnaby Central made a great video for his students that you could use for yourself or others.

Check it out here:

Every Teacher is a Language Teacher

Three Ways to Teach More Culturally Responsively TODAY

1) Learn to pronounce students’ names

When I ask students why they use English nicknames, the most common response is that “Canadian” people can’t say their names. To paraphrase Uzo Aduba, if someone can learn to say “Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky,” they can learn to say Ting-ye, Marianya, and Do-hyun.

@nathanwpyle

2) Respect heritage languages

When I first started teaching, I used to have an “English only classroom”. This told my students that English was more important than their heritage language and I was responsible for perpetuating language imperialism. Also, I was taking away the BEST support students have for accessing another language. Learn from my mistakes and create an inclusive multilingual classroom.

3) Use examples from a range of cultures 

When was the first printing press created? I’ll give you a hint. It wasn’t in 1450 by someone with the initials J.G. Teaching about fermentation? Ogi, iru, and gari are three fermented foods that were created thousands of years ago but still exist in Zimbabwe today. Want to delve into the idea of fate? Instead of Romeo and Juliet, how about reading Nicola Yoon’s “The Sun is Also a Star”. By opening themselves up to new ideas from other cultures, teachers are modelling being life-long learners as well as letting students see their identities reflected in their education.