TABE NOTICIAS
FALL 2023
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THE EXECUTIVE'S CORNER
Hola queridos miembros y amigos de TABE,
¡Feliz mes de la herencia hispana! With the beginning of a new school year well behind us, I'm absolutely thrilled to extend a heartfelt Texas-sized welcome to each and every one of you! Your passion for bilingual education truly lights up our community. Thank you for starting this new school year strong and for welcoming and empowering all our students, especially our beloved bilingual learners!
I'm delighted to invite you to the 51st Annual TABE Conference, where we will be "Embracing Our Roots; Reimaginando el futuro: Every Child Bilingüe!" This event, taking place in the beautiful city of McAllen from October 18th to 21st, 2023, will guide us through an enriching journey of insights, innovation, and collaboration to continue advocating for our bilingual students and their families in each of our communities.
Our conference promises an array of captivating sessions, distinguished keynote and featured speakers, and golden networking opportunities, carefully designed to enrich your journey. Let's come together to connect our past with a future that promises to be even brighter; a future where every child has the opportunity of being bilingual!
For information about the conference, including registration details, accommodation options, and more, please visit our official website: www.tabe.org/tabe2023.
To explore the full conference program and plan your schedule in advance, please go to: https://tabe2023.sched.com.
The 51st Annual TABE Conference is our chance to make bilingual education history, and it wouldn't be the same without you. Join us in McAllen, where we'll cultivate fresh ideas, deepen connections, and champion a bilingual future for every child.
Can't wait to see you there! ¡Nos vemos en McAllen!
Mil gracias,
Karina Chapa, M.Ed.
Executive Director,
Texas Association for Bilingual Education
@TA4BE @bilingualpride
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Hola TABE Familia
As we enter another school year 2023-2024, we want to wish all administrators, educators, students, and families a fantastic academic year! TABE looks forward to supporting you and continuing to promote the academic achievement of all emergent bilingual students statewide. We stand alongside you, maestras/os, as you elevate the cultural and linguistic heritages of students, families, and the communities that you serve in all bilingual/ESL environments. Thank you for the grand work that you do every day, and your commitment to shape and mold the minds of young ones PK-16 and beyond.
Multilingualism is in all classroom spaces, and Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month is closely approaching. This is a great time to celebrate our cultural and linguistic identities, amplify the uniqueness of our language/s, and elevate the strengths and resources that come with who we are as Latinos/as and Hispanics. Let’s celebrate this occasion juntos como una TABE familia to acknowledge the beautiful recognition not only this month but every day thereafter. Entonces, a celebrar y gozar la diversidad que nos rodea todos los días, en casa, la comunidad, la región, el estado, y la nación.
A friendly reminder, TABE has many events for all our members. Therefore, we encourage you to visit our website to learn about year-round opportunities to equip you to better serve EB students and their families, grow your skills, ask questions, and collaborate with other educators. In addition, let’s not forget that TABE’s 51st annual conference will be held this year in McAllen, Texas from October 18th - 21st. You just don’t want to miss it! There will be great keynotes and featured speakers, amazing sessions, and much more!
Finally, we are looking forward to continuing to be your network, familia, amigos, y colegas as we strive to better serve our EB students, families, bilingual/ESL teachers, administrators, and stakeholders. ¡Nos vemos muy pronto!
Con mucho respeto y cariño,
Dr. Xóchitl Anabel Rocha
TABE President
LEGISLATIVE CORNER
UPDATES OF THE 88TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE
The regular 88th Texas session ended on May 29, 2023. Many pieces of legislation impacting bilingual education were introduced by key sponsors such as Senator Bobby Guerra from Mcallen, TX. Bills such as HB 3303, a piece of legislation intended to increase the number of bilingual certified teachers at the secondary school, was heard by members of the education committee but was left pending. Some did not gain traction and eventually faded away. Many lessons were learned during the session. Perhaps, one of the most critical ones, is the importance of collaborating with key organizations. TABE will continue to collaborate with organizations such as: IDRA, the Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition, and the Texans Care for Children. As we reconvene and prioritize our agenda for future advocacy, please enjoy some videos that illustrate, in a very practical way, some critical elements of the legislative process in the state Texas.
Video on Session Lessons
Texas Legislature Explained
GIGANTES DEL BILINGÜISMO EN TEJAS
A Celebration of TABE’s Rich Heritage
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Compiled by Dr. Rudy Rodríguez, Junior High Teacher, Mercedes and Sinton ISD (1964-1968), Professor (Retired) Bilingual Teacher Education, Texas Woman’s University (1975 – 2002) and UNT (2002 -2008), Founding Director, Ft. Worth ISD ESEA Title VII Bilingual Education Program (1969 -1973), Founding President of FWABE (1973), Sustained BEAM and TABE Service a Través de los Muchos Años.
These were our state’s first bilingual education and Latino student advocates whose commitment to system change was, for many, shaped by their own one-sided experiences in pre-civil rights Texas schools. They were articulate, courageous, and fiercely committed to changing an inadequate system of education based on a deeply institutionalized English-only school plan for the most vulnerable of learners. They came to be known as the front line of bilingual education advocates in a civil rights movement powered by an agenda sharply focused on school reform. Their résumés were mighty with friends and protégés spanning Texas and the country adding strength to their credibility as influential leaders. This two-part series features the giants of our profession with the highest expectation of brilliance and greatness for all children. ¡Gracias a estos grandes gigantes del bilingüismo por su visión, pasión y, sobre todo, su optimismo!
Hay un dicho en español que dice: “Si no hay amigos, no hay testigos”. I had the privilege of having interacted with many of these amazing people at different points of my career and witnessed their many towering contributions. More importantly, I learned from these social and professional encounters. Below I have inserted selected achievements mixed with supportive thoughts of other professionals and published documentation to further establish our “Gigantes’” greatness and eligibility for inclusion in this list of honor.
As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, would you join me in proudly honoring these champions for equity and justice who played such a huge role in the great American story of our continuous search for an improved and more inclusive educational system for Texas schools.
Meet the champions HERE.
AMIGOS PLC
SHARING BEST PRACTICES FOR BILINGUAL LEARNERS
Giving Emergent Bilinguals a Learning Target Through Interactive Annotating Content and Language Objectives Starting the New School Year in the Right Direction!
As the new school year is starting, it is vital to establish routines and procedures to create a classroom culture set for learning. Creating, posting, communicating, and annotating content and language objectives at the start of the lesson or classroom, does just that! As Robert Marzano’s states, “The starting place for all effective instruction is designing and communicating clear learning goals.” Through the modified activity, “Start with a Spark: Annotating the Objective,” from the book, Motivating ELL’s, by Lora Beth Escalante, emergent bilinguals can analyze the learning for the day, self-assess their current understanding of the learning, and enhance their language proficiency in all language domains.
Directions:
Read the posted content and language objectives aloud.
Ask students to list any key words they do not understand on a sticky note, notebook, or index card.
Have students *Stand up, Hand Up, and Pair Up with a partner.
Both students share their list of key words with each other using one of the following sentence stems:
A word that I do not understand is ______________.
The phrase that is challenging for me is ____________.
A word that is important ___________ because ________.
For more on Interactive Content and Language Objectives click HERE.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Suburban Houston Association of Bilingual Educators (SHABE) is hosting a Back to School kickoff on September 9, 2023. This is a paid event that includes 4 CPE credits. Visit their website or click on this link to register for the upcoming event.
Save your spot and register NOW! In collaboration with Velazquez Press, the Houston Area Association for Bilingual Education (HAABE) will be hosting a 4 part webinar series. This is a paid event, but a special price is offered for HAABE members. Check out their Facebook post for more information. Follow HAABE on FB and visit the HAABE website for more information about this and other upcoming events.
2023 TABE Affiliate Meeting
Affiliate board members are invited to attend the 2023 TABE Affiliate Meeting on Saturday, September 16th from 9:00am - 12:00pm. This year’s meeting will focus on the guiding board members on roles and responsibilities. Affiliate Presidents will be sent a zoom link via a calendar invite to share with board members serving in the positions of VP, secretary, parliamentarian, and treasurer.
AFFILIATES' VOICES: STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Congratulations to @BEAMDFW for their #ClearMyList giveaway. In total, $550 was granted to eleven winners. Each winner had $50 gifted toward their Amazon Teacher Wishlist. Way to go BEAM, what a way to honor your teachers!
Special shout out to the RGV TABE Board who met early August to begin planning for the 2023-2024 year. The organization is led by Dr. Edith “ET” Treviño. Dr. Trevino organized an executive board retreat. Highlights of the retreat were shared via Dr. Treviño’s Facebook post. The TABE Board is especially grateful for all work the RGV TABE planning committee has done in preparation for the upcoming #TABE2023. We are looking forward to a great conference in McAllen, Texas.
The Austin Area Association for Bilingual Education met late July to begin working on their 2023-2024 year. Austin, Round Rock, Hays, Pflugerville, Del Valle, Manor, Lockhard, and other surrounding ISDs are invited to join in on the fun and networking offering through a AAABE membership. We look forward to a wonderful and productive year!
RECURSOS E IDEAS PRÁCTICAS PARA CRIAR HIJOS(AS) BILINGÜES
AMERICAN EDUCATOR
DESDE EL CORAZÓN: AMPLIFYING THE VOICE OF FUTURE BILINGUAL EDUCATORS
Hola bilingual advocates!
Hope your school year kicked off as strong as the Texas heat! Here in the south, we like to say “no pasa nada” even though todo esta pasando!
This is the start of my Senior year in the education program, and I can start to feel equally relaxed as stressed. For those moments where school and work can make me feel overwhelmed, I like to close my eyes, press my hands together, remind myself to live in the moment, and to stop worrying about all of my upcoming tasks. Breathing exercises are helpful for stress relief. After I suggest making a list of items I have accomplished in that week and my goals for the upcoming days. This helps me realize how far I have come and break down my work into categories (most to least important and by due date).
As future Hall of Famer and GOAT Aaron Rodgers once expressed after starting his football season with 1 win and 2 losses and ending with his second MVP and a 12-4 record… “R-E-L-A-X.” It is easier said than done but you got this.
As a friendly reminder, universities offer mental health counselors who can hear you out. There are many resources available to students to help with reading, math, and writing. Universities also offer student led organizations and the school gym which can help you meet like minded peers and make friends.
Take the time to prepare for class work, exams, and certifications. There are so many websites that can help you prepare for certifications. Breaks are important but so is staying focused on the finish line. Like the popular proverb says “un dia a la vez”. Take it a day at a time and do not give up. If you struggle reach out for help, no one gets you more than your classmates, especially those in the same field as you. The years leading up to achieving your degree will fly by, the stress will be worth it, and the memories of the peers who were there during tough times will build a forever lasting bond.
Stay active, hydrated, focused, and relaxed! You guys have come a long way! We got this Tejanos!
¡Con cariño y mucho respeto!
Aneth Jimenez
BESO Student Representative
Instructions for authors click HERE.
TABE NOTICIAS
Lileana Ríos-Ledezma, Ph.D.
TABE Newsletter Chair