Hello everyone! America is a melting pot. Always has been and hopefully, always will be. Even so, immigrant education hasn’t shared the spotlight with other issues, yet it is at the foundation of the charge of public education. Laws, court cases, advocates, and critics abound on this issue, but the issue should be taken to to heart and understood by every educator.

Last week, Jessica Lander spoke to us about her book, Making Americans, but more importantly, setting the ground work for understanding the nuance and beauty around the project of public education in America. 

This week, she is talking about what it takes, and why we should put in the effort, to build strong communities with the families we serve. 

Jessica Lander teaches history and civics to recent immigrant students in an urban Massachusetts public high school and has won several teaching awards, including being named a Top 50 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2021, presented by the Varkey Foundation and being named a 2023 MA Teacher of the Year Finalist, presented by the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Previously she has taught students in middle school, high school, and university in the U.S., Thailand, and Cambodia.

She is author of Making Americans, a comprehensive look at immigrant education as told through key historical moments and court decisions, current experiments to improve immigrant education, and profiles of immigrant youth and schools across the country. (Beacon Press, Fall 2022.)

Find more of her work here:

• Twitter: @jessica_lander

• Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-lander-07b38239/

• Instagram: Jessica_Lander9

This episode is sponsored by Heinemann—the leading publisher of professional books and resources for educators—and their new book, A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts, Grades K-5 by Carl Anderson.

Using mentor texts in the writing classroom can be a real game-changer for teachers.  But how can we help teachers find mentor texts on their own, analyze them for teaching points, and use them effectively in the classroom?

Carl Anderson’s newest book offers a five-step plan for improving student writing using mentor texts. Over 23 classroom videos, annotated samples, student samples, and online resources bring the content to life and give teachers the confidence to find and use mentor texts as powerful teaching tools.

Learn more and download a free sample at Hein.pub/MentorK5.