Episode 34: Zooming In on Coaching to Unlock Expertise with Carly Spina
Make sure to read Carly’s guest blogpost here!
How to reach Carly Spina:
Recommended Resources:
Coteaching for Language Learners - Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove
Transcript:
(Transcription by kayla.r.fainer@gmail.com)
Melissa Milner 00:09
Hi, this is Melissa Milner. Welcome to The Teacher As... podcast. The goal of this weekly podcast is to help you explore your passions and learn from others in education and beyond to better your teaching. The Teacher As... podcast will highlight innovative practices and uncommon parallels in education.
In this episode, I talked to Carly Spina. Carly is an EL/Bilingual/Dual Language instructional coach. Carly clearly enjoys the work that she does. Her positivity is infectious. Enjoy my interview with Carly Spina.
Welcome, Carly, to The Teacher As...
Carly Spina 00:47
Thank you so much. I'm so excited.
Melissa Milner 00:49
There's so much I want to get to in this interview. So I'm just going to start by what would you like the listeners to know about you?
Carly Spina 00:57
One thing I would love the listeners to know is I am an advocate for everybody stepping into their spaces, their roles as change agents in their systems no matter how long they've been in their school systems. My background in education, I was a EL teacher for third, fourth and fifth grade for five years.
And then I transitioned to a third grade classroom teacher position in a transitional bilingual program. And I did that for six years. And right now I'm serving eight schools plus one virtual school, from EC all the way up through eighth grade as a district EL Bilingual Dual Language instructional coach.
Melissa Milner 01:42
Wow. Obviously, this is a passion. What's your philosophy? Where did this all start, I guess, is what I'm asking.
Carly Spina 01:50
I grew up on the north side of Chicago as a kid. And everyone in the neighborhood I felt like, except for my family, spoke an additional language besides English. And so if we'd go up and down the street, the neighbors would be having conversations with their families or on their phones, speaking all kinds of different languages. And so language was just always a part of my upbringing even though we were monolingual.
My mom worked as a youth pastor in the neighborhood for many years. And so she was always very conscientious about teaching us about people who were different from us. And she was really, really intentional in that. I didn't get the chance to learn an additional language until high school. And so I started to take classes in Spanish. And then growing up, I always learned the real good Spanish, the stuff they don't teach you in school. But I didn't take it formally until high school, and then I continued through college.
But I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. And my mom always said to me and my sisters growing up, find out what you're good at and use it to serve others. I always loved children. Again, we always loved language and culture. And so this felt like the most perfect way to blend all of our passions and things that we loved growing up. And so that's kind of how it all started.
Melissa Milner 03:22
When you start going to school to be a teacher and you start learning about how to teach a second language, are you of the school of immersion or S.E.L. type of thing.
Carly Spina 03:38
So I am for all of it. When I was going through my undergrad, I was taking my ESL endorsement classes and my bilingual ed. classes. And we were able to go through and see lots of different settings of how to support multilingual learners. And I've been able to experience over the years all these different philosophies, and frameworks, and models for supporting students who are adding to their linguistic repertoire.
And so I've seen pullout programs where you take students, and they're with you pretty much all day or for a significant portion of the day. And I've also seen the other end of the spectrum where it's like co-taught full inclusion. There's a dedication for the classroom teacher with the ESL specialist to co-teach and co-lead lessons and co-plan and co-assess and do it all together.
That's where I'm at right now in terms of my philosophy. Co-teaching is really the most powerful model that I've seen in my years. And I've also been able to support not only the ESL side of things where we're focusing just on English language acquisition. But I've also have been able to be a part of bilingual education and dual language education.
So when I was teaching as a classroom teacher for third grade, it was really awesome to me to be teaching for bi-literacy. So it wasn't just like we're elevating English all the time. It was like, no, your heritage language is just as important. And you're going to be able to simultaneously develop your skills in literacy and reading, writing, listening and speaking in both English and in Spanish.
And so it's so cool to me, I think, to see how our field has developed. Even over the last 15 years, I think there have been so many positive changes to being more inclusive and being more-- leveraging our students' heritage language into our classrooms and not being fearful of it or like, oh my goodness, I don't speak Mongolian. So I think it's been really neat to watch things evolve in the system over time.
Melissa Milner 06:01
I think you said you're now doing K-8.
Carly Spina 06:04
Early childhood all the way up through eight.
Melissa Milner 06:06
Wow. So what does that even look like? What's a typical day? That's a huge span of age.
Carly Spina 06:14
So I'm serving right now, all those levels, as an instructional coach. And so I'm supporting-- the cool thing about my role is I'm the only one in my district with this role. So I am everybody's teammate. I get to work with everybody. So it's really cool. Across our eight schools, we've got a staff for our multilingual department. So that includes EL teachers, bilingual teachers, dual language teachers, and associates at all of those levels, too. In addition, we have our bilingual speech pathologists, and bilingual psychologists, and bilingual special education teachers.
So we have about 50, maybe 55 folks just in our department alone. But I get to support administrators, and middle school science teachers, and kindergarten classroom teachers, and everything in between. So every day looks a little bit different in my role.
And then this year, in particular, this school year with the pandemic that's affecting everybody in many different ways-- but my role this year is I'm still coaching full time. But I'm also supporting third, fourth and fifth grade students who are in our virtual school, in our remote school. So my time is kind of split between all of that.
So some days I am leading professional development for associates. And then two hours later, I am reading with third graders. An hour later, I'm working with a co-teaching partnership, and we're talking through some co-planning modules to support their instruction as they embark on this journey of co-teaching together. So every day looks a little bit different, but I love it.
Melissa Milner 07:57
It sounds like it's really exciting. And you seem to have a personality that you probably get along with everybody. And you're able to just shift, oh, now I'm talking to a kindergarten teacher. Boom. Now I'm talking to third graders. You seem to have a very bubbly personality and you're very flexible. I can tell.
You do a lot of coaching. So either number one coaching or top three coaching tips for people out there that are coaching, either ELL teachers or we have a lot of literacy coaches that listen to the podcast?
Carly Spina 08:30
If I'm thinking just through my coaching lens, I would say, one of the biggest aha moments for me as I was exploring, stepping into this type of a role was coaching is not about fixing anyone that's broken. A coach is not the person who's the best at the thing.
It's a person who is a think partner. It is an encourager. It is a resource finder. It is truly just a support buddy. We all need that. And so I think that was something that really resonated with me when I was exploring a role like instructional coaching. It's not about having all the answers. It's about unlocking the expertise of our colleagues that are already there. They already have this expertise.
And in terms of coaching for multilingual learners, one of the biggest things I always want to share with people is even if you don't have an ESL certification, or even if you are monolingual, you still have so many different opportunities and ways to support the families you serve and the students that you serve. Don't let that intimidate you. You are absolutely able to equip yourself with powerful practices, and tools, and strategies to provide support. So don't be intimidated by it. You can absolutely do this.
And the third thing I would say is everybody is an English language teacher. Because we all engage with our content areas, whether we're teaching middle school algebra, or we're teaching a social studies unit in third grade, or we're teaching about communities in first grade. No matter what our content is, we are all engaging with language constantly.
So we are all teachers of language. We all have that opportunity to share that space and share that ownership of we're all in this together to support our kids.
Melissa Milner 10:28
That's a great lens, like you said, the coaching lens. I like how you said support buddy. When you're working with teachers, do you do outreach to families in your position? Or are you helping teachers to know how to reach out to families?
Carly Spina 10:44
I do both in my role. Across our district, we have over 60 languages present, which is so cool, something we're so proud of. We have three very active BPACs, which are bilingual parent advisory councils. And so we have a Spanish BPAC. We have a Korean BPAC. And we have a Mongolian BPAC.
In my role, I'm active in supporting those groups. But I do a lot of outreach on my own with the families that we serve. And I also try my best to empower my colleagues across the district to consider their lenses as they're doing their classroom newsletter or as they're designing their curriculum night presentation.
I am definitely an advocate for serving alongside our teachers so that we can all provide the best supports to families. That's a huge passion of mine is family outreach.
Melissa Milner 11:40
Amazing. Just listening to you, I know you probably have a thousand of these. But can you just give a story of a great moment with either an individual student or a great moment with a class where you really feel there was an aha moment or you made a breakthrough?
Carly Spina 11:56
One thing that happened recently that I'll share, our district was helping families navigate the change for our second trimester coming up. And parents had the option to either enroll their students in our virtual school for the entire trimester or to attend in person through our hybrid model right now.
And so I asked the district if I could go ahead and lead some parent sessions, just to have conversations with families so that they really understood what their options were. And we were able to provide interpreters in a few of our top languages. And we promoted it a few different ways through social media, through text messages, through video messages, through emails, and then through the teachers, of course. And so we had a great turnout.
And as we were going through, we were giving some examples of this is what it would look like, this is how it would be different, this is what would be the same. Parents had the chance to ask really great questions. And one family I have known for 15 years, she now has a daughter who's in middle school. And she stayed on with me after the Zoom. And it was pretty late. So my eyes were super, super dry. And I was very tired. It was probably 8:30 at night.
But we stayed on and we were talking and sharing stories. And at the very end she says, thank you for protecting us and thank you for giving us this chance. And that moment-- I've never heard a parent say to me, thank you for protecting us. And it gave me chills. And it was the compliment of my career.
Melissa Milner 13:35
That's amazing.
Carly Spina 13:36
I want them to know that I'm here for them as a teacher, as an educator, but also as a fellow mom, a fellow human being. We all need to just equip ourselves with all the right information and just the opportunity. And so when she said that, it stopped me in my tracks.
Melissa Milner 13:55
Making a difference. That's amazing. So I found you on Twitter. Do you reach out to get ideas and share the work that you do on Twitter? What's your purpose of being on Twitter, and how does that help you in your job?
Carly Spina 14:13
Yes, yes. I absolutely love learning from educators online, whether it's through my Twitter feed or my Facebook feed. I am constantly seeking the expertise of fellow educators in the field doing their thing every day, finding out what works in their system with their students, their families that they serve.
I am constantly trying to grow myself and improve myself and learn from their experiences and their expertise. So I absolutely love Twitter for that reason. And I always say to people-- some folks will say, oh, I don't have time for Twitter. I don't have time for that. But I'm like, that's the best professional development.
Melissa Milner 14:54
It is.
Carly Spina 14:55
It's short, and sweet, and digestible. And you're easily connected to so many other people. And I think, especially in the field of EL, and bilingual ed, and dual language education, sometimes there's some of us who are the only specialists in the school who has that role.
And so sometimes you feel like you're on an island or you don't have folks who kind of get the ins and outs of your role. And so when you go online, you are instantly connected. You have a family. You have a community of folks who will cheer you on, or give you advice, or kick you in the butt when you need it, too.
Melissa Milner 15:32
Do you have any particular Twitter chats that you enjoy?
Carly Spina 15:35
I do love the #ELLChat on Mondays. And I also love the #ELLChatBookClub. And that's kind of a slow chat that happens each month. And we explore a different book that serves the linguistically diverse community, which is so, so cool. And I also love The Mastery Chat from the Teach Better team. They're awesome. And the Teach Like A Pirate chat and the Kids Deserve It chat, as well.
Melissa Milner 16:02
Those are great recommendations. Are there any projects you are zooming in on right now or any elements of your work that you're zooming in on?
[ZOOMING IN SOUNDBITE]
Carly Spina 16:13
There have been two passions of mine that I was excited to get off the ground. One happened right before the pandemic, and it was called Bus Stop Outreach. And it was super simple and kind of informal and fun. But it really provided a lot of good opportunities for both teachers and for students.
And so basically what it was is we would target one neighborhood. And we would show up, all the teachers, all the staff, all the administrators. And we would show up at the bus stop in the morning before the kids would get on the bus for school. And we would bring some doughnut holes and orange juice or sometimes healthier snacks like a clementine or an apple.
But it was really an opportunity for educators to get into the neighborhoods, and spend some time, and surprise the kids, and start them off on their day with a really positive way. And we would have signs that say, we love our students, we're so proud of you.
Melissa Milner 17:09
Such a cute idea.
Carly Spina 17:10
It was so, so much fun. And the kids all loved it. And the families would come out. That's how you knew you were on to something is when the moms all come out of their apartments. And they're holding their cell phones, and they're posting it on social media.
Melissa Milner 17:25
That's so great.
Carly Spina 17:27
And then the other-- so we kind of had to pause on that for the pandemic. And then my other thing that I'm really excited about is we have a Co-Teaching Academy. So I partnered with my amazing colleague. She is my role, but through the special ed and student services lens. So she is also a district level coach. And she and I both have a whole roster of partnerships of teachers.
So it's one classroom teacher or one content teacher who have paired up with a specialist of some sort. So that might be a special educator. That might be a speech and language pathologist. It might be a reading interventionist. Or it might be an EL teacher, or a dual language teacher, or a bilingual teacher. And we come together, and we do some great learning about co-planning, co-instructing, co-assessing, co-reflecting.
And we get PD. We have monthly coaching, and then we have collaboration opportunities so that partnerships can share with other partnerships what has worked well for them, some of their problem solving opportunities. And it's just been so powerful, because it has started to really make some shifts in our district.
EL is not tiptoeing in the room and whispering to a small group of students in the back. It is collaborative. It is for everybody. And it is leveraging the expertise of two adults. And so we found a lot of really good partnerships and collaboration opportunities with the teachers we're serving. They are rocking it. They're amazing.
Melissa Milner 18:56
That's so cool. I don't know if you know this or not, but I'm co-teaching with special ed-- well, she's dual certified. It's our first year co-teaching together, and it's a blast.
Carly Spina 19:06
That's amazing. That's so fantastic. I can recommend a lot of good-- I love Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove. They've written so many great books about co-teaching for language learners. And then my partner, she loves the work of Wendy Murawski in co-teaching. So we're taking all these experts in the field, and taking their knowledge, and bringing it to our system.
Melissa Milner 19:30
Is there anything else that you were hoping to talk about and share with the listeners before I do the last question?
Carly Spina 19:37
I think I just want everyone to know that no matter what your role is, you have the power to make change in your system. And you have the power to flip lenses from-- if anyone is kind of demonstrating a deficit based lens for our students, you have that opportunity, that moment where you can offer the alternative.
You can push the narrative. You can counter the narrative and share all of the amazing gifts and assets that our students and our families bring to the table and bring to our schools every day.
Melissa Milner 20:08
Beautifully said. On a totally different note, what is your favorite movie, and why?
Carly Spina 20:14
Oh my goodness, you're gonna laugh at me. Are you ready?
Melissa Milner 20:16
I'm ready.
Carly Spina 20:17
Legally Blonde is my favorite.
Melissa Milner 20:20
I love it, I love it, I love it.
Carly Spina 20:22
I love Elle Woods. I love her personality. I love her fashion, of course, too. But I love that she is so positive and determined. And she keeps going even when people don't believe in her or even when people dismiss her or don't think she has what it takes. She keeps going, and she proves them wrong. And she does it with a smile and lots of class.
Melissa Milner 20:44
That's such a fun movie. So fun. Awesome. Well, that tells a lot about you. It does, you know? You look on the bright side, and you're a survivor and working hard. How can people reach you if they want to know more about your work?
Carly Spina 21:00
People can reach me on Twitter. They can follow me @mrsspinasclass. And then I also have a blog called Innovative EL, and you can just Google that. And otherwise, I am all about friending folks on Facebook. So I am all about that.
Melissa Milner 21:19
How do we find you on Facebook? Do we just look up your name?
Carly Spina 21:23
Yes, just my name. Just my first and last name, Carly Spina.
Melissa Milner 21:26
Wonderful. Thank you so much. This was amazing. It's so nice to hear the perspective of a coach, but also just trying to make a difference for these students. It's so important. So thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to me.
Carly Spina 21:42
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Melissa Milner 21:45
If you enjoyed this episode, and have not done so already, please hit the subscribe button for The Teacher As... podcast so you can get future episodes. I would love for you to leave a review and a rating, as well, if you have time. For my blog, transcripts of this episode and links to any resources mentioned, visit my website at www.theteacheras.com. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @melissabmilner. And I hope you check out The Teacher As... Facebook page for episode updates.
I am sending a special thanks to Linda and Lester Fleishman, my mom and dad, for being so supportive. They are the voices you hear in the Zooming In soundbite. And my dad composed and performed the background music you are listening to right now. My intro music was "Upbeat Party" by Scott Holmes.
So what are you zooming in on? I would love to hear from you. My hope is that we all share what we are doing in the classroom in order to teach, remind, affirm and inspire each other. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap!