Many multilingual learners (MLs) and their families face significant challenges and barriers that highlight the profound impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on vulnerable students. Failing to recognize the adversities that our MLs and their families are experiencing can limit our ability to support them effectively. Even with knowledge, we …
Debbie Zacarian and Becki Cohn-Vargas When Francisco Lopez was twelve, he and his parents moved from Santiago, Brazil, to a small town in Massachusetts, where his father began working as a Portuguese professor at a university. Accompanied by his parents, Francisco enrolled in a local middle school, where his father …
Becki Cohn-Vargas and Debbie Zacarian The practice of identity safety is critical to educators’ ongoing quest to create spaces where every child feels welcomed, supported, and validated, and where they can embrace and celebrate their diverse social identities. Renowned social psychologists and educational scholars have heralded this transformative approach- which …
Tan Huyhn, Becki Cohn-Vargas, and Debbie Zacarian This podcast, hosted by Tan Huynh, provides a window into the book Identity Safe Spaces at Home and School: Partnering to Overcome Inequity. Co-authors Becki Cohn-Vargas and Debbie Zacarian discuss the research on identity safety as it applies to multidiverse students. They also …
By Debbie Zacarian, Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz, and Judie Haynes As the COVID-19 pandemic upended communities worldwide, millions of educators moved at warp speed from gathering face-to-face to sheltering at home. In a matter of days, human connection required some type of device or a six-foot distance. Against this backdrop, children continue …
This was a week of online firsts- jumping into the deep end of our ‘online’ selves in ways familiar and new. It leads us to a discussion about the virtues of students having a voice and choice in their online learning. experiences. Debbie: I had my first tele-health conference. It was …
This Q&A with editor Dan Alpert and co-authors Debbie Zacarian and Diane Staehr Fenner first appeared in languagemagazine.com on January 22, 2020. That piece is titled From Deficit-Based to Assets-Based: Breaking Down the Wall One Essential Shift at a Time and is based on the first chapter of the best selling …
This new publication is being released in January 2020! “Teaching and Supporting Students Living with Adversity,” is a Quick Reference Guide. It includes six pages of key easy-to-implement K-12 instructional strategies for students living with trauma, violence and chronic stress. Filled with examples, it is now available for pre-order! TinyURL.com/yx52hn33
How many of us have been formally trained to teach students living with adverse childhood experiences? When we ask this question throughout the U.S., few educators raise their hand. However, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health, almost half of all U.S. children have experienced one or more types of serious …
Tragically, many of our nation’s children have been exposed to high profile acts of violence including the horrific event that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. Many of us are grappling with how to best support students, their families, as well as others. The Trauma and Learning …
