Jon Nordmeyer, MLRC School Network Director will be holding his workshop,” Translanguaging: Multilingualism as a Superpower,” at the Festival of Education, hosted by St Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, MD.

Jon’s workshop dives more into independent and international schools that are fortunate to include students from many language backgrounds, and translanguaging is one way to build on multilingualism as an asset. Translanguaging is both the complex and fluid language practices of multilingual, as well as the pedagogical approaches that leverage those practices (Garcia & Lin, 2016). Whether translanguaging is a new concept or familiar idea, many educators have important questions or doubts about how it might apply to their classrooms and schools. Teachers ask: “How do I support translanguaging if I’m not bilingual?” Leaders wonder, “How might parents respond if we introduce translanguaging at our school?” In this hands-on workshop, you will engage with current research about translanguaging practices and pedagogies, while considering practical application to diverse classroom contexts. You will engage with current debates about translanguaging and leave with resources to guide next steps at the classroom and school level.