Translanguaging at Shawlands Academy

Last week I joined the Creative Language Practices team to meet with teachers at Shawlands Academy in Glasgow. Here is Dobrochnah, Sara, Lavinia, and Richy. (I'm behind the camera.) School was just letting out as we arrived, so we got to enjoy the parade of students going by in their tartan uniforms.And then we had the school all to ourselves. It's a beautiful place. Can you imagine this being your daily experience?They had artwork too. Between our group and the teachers, there were about fourteen of us in total. The teachers came from all over and taught ages from nursery to high school, teaching students who speak: English, Roma, Slovakian, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Mandarin, Italian, etc. Here are some of them. I have to admit, I was so impressed with these teachers. They were energetic and excited about our project - promoting the use of lots of different languages in the classroom. Best of all, they were engaged and had come up with wonderfully inventive activities to do with their students to promote translanguaging practices. We had fun hearing what they'd already come up with and brain-storming to come up with even more activities. These people were inspired and inspiring. I hope parents know how lucky they are to have these teachers involved with their children. They are in very good hands! Joining a 'translanguaging' group may have seemed like an odd fit when I first heard about it. But I love languages, and I have so enjoyed this experience. Just goes to prove that you should always put yourself out there because you never know what will come of it. In this case, a lot of learning and FUN! Thanks guys!