Being Brave and Yourself- Valentina Gonzalez’s P3

Valentina Gonzalez is a former teacher who has served 20+ years in education in her own classroom, as a district facilitator for English learners, a professional development specialist for ELs and as an educational consultant. Her work’s primary focus has been on literacy, culture, and language. Valentina delivers professional development and coaches teachers on sheltered instruction strategies. She works with teachers of ELs to support language and literacy instruction. She also writes for Seidlitz Education and on the popular MiddleWeb blog.

A few weeks back, Valentina was on the panel for an OnEdMentors episode on Teaching the English Language Learner on voicEd Radio. In addition to Valentina, the panel included Carol Salva, Virginia Lowe and Brad Womak. You can listen to these experts sharing insights, resources, strategies and best practices for supporting ELL students. If you follow the #OnEdMentors hashtag, you can also find many resources that were tweeted out throughout the live show.

Among the things I have learned from these teachers is the term sheltered instructional strategies. According to our guest, these are, “ Making sure that we are making content comprehensible while also building that language with students.” These are universally designed strategies that help to ensure that content is accessible and comprehensible. As well, students should be invited to communicate their understanding or learning in multiple modalities and in a low stress environment. Valentina offers many helpful resources through her website including this post on advocacy, equity and empowerment.

Valentina shared that the P3 in the classroom, as The Personal Playlist Project, is culturally responsive. “It lowers student’s anxiety about sharing their stories and sharing their identity. It validates and affirms who they are in such a safe way.” Preparing for her appearance on The Personal Playlist Podcast caused her to confer with her family, think about her “walk on song” and spent time looking back. “Digging deeper into who I am was such a fun experience,” she reflected.

Valentina took time to pontificate her nostalgic song. “We immigrated here from the former Yugoslavia, from Serbia. When we came here, we didn’t have a lot with us.” Her parents didn't have jobs lined up or any English, but they came with the hope of a better life and a better future for their children. Her father was a hard worker who had always wanted to have his own business. He worked extra, on the side, to fix cars, paint peoples houses or do handy work. He and his wife would take their children with them to do their work, and they would play music through a transistor radio. It was a fun way for them to learn English. Valentina recalls this song with fondness, noting that it was the 80’s and that there were a lot of Country songs that she considered. She chose this song saying, “It has meaning to us because... we were so blessed to be in the USA. We were so blessed to be in this country where we could have a better future and ...have a better education.” Eventually, her dad did have a successful business of his own that he still has to this day.” Valentina believes that she lived the America Dream. Here is Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA:

Valentina’s identity song is also her “walk on song”. She referred to the lyrics saying that she feels like she is the one who is in a small boat on the ocean and someone who has been silent for a long time. Now, she is making waves and is unafraid to express herself. “I am stronger than I’ve ever been.” Valentina is also helping to ensure that we are fighting for our students and for the world. “I want to make sure that we are empowering all educators with the techniques that are best practices in the classroom and that they go out there and are able to empower their students..to feel safe enough to be unique,... to be themselves and embrace one another.” The artist went deep and raw to write and record this song that helped to make her famous. Both she and our guest have rumbled with vulnerability. Here is Fight Song by Rachel Platten:

Valentina’s pick me up song is by the writer of the music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical, Waitress, in which she has even starred. “No matter who you are, no matter what you've been through, I feel like this song allows you to feel that you’re important in your own skin.” Feeling like everyone can connect to the lyrics, there are so many empowering aspects of the song. It can be that extra thrust of power that you need to move you forward or give you the strength to carry on. “You have to be vulnerable in order to be brave. When I need that inspiration, I love hearing this song.” Valentina reflected back on all of the song she chose for her P3 to note the courage it took for her parents to immigrate and the strength she has found to be and share herself. Valentina said, “Being unique is our superpower.” Here is Brave by Sarah Bareilles:

You can reach out to Valentina through her website or find her on Twitter @ValentinaESL.