Podcast Minisode: Fostering a Growth Mindset in a Multilingual Classroom with Blanca Hernandez in TX on Teachers in America

Welcome back to Teachers in America, where we celebrate teachers and their lasting impact on students' learning journeys and lives.

Today we are joined by Blanca Hernandez, a Texas dual language kindergarten teacher. Her work in bilingual education was recently recognized as a recipient of the inaugural HMH Lighthouse Award. In this episode, she will share what she enjoys about teaching dual language and how she fosters a growth mindset in English and Spanish.

A full transcript of the episode appears below; it has been edited for clarity.

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Noelle Morris: Welcome to Teachers in America, a production of HMH, where we celebrate teachers and recognize their triumphs, challenges, sacrifices, and dedication to students.

I am the Senior Director of Community Engagement, Noelle Morris. Each episode, I meet a new teacher friend to learn about the latest lessons and innovations from the classroom.

With multilingual learners being one of the fastest growing student populations, multilingualism has come to the forefront in teaching and learning—being highlighted as a focus area in the Department of Education’s Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative. This past summer, I had a chance to chat with Lighthouse Winner Blanca Hernandez, a dual language kindergarten teacher at Douglass Elementary in San Antonio, Texas.

After the bilingual program at Douglass moved to a hub campus, Blanca worked tirelessly to bring the program back to her school, where many students come from diverse backgrounds and greatly benefit from the program. Through countless meetings with campus and district staff, and families, she was able to relaunch the program for Pre-K and K students.

In today’s episode, Blanca will share what she loves most about teaching dual language and how she fosters a growth mindset both in English and Spanish in her multilingual classroom.

Noelle Morris: Welcome listeners to this episode of Teachers in America. I’m Noelle and I get the pleasure of being with Blanca Hernandez, a bilingual kindergarten teacher at Douglas Elementary School, San Antonio, Texas. One of the most exciting things is that Blanca is also one of our Lighthouse winners, and so I’m getting to actually talk with her in person, which is always fun for me. And hopefully by the end of this conversation, Blanca will agree with us.

Blanca, first tell me about, and our audience, what does a day in a life sound like and look like in your bilingual kindergarten classroom?

Blanca Hernandez: Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for having me here today. I am very blessed to be here and I’m very happy to be part of the Teachers in America podcast with you. And one of the things that makes me very, very happy to do is teach dual language. I think dual language is amazing. My students love learning Spanish and English, and they reflect that. Every time that you go in my classroom, they look happy. They feel comfortable and very welcoming.

Noelle: I want to ask, tell me the three words that describe your teacher journey.

Blanca: It was very hard for me to pick only three. But I did and the first one is resilience. During my difficult times in my life, I learned to be resilient. I kept myself calm and focused on the positive things. I practice being resilient in the classroom with my students. I make sure my students feel loved, supported, and encouraged to try new things with the ability to be problem solvers.

And in my classroom, when my students don’t know something, they don’t get upset. We sing a song in the Spanish and. . .

Noelle: Are you going to sing it for us?

Blanca: Yes. I’m going to sing it for you.

Noelle: I was going to say, you can’t bring that to me and then not sing.

Blanca: Si no sé, si no sé. Está bien, está bien. Yo traté, yo traté. Which means if I don’t know, it’s okay. I tried.

Noelle: Aw.

Blanca: And I will learn.

Noelle: So, resilience.

Blanca: Yes, the second one is culture. From the beginning of the school year, my goal is to create a classroom culture full of trust and acceptance. Where we learn from each other and appreciate the things that make us unique.

Every day I make sure I say good morning to everyone that walks in the classroom, and I ask them, “¿Cómo estás? How are you doing?” And before we walk out of the classroom, I always tell them something, something positive, something that I notice about them or about the whole class. And then they turn around and they find a partner, they find a friend, and they say something positive to each other.

Noelle: Aww.

Blanca: And the third one?

Noelle: Yes.

Blanca: Family.

Noelle: Family?

Blanca: Yes. My quote is, “We are a family. Somos una familia.” We value, help, and learn from each other in English, Spanish, or Spanglish.

Noelle: You sang the song for us, which is really creating that growth mindset. That ability to know it’s okay to not know everything or not get it right the first time, as long as we try, and we support each other. Do you have other SEL strategies that you bring into the classroom?

Blanca: Yes. My students and myself, every time that we come to the classroom, we make the classroom for us. I don’t change any routine and I don’t change anything without them being present. They always tell me, “Oh, Ms. Hernandez, we need to move this around” or “We need to move these tables.” And when new people come to my classroom, and they’re not following the rules or the routines, they tell them politely, “Oh, that’s not the way we do it here.” I don’t have to tell them anything. My students do it themselves and they know my classroom up and down from left to right, and sometimes even better than me.

Noelle: Do you stay in touch with your students?

Blanca: Yes. So, this past March I went to the soccer game, one of my [former] student’s soccer game. He is in high school, 11th grade. He was with me in kinder. Now I have the baby sister and it’s amazing how I still have contact with my students from generation to generation. And it’s a pleasure just to see them grow and be successful.

Noelle: I can probably hear dinner conversations, “I have Ms. Hernandez!” So, they probably all have been waiting. What is something that you do to make it safe for families to engage with you and your classroom?

Blanca: Every year during the summer, I do home visits. And it’s a pleasure to go when I already know the family because they invite me in. We have dinner or we have lunch. And when it’s a brand-new family, I learn so much in the home visit. I love doing home visits because I can see where they live. I learn their culture, their family. So, I take time to get to know them even before they go into my classroom.

Noelle: Oh, that’s amazing. As a Lighthouse teacher, is there someone who you consider your lighthouse?

Blanca: My lighthouse is Dr. Ratliff, my principal. She guides me in the right direction. She pushes me to do the best. She guides me through challenging situations. She is my lighthouse.

Noelle: Have you been with her all 15 years of your career?

Blanca: She used to be the instructional technology in charge in the district, and then she became an assistant principal and then a principal. And when she became a principal, she landed in Douglass, which is my school. And she’s been with me for the past years since. It’s amazing. She’s wonderful.

Noelle: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received from her?

Blanca: You are amazing and you’re capable of doing this and more.

Noelle: Wow.

Blanca: And that brings light to everything. She makes me believe in myself and empowers me to do things.

Noelle: And you’re definitely, it sounds like, bringing that back into the classroom with your students. I can definitely understand and see why your students would love you and families love you. I always ask, just like the three words, what is the song that’s playing in your car, on your phone as you drive into the school, or even as you’re walking into your classroom?

Blanca: I have tons, tons of songs that I wanted to say they’re my songs, but one that I do, and my students love, is a song by Massore, “El Baile del Gorila.” I put it in the classroom. I put it in my car. I put volume. We dance to it. Sometimes they even tell me, turn off the lights and just put lights in your phone. I was like, "Okay." And even when I’m not there, if the counselor is there or anybody visiting the classroom, if you ask them what song they want to dance, they pick this one.

Noelle: So, they’re dancing. You dance it out, you dance to start it, pump up the energy. I just think it’s amazing. I definitely would love to one day talk to the teachers who are in the hallway with you, how you inspire them. What’s the last bit of advice you have for new kindergarten teachers who will be starting the school year?

Blanca: Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Bring the culture into the classroom because that way the students will bring their culture in there too. Build a community, a family in your classroom for you and others.

Noelle: Thank you so much. I have appreciated this conversation. I’m sure our listeners have as well. Thank you.

Blanca: Thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure. Thank you.

Noelle: If you or someone you know would like to be a guest on the Teachers in America podcast, please email us at shaped@hmhco.com. Be the first to hear new episodes of Teachers in America by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you enjoy today's show, please rate, review, and share it with your network. You can find the transcript of this episode on our Shaped blog by visiting hmhco.com/shaped. The link is in the show notes. Teachers in America is produced by HMH. Until next time, your friend, Noelle.

The Teachers in America podcast is a production of HMH. Executive producers are Christine Condon and Tim Lee. Editorial direction is by Christine Condon. It is creatively directed, and audio engineered by Tim Lee. Our producer and editor is Jennifer Corujo. Production designers are Mio Frye and Thomas Velazquez. Shaped blog post editors for the podcast are Christine Condon, Jennifer Corujo, and Alicia Ivory.  

Thanks again for listening!

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