How might we create and nurture a classroom and school culture that encourages respectful conversations where everyone has a chance to participate?  What are some practical ways to increase quality conversations with English learners? What is the QSSSA strategy and how might it help engage all students in high quality classroom conversations? 

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We discuss these questions and much more in our conversation with John Seidlitz, founder and CEO of Seidlitz Education.  Seidlitz Education's mission is to support school districts and teachers with increasing academic achievement for English Language Learners. They provide research-based consultations, trainings, coaching, and products with innovative educational tools that focus on ways to help give students the gift of academic language. They are always looking for user-friendly ways to help teachers give students rich background knowledge and the ability to communicate in academic settings.

John Seidlitz is an independent educational consultant and the author of Sheltered Instruction Plus: A Guide for Texas Teachers of English Learners; Navigating the ELPS: Using the New Standards to Improve Instruction for English Learners; and a contributing author for The SIOP® Model for Teaching History-Social Studies for English Learners. He is the co-author of numerous publications including the 7 Steps to Developing a Language-Rich Interactive Classroom®. He has also been a guest lecturer for many regional and national language development conferences.

John taught social studies and ESL, served as a secondary ESL program coordinator, and held the position of education specialist at ESC Region 20 in San Antonio, Texas. In 2005, he founded Seidlitz Education which is dedicated to the mission of Giving Kids the Gift of Academic Language™.

During our conversation, we reference the following books and resources:

• The Seidlitz Education website and and blog
• The Courage to Teach, by Parker Palmer
• Boosting Achievement, by Carol Salva and Anna Matis
• Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model, by Jana Echevarria, MaryEllen J. Vogt, and Deborah J. Short.

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