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Greetings, slate 2025 conference attendees!Â
Greetings, slate 2025 conference attendees!Â
Welcome to the resource page for my session, "Bridging the Language Gap: Tech-Powered Strategies for Multilingual Learner Success." If you were in the room with me, thank you for your time, your energy, and your willingness to think about how we can better serve our students. As promised, I have gathered every tool, prompt, and strategy we discussed right here so you don't have to go hunting for them later. 😉
why this work matters
why this work matters
I want to frame this work with some necessary humility. I am not a multilingual learner specialist, and I don't pretend to be an expert in language acquisition. I am a high school biology teacher who simply believes that language shouldn't be the barrier that keeps a student from understanding the natural world.
The strategies I am sharing here are the result of messy trial and error in my own classroom, alongside the incredible insights I have gained through my involvement in WIDA's Project RESPECT (Rural Educators Self-Reflecting and Practicing Equity-Centered Teaching). I had the privilege of serving as a focal teacher in this program during both the 2023–24 and 2024–25 school years. This initiative connects educators directly with researchers to move beyond theory and explore what it actually looks like to support multilingual students in an everyday classroom.
My goal isn't perfection, and I am certainly still learning. My goal is simply to ensure that all students have access to a rigorous education and, perhaps more importantly, that they feel a deep sense of belonging when they walk through my door. If you are looking for deep, research-backed theory, I have linked official WIDA resources and Project RESPECT information at the bottom of this page. But if you are looking for the practical tools I use on a daily basis in my own classroom to make sure my students can thrive, you are in the right place.
In education, it is easy to get seduced by the "shiny new thing," but I have always firmly believed that the tool is never the goal; it is simply the means to an end. When we look at the data in Wisconsin (and on a national-level, for that matter), we see a "proficiency cliff" for our multilingual learners. This isn't an intelligence gap; it’s an access gap. My approach is grounded in the idea that we don't need to "fix" students; we need to fix the system to offer equal access to the rigor they deserve.
To stay focused on that mission, I filter every new tool I encounter through the following 3 pillars:
Pillar 1: Access
Pillar 1: Access
Does the tool ensure language isn't a barrier to knowledge?
Pillar 2: Expression
Pillar 2: Expression
Does the tool help students demonstrate what they have learned, regardless of their English proficiency?
Pillar 3: Connection
Pillar 3: Connection
Does the tool increase feelings of belonging and deepen meaningful relationships?
Access: Removing the Barrier to Knowledge
Access: Removing the Barrier to Knowledge
When a student is spending all their cognitive energy decoding a new language, they cannot simultaneously capture deep meaning; the barrier isn't their ability to understand science, but the processing time required to translate it. We must move our resources from simply being "available" to being truly "accessible," ensuring that students aren't locked out of the content before they even begin.
Real-Time & Spoken Support
Real-Time & Spoken Support
These tools address the "hearing" barrier that often leaves multilingual learners exhausted by minute ten of a lecture. When a student is trying to decode spoken English in real-time, they have zero cognitive capacity left for deep thinking. These solutions provide immediate, private captions so students can follow the pace of the class without missing the content of whatever I'm covering on any given day.
This is the tool that made the biggest immediate difference in my teaching. Its standout feature is "join code" simplicity: I start a session, and students join via a short code on their own devices to see a live transcript in their home language, allowing me to teach without changing my pacing.
This hidden gem in Chrome settings offers universal compatibility by automatically captioning audio and video from any website (YouTube, podcasts, news clips, and more). It ensures my students never encounter a "deaf" moment when we explore media online, even if the site itself lacks subtitles.
AI Scaffolding & Leveled Text
AI Scaffolding & Leveled Text
Translation is often just the "on-ramp." As students build proficiency, our goal is to transition them away from pure translation and toward independence. When that shift happens, we don't need to change the language; we just need to adjust the complexity. These AI-powered tools allow you to strip away the linguistic barriers of a difficult text—like a complex abstract or news article—so that the syntax becomes accessible without ever watering down the concepts underneath.
This Chrome extension is my "in a pinch" lifesaver because it lives as an overlay on my screen. For ML students, I especially love the "Change Level" toggle, which lets me instantly rewrite any Google Doc or website to a lower Lexile level with two clicks, preserving the original look but making the text accessible.
Now integrated directly into Google Classroom, this tool shines for its workflow integration. I can generate differentiated instructions or questions for specific student groups while I am posting the assignment, making accessibility a seamless part of my daily routine rather than an afterthought.
While this popular AI Teaching Tool creates almost anything you can imagine, I specifically use its "Text Scaffolder" and "Sentence Starter" generators for granular differentiation. It allows me to target exact needs, like identifying and rewriting difficult idioms in a text while keeping the scientific vocabulary intact.
When I need to build a comprehensive resource from scratch, Diffit is king. It automatically generates student support packets (including vocabulary lists, summaries, leveled questions, and more) from any PDF or URL, saving me hours of prep time when creating inclusive materials.
In addition to these branded tools, I’ve also developed a number of custom prompts that work seamlessly with ChatGPT, Gemini, or any LLM you prefer. They’re designed to support scaffolding, differentiation, and overall clarity. Please feel free to copy, paste, or adapt any of the following to fit your own classroom needs.
Document & Visual Translation
Document & Visual Translation
There is a massive difference between a resource being "available" and it being "accessible". In science, the format matters as much as the text. These tools specialize in preserving the layout of your handouts, slides, and diagrams, ensuring that students aren't just getting a jumbled list of translated words, but a fully functional resource they can actually use.
This is my personal favorite for pure text and full document translation because of its contextual accuracy. Unlike other engines, DeepL handles idioms and scientific context with nuance. Bonus: they have a native Mac/Windows app which has been critical to making my workflow more efficient.
A FREE lifesaver for translating entire files (Word, Excel, PDF, PowerPoint, etc.) while maintaining format preservation. It keeps every chart, image, and bold heading exactly in place, so I don't have to copy-paste text chunk-by-chunk to create a translated lab packet. (Did I mention that it is completely free?!? 😉)
I encourage every student to have this on their phone for its Instant Camera Mode. It allows them to point their camera at physical objects—posters, safety rules, equipment—and see the translation overlaid in real-time, promoting independence in the physical classroom.
In science, visual data is everything. NanoBanana offers unbelievably incredible visual integrity by translating the text labels inside a complex image (like a graph or food web) while keeping the background artwork perfect, giving ML students the exact same visual aids as their peers.
Student Independence & Practice
Student Independence & Practice
Our ultimate goal is to move students from reliance to agency. These tools put the power of accessibility directly into the students' hands, allowing them to self-scaffold their learning and practice key concepts at their own pace without always needing to raise their hand for help.
This AI-powered study and review game tool offers real-time adaptability for student practice. It analyzes how a student answers every question and instantly adjusts the difficulty of the next one.Â
This toolbar (installed on student devices) gives them agency over their own web experience. Features like the "Picture Dictionary" and "Text-to-Speech" empower students to solve their own comprehension blocks on any website or doc without always having to wait for teacher assistance.
Expression: Giving Students the Microphone
Expression: Giving Students the Microphone
If we only accept mastery in perfectly-written English, we often miss the brilliance of our multilingual learners. These strategies allow students to bypass the "blank page" panic and demonstrate their scientific thinking through video, audio, and design, giving them the "microphone" they need to show what they know.
Screencasting
Screencasting
In my classroom, I allow students to record a video or audio explanation of a concept using their notes and diagrams, rather than forcing a live presentation. It allows them to rehearse, take a deep breath, and try again until they get it right.Â
These extensions can also be essential at rehearsing for live presentations.Â
Google Slides (Native Recording)
Many teachers forget this is built right in! Students can record a narration directly onto a slide without needing any external tools. It’s perfect for when I want a quick audio explanation of a specific visual without the hassle of managing video files.
For students who are camera-shy, podcasting is a powerful alternative. This tool cleans up audio to studio quality, making students sound professional and clear. I’ve had ML students script and record full "science reports" here, finding their voice without ever showing their face.
Modeling and Audiovisual Creation
Modeling and Audiovisual Creation
This is my go-to for visual storytelling. Its animation features and drag-and-drop interface allow students to build complex models (like cell transport or ecosystems) visually. It shifts the cognitive load from "How do I spell this?" to "How can I visually represent this system?"
The mitosis animation I shared in my presentation was created in Slides. By duplicating slides and moving shapes slightly, students can create simple, effective stop-motion animations that demonstrate their understanding of a process, no fancy software required.
For more robust video projects, these are the heavy hitters. They allow students to layer images, text, and voiceovers to create documentary-style videos. This is great for summative assessments where students can combine multiple modes of expression to fully demonstrate their learning.
Connection: Breaking the isolation
Connection: Breaking the isolation
For our ML students, the language barrier is often also a loneliness barrier. It is easy for a student to go an entire school day without a meaningful peer interaction, leaving them physically present but socially isolated. The following tools aren't necessarily just to teach content, but to build a bridge between them, us, and their peers .
Conversation and Belonging
Conversation and Belonging
Microsoft Translator, Apple Translate or Google Translate Apps
I keep these apps on my phone (and encourage my students to do the same) specifically for their Conversation Modes, which split the screen to translate dialogue in real-time. Whether it’s me having a genuine 5-minute chat with a student about their life, or peers communicating during a lab or group project, these tools remove the friction of language and build the relationships that prime the brain for learning.
Apple AirPods / Google Pixel Buds
Whether your students are in the iOS or Android ecosystem, modern earbuds are powerful accessibility tools that can be used (with permission, of course) to reduce isolation. Pixel Buds integrate natively with Google Translate to "whisper" translations directly into the ear. AirPods utilize "Live Listen" to turn an iPhone into a directional microphone, sending clear audio of your voice directly to the student. These are game-changing because they enable eye contact. Unlike a phone app where we both have to look down at a screen to read, in-ear translation allows us to look at each other while the technology handles the understanding. It cuts through the background noise of a busy lab and makes the interaction feel significantly more human.
Learn More: WIDA and Project RESPECT
Learn More: WIDA and Project RESPECT
If you are interested in diving deeper into the research and pedagogy behind many of the strategies I've shared on this page, I highly recommend exploring the incredible work WIDA is involved with.
WIDA Consortium
WIDA Consortium
This is the Gold Standard for ML Support. If you are looking for research-backed frameworks, I cannot recommend the WIDA website enough. Whether you need to understand proficiency levels, find "Can Do" descriptors, or explore professional learning, this is your starting line. Their philosophy reminds us that linguistically diverse students bring massive assets to our classrooms, not deficits.
Project RESPECT
Project RESPECT
As I've shared earlier, my involvement as a focal teacher in this grant-funded project fundamentally shifted my perspective. Working alongside researchers and other educators across Wisconsin, I learned 2 non-negotiable truths:
This is our work: We cannot wait for a specialist to "fix" access issues; content teachers hold the keys to the curriculum.
Good for one, good for all: Just like Special Education accommodations, the differentiation strategies we use for ML students end up benefiting every learner in the room. When we design for the margins, the center thrives too! 😊
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