When planning instructions for emergent bilinguals, it is important to use translanguaging and culturally sustaining pedagogy. However, these two approaches are both challenging for teachers to implement. Translanguaging could be misinterpreted as a mere translating, which is reductive and could raise some discomfort for teachers who don't share the languages their students speak. Culturally sustaining pedagogy requires teachers to build a deep and respectful relationship with students and their families. It also may not align well with a "rigid" curriculum. Also, there are some tensions raised because of standardized testing, which is designed to marginalize and which is not respectful to multilingualism and different cultures. The teach-to-test culture could force teachers to sacrifice their efforts in implementing translanguaging and culturally sustaining pedagogy.
Moreover, there should be integration of technology. I really like the concept of digital literacy because it sees those skills as literacy, as something one has to actively learn and as something teachers should teach, instead of taking it for granted and thinking that everyone would naturally and eventually know those skills. Thus, it is important for teachers to tell and show students how to utilize online resources to support their learning. It is not something natural. For example, when I was taking Amtrak last semester, there was a woman asking me some questions in another language. While I really wanted to help, I had no idea what she was talking about. This semester, when I witnessed in my field placement how the teacher was using Google translator to communicate with the students, I suddenly realized and was shocked by the fact that I even did not think of using a translator to communicate with her, even though I myself use translator a lot. Similar when it comes to the education of emergent multilingual students, there are an abundance of resources on the internet, but many people would think that those resources are accessible. However, simply being there is not accessible enough if students do not even know there are resources out there, let alone utilizing them to learn. On the other hand, technology could also raise some inequalities. As mentioned in the readings and as experienced in the field placement, many students cannot afford their own laptops and can only rely on the school district's devices. However, the School District of Philadelphia restricted students' access to AI, making it harder for students to unlock the online resources.