Jessica Lander
Overview We Are America Student Books Action Civics Class In The News
Overview Driving Backwards Powerful Partnerships Making Americans
Jessica Lander
Teacher, Author, and Advocate
 

Professional Development & Consulting

I am excited to collaborate with and support the work of educators, schools, and community partners in their work to teach, support, and advocate for young people. 

I hope you will reach out if you are interested in any of the following:

  • Reimagining Immigrant Education: Single or multi-part professional development sessions on reimagining immigrant education and supporting immigrant-origin students. 

  • Family Engagement: Single or multi-part professional development sessions on building collaborative partnerships with families and strengthening school-family engagement.  

  • Civic Education: Workshops or consulting on action civics education in the classroom and the community 

  • Educational Consulting 

  • Keynotes and Educational Talks for meetings or conferences

The professional development workshops and series can be geared towards educators, school and district leaders, school boards, and/or community partners. 

I am a DESE-approved PD Provider, which means for educators and educational institutions in Massachusetts I can award PDP points for professional development that is 10 hours or more.

 

“Hosting Jessica in an author’s spotlight session with members of our school board of education, superintendent, teachers, and other staff in attendance was a great opportunity to listen, learn, and reflect on our own practices in welcoming and serving our recently arrived multilingual learners. All audiences were deeply engaged as she shared histories of immigrant educational trials, personal stories from students who she herself had the chance to welcome and watch achieve their goals, and promising practices happening around the country today to welcome newcomer students and families. With that as a foundation, moving on to reflect on connections, practices, and commitments that we could all make in our respective roles, from board members to superintendent to teachers, was a profound learning experience both professionally and personally.”

– Laura Grisso, Executive Director of Language and Cultural Services, Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma 

 
 

“Having the wonderful opportunity to interact with Jessica during our district-wide PD for EL teachers has been amazing! Jessica's presentations are very well organized, and she goes above and beyond to ensure participants actively engage, interact with each other and explore even more new insights and excellent strategies and resources during these sessions.”

– Vanina Hackett, Coordinator, English Learners, Guilford County Schools, North Carolina

 
 

“I was amazed at Lander's enthusiasm for Multilingual Learners and newcomer students in America. She is an excellent storyteller. In her session, I enjoyed learning about stories of newcomer students' experiences in the American school system. After taking her professional learning session, I felt more empowered as an English Language Development teacher in nurturing my students and creating a safe learning environment to build a sense of belonging.”

– Ozlem Holcomb, English Language Development Teacher, Tulsa Public Schools

 
 

“Making Americans with Jessica was one of the best professional development classes I've ever taken. The class activities were well organized and meaningful and the workload was manageable and relevant to my practice. Jessica's classroom experience means that she has so much helpful information to share, and her book is the perfect mix of important contextual history, heart-warming stories of students and practical strategies. I actually left wishing the PD was longer!!”

– Taylor Casey, Diamond Middle School, Lexington Massachusetts

 
 

“Jessica is a talented and engaging presenter. Even in the virtual setting, her warmth, passion, and knowledge come through so clearly. Her unique gift for weaving together student stories with our history and current context inspires educators to not only know our students and their families, but to also continue our advocacy and classroom leadership. As a practicing teacher, Jessica provides real insight and follow-up resources that really help with next steps. At the end of her session, I found myself wishing for more time to continue the conversation!” 

– Lauren Binkley, SIFE Teacher, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Tennessee

 
 

“Jessica Lander has the ability to connect previously unknown history, education policies, and student stories to our to day-to-day work in the classroom. That is to say, through the stories she shared, I could see my own students. And through the historical and current examples of education policy I could see the effects on my own classroom. Jessica made it clear that we were not passive students, but active participants who had knowledge to offer -- and she oriented us towards each other to form a strong network in our district of folks committed to this work.” 

– Zoe Weems, 8th Grade ELA teacher, Lexington Public Schools, Massachusetts

 
 

“It was an honor to have Jessica as a featured speaker at our professional learning event focusing on English Learners. In her presentation, Jessica opens possibilities of elevating the voices of our students and provides space for educators to reflect on their current practices. I highly recommend this opportunity for teachers and staff.” 

– Megan Trcka, EL Coordinator, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Tennessee