“It’s Our Job to Normalize It”

Children’s language practices are critical to identity and can be prioritized by incorporating a translanguaging lens into elementary classrooms. Such incorporation varies based on an educator’s awareness and skill set, making it essential for pre-service teachers (PSTs) to learn to create linguistically safe spaces. This article discusses activities PSTs engaged in to examine their language associations, consider how this impacted their chosen pedagogies, and explore the use of a translanguaging framework to push against harmful associations.