












































 
 

ISSN #2331-6845 

 
Welcome from the Senior Editor 

By Gertude Ticker Sachs 
Georgia State University 

gatesolinaction2020@gmail.com  
 
 

The Challenges and the Opportunities in Our Professional Lives 
 

The work of being Editor on a State journal is no simple task and it is one that I take very 

seriously.   It is an awesome responsibility filled with challenges and opportunities and in 

preparation for this first edition, I thought it was very important to gain insights from several 

vantage points to get current and fresh perspectives and ascertain the issues that consume our 

everyday professional lives.  The vibrancy and currency of a journal depends on being familiar 

and knowledgeable about the practices, policies, and issues that concern learners, their families, 

communities and their teachers. As such, in this journal we must touch all bases and be open to 

everything that impacts the lives of language learners.   This editorial commentary is an open 

welcome and invitation to everyone to send us your thoughts, your writings and your musings on 

what matters most to you in language learning and teaching.   

One of the persons I spoke with to get a handle on what she was doing, seeing and 

envisioning for language learners in the State of Georgia was Cori Alston.   Cori is the Program 

Manager for ESOL/Title 111 at the GA Department of Education (GADOE).   The interview was 

conducted a year ago in an alcove at the GADOE and in the background immediately behind us 

1                                                                   GATESOL in Action, Vol. 1, Spring 2014 



was the State’s golden doom, enduring symbol of the State’s governing body.  I took a picture of 

the doom after the interview and include it as part of my commentary.  In my hour-long 

interview with Cori, I sensed a deep 

and genuine concern for those who 

are language learners.  Ms. Alston 

said that while she had witnessed 

improvements in the performance of 

P-12 language learners there was still 

much work to be done particularly in 

the content areas in the general 

education classrooms.    She felt that there was “an untapped potential” in our learners that was 

not being fully harnessed or realized because “we were not reaching them.”  Ms. Alston’s 

comments were encouraging and hopeful.  She stressed the need for teachers to view her as “a 

supporter” and not as an “enforcer” as people tend to view “those who work for the State.”   Here 

is an opportunity to write and tell what collaborations exist between educators and those in the 

GADOE.  The GA golden dome in this commentary serves as a symbol of posterity and 

perseverance in our work with language learners.  

In my own work with pre-service teachers and in preparing them for the forthcoming 

implementation of edTPA and the new rigors of certification, I see an opportunity for teacher 

educator professors to move out of their comfort zones and into spaces where opportunities 

reside.   Is there an opportunity for new learning or the unlearning of old habits?   GATESOL in 

Action provides a forum for us to articulate our constructive research engagements and 

ponderings about edTPA.   We invite you to explore this opportunity with us. 

2                                                                   GATESOL in Action, Vol. 1, Spring 2014 



When I visited my pre-service students’ middle and high school classes last fall, I could 

see the size of classroom challenges and the profound need to differentiate in our instructional 

practices when so many of our learners in one class have varied proficiency levels and different 

linguistic and cultural heritages.  Indeed the personal histories of our learners, those who come 

from war-torn and ravaged countries to those who come from highly privileged English language 

learning backgrounds, compel us to differentiate and we have so many of their resources to draw 

upon to do this.  What does differentiation look like when one has a class of 15 – 20 language 

learners in the middle or high school and when some of them are in their late teens and early 

twenties?  Indeed, while there are many challenges there are also many opportunities for both 

educators and learners.   How much do we draw upon those opportunities in our rush to “cover” 

the curriculum?  We encourage you dear teachers, our frontline educators, to tell us your 

approaches and let us know how you are faring in the work you do.  GATESOL in Action is a 

voice for you! 

In my work with in-service teachers in the homes of refugee mothers and their families I 

can also see the challenges for many of our college and community educators who bear the brunt 

of elevating the language learning potential of these learners.   My in-service teachers work hard 

to make language learning tasks meaningful and applicable to the personal needs and goals of 

our refugee mothers.   However, there is so much more that can be done.  If anyone is conducting 

research with adults in our communities, please consider GATESOL in Action as a potential 

home for your writing.   We need to celebrate the resources this group brings to our community 

through our writing.  Please share this important and often unacknowledged work with us. 

In my talk at the Georgia TESOL Conference this past fall, I stated that “despite living in 

a world of criticism, cutbacks and increased accountability,” that we needed to “maintain our 

3                                                                   GATESOL in Action, Vol. 1, Spring 2014 



professionalism by forming communities of teachers who engage in researching and writing for 

the betterment of our profession.”   I had wanted to challenge yet inspire attendees to take action 

and I reiterate those words here to close out in this my first GATESOL in Action welcome and 

commentary.   We must harness all our energies for the collective good not ill and I encourage 

all educators of all levels to use our GATESOL in Action as a place for turning our challenges 

into opportunities by developing and enacting an agenda of hope for our profession.  Embrace 

this opportunity! Share your research, lessons, and learning with us; be a writer for GATESOL 

in Action for your professional organization, GATESOL!  

Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Senior Editor 

4                                                                   GATESOL in Action, Vol. 1, Spring 2014 


