Every year, in order to keep receiving Title III funds to support my students, I am mandated to present at a faculty meeting to the whole school staff. This year, I finally had a team of two other ESL certified teachers to help me share our expertise with the staff. With the aid of google slides, we started out by giving the staff a sheet with 23 different verbose phrases in which they had to translate into understandable English. The first answer translated into “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Only a few of the teachers were able to accomplish this with minimal thought. Then we gave them a list of choices in random order, so they had a better understanding of what to think about during the thought process. Many more teachers started catching on, but not enough. We gave each table a sheet with five answer choices, so they could chunk their information into smaller pieces. Finally, a majority of the staff got it!
Then we moved on to talk about receptive vs. productive language. We explained that the most difficult domains for our ELs is speaking and writing. We gave ideas of how to produce writing that comprehensible for ELs including using only a few FCAs (focus correction areas) when grading writing. We focused on the speaking domain because academic language is so difficult for the students to speak. A few examples of strategies that we shared using a padlet include: flipgrid, jigsaw, and I have Who has.
The main activity that we had the staff complete was making each table an expert in different subject areas. Then, we gave them a photo and they had to describe the picture from the voice of a poet, mathematician, scientist, historian, chef, cosmetologist, contractor, etc. The staff really got creative and walked away with an understanding of how they need to get the students to apply what they have learned into academic discussions and group presentations. The reflections from the survey showed that the staff members who completed the survey were able to reflect what they need to do to help make ELs successful speakers.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1k0UywiW9q_NRjK0HOWjbtK7QozsFNIxw-7Lf_bv2kqQ
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Saturday, February 9, 2019
ESL Advocate
As I reflect over the past six years of teaching at DCTS, I play many roles as the ESL Specialist. When I first started, I only had ten students to service, so I worked very closely with each of them. I learned many things about each of them, especially my first freshmen group. I became their teacher, advocate, administrator, guidance counselor, translator, and since they’ve graduated, their friend. It is becoming more difficult to be closely connected to all of my students, now that my case load is up to 54 students. However, here’s one story that I can share from my first group of freshmen.
As I was standing with the science teachers before the morning late bell, Miguel (name changed), came walking briskly down the hallway and yelled out, “Hi Mom!” I hesitated, then responded with, “Hi!” A few periods later, I went into his classroom and pulled him into the hallway, after learning that he came to school “high” on marijuana. I had him come to my classroom, so we could have a one-on-one discussion about why he was acting weirdly. As soon as we sat in my room, the mom in me came out. Knowing that he lived with his grandparents at the time, he needed a mother figure at this point. I asked him, “Why did you come to school high?” He responded, “Because my dad went back to jail!” I then asked, “Do you think this is the best decision?” He said, “No!” I then reminded him that if he continues to behave like this, he will end up just like his father. Next I told him that if I ever see him like this again, I will call the principal because this is unacceptable behavior. But I felt that I had to protect him and give him one last chance to make a good choice the next day. After our discussion, he never got high before school again. He did graduate.
Many times, we need to put on many hats as teachers. Our students come to school because they trust us and feel safe. They are looking for boundaries and guidance. If we cannot meet their emotional and psychological needs, they will have minimal academic growth. Let’s remember to continue to develop rapport with our students, one-on-one, so they can feel comfortable discussing risky things that go on outside of school hours.
Resource for teachers for creating surveys: www.surveymonkey.com
As I was standing with the science teachers before the morning late bell, Miguel (name changed), came walking briskly down the hallway and yelled out, “Hi Mom!” I hesitated, then responded with, “Hi!” A few periods later, I went into his classroom and pulled him into the hallway, after learning that he came to school “high” on marijuana. I had him come to my classroom, so we could have a one-on-one discussion about why he was acting weirdly. As soon as we sat in my room, the mom in me came out. Knowing that he lived with his grandparents at the time, he needed a mother figure at this point. I asked him, “Why did you come to school high?” He responded, “Because my dad went back to jail!” I then asked, “Do you think this is the best decision?” He said, “No!” I then reminded him that if he continues to behave like this, he will end up just like his father. Next I told him that if I ever see him like this again, I will call the principal because this is unacceptable behavior. But I felt that I had to protect him and give him one last chance to make a good choice the next day. After our discussion, he never got high before school again. He did graduate.
Many times, we need to put on many hats as teachers. Our students come to school because they trust us and feel safe. They are looking for boundaries and guidance. If we cannot meet their emotional and psychological needs, they will have minimal academic growth. Let’s remember to continue to develop rapport with our students, one-on-one, so they can feel comfortable discussing risky things that go on outside of school hours.
Resource for teachers for creating surveys: www.surveymonkey.com
Monday, March 27, 2017
Tornado Drill?
Story of the day:
One summer, I offered to teach summer school in Muscatine, Iowa for the migrant children of southeast Iowa. It was just after 3 o'clock, the students were exhausted and ready to go home after a long day, and the buses were en route to school. All of a sudden, the tornado sirens went off! We got the students lined up, hunched over and covering their heads in front of the lockers in the hallway. The students had mixed emotions. During the 45 minute real tornado, some students fell asleep while on their knees, other students cried because they were scared. I stupidly stood and watched the funnel cloud fly past the school, instead of joining the students on the ground. It was a crazy memory that nobody will forget!
Advice for Teachers:
Make modifications and/or accommodations for students based on their ESL levels. For example, WIDA states that students can do different tasks at the different levels:
At level 1, students can Matching key content-related terms and ideas to images, graphs, icons, or diagrams.
At level 2, students can locate main ideas in a series of related sentences.
At level 3, students can identify detailed descriptions, procedures, and information in paragraphs.
At level 4, students can create narrative or informational extended text of past events or experiences.
One summer, I offered to teach summer school in Muscatine, Iowa for the migrant children of southeast Iowa. It was just after 3 o'clock, the students were exhausted and ready to go home after a long day, and the buses were en route to school. All of a sudden, the tornado sirens went off! We got the students lined up, hunched over and covering their heads in front of the lockers in the hallway. The students had mixed emotions. During the 45 minute real tornado, some students fell asleep while on their knees, other students cried because they were scared. I stupidly stood and watched the funnel cloud fly past the school, instead of joining the students on the ground. It was a crazy memory that nobody will forget!
Advice for Teachers:
Make modifications and/or accommodations for students based on their ESL levels. For example, WIDA states that students can do different tasks at the different levels:
At level 1, students can Matching key content-related terms and ideas to images, graphs, icons, or diagrams.
At level 2, students can locate main ideas in a series of related sentences.
At level 3, students can identify detailed descriptions, procedures, and information in paragraphs.
At level 4, students can create narrative or informational extended text of past events or experiences.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Active shooter drill
Story of the day:
One day, shortly after the Columbine, CO shootings, the elementary school decided to have am active shooter drill. The morning it happened, I had six non-English speakers in my room. Because of the language barrier, I could not explain what, why and how the drill works. Instead, after locking my classroom door, I had to model what we had to do. I demonstrated to the students how to get under their desks and cover their heads to hide from the shooter. The students thought I was a little crazy, but they followed directions.
ESL advice for the day:
Pre-teach important vocabulary:
One day, shortly after the Columbine, CO shootings, the elementary school decided to have am active shooter drill. The morning it happened, I had six non-English speakers in my room. Because of the language barrier, I could not explain what, why and how the drill works. Instead, after locking my classroom door, I had to model what we had to do. I demonstrated to the students how to get under their desks and cover their heads to hide from the shooter. The students thought I was a little crazy, but they followed directions.
ESL advice for the day:
Pre-teach important vocabulary:
- Write ELL friendly definitions and post them in the room
- Choose different strategies to teach the words
- Ask your ESL teacher or English teacher to give you ideas on how to teach the words
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Parent Meeting Question?
Story:
When I was an itinerant teacher at an intermediate unit, I conducted a meeting with the principal, special education teacher, and my student's father. The translator was late because she got lost trying to find the school in rural Pennsylvania. She finally showed up during the last five minutes of the meeting. She asked the father if he had any questions. Mind you, this Guatemalan man only had two years of education. His question was, "What is math?" He knew it as matematicas.
Effective Lesson Plans for ELLS include:
When I was an itinerant teacher at an intermediate unit, I conducted a meeting with the principal, special education teacher, and my student's father. The translator was late because she got lost trying to find the school in rural Pennsylvania. She finally showed up during the last five minutes of the meeting. She asked the father if he had any questions. Mind you, this Guatemalan man only had two years of education. His question was, "What is math?" He knew it as matematicas.
Effective Lesson Plans for ELLS include:
- Building background knowledge
- Create interest by using pictures, realia or personal experiences
- Build text-specific knowledge by providing students with information from the text beforehand
- Develop concept background by explaining difficult concepts and labeling them with key words
- Establish the purpose for reading, ex. KWL
- Select a specific comprehension strategy for the students to use
www.Colorincolorado.org, How to Develop a Lesson Plan that Includes ELLs.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Wanted: A Better Education
Story of the Day:
Back in the late 1990s, many teachers in my school did not want to have ELLs in their classrooms. They often sent the students to me asking me to "fix them!" It was almost impossible to collaborate with teachers with this kind of mentality. I'm hoping that those teachers have since retired and a more open group of educators took their places.
One family came into my suburban Chicago school from India. They were a traditional Muslim family who came to America for a better education for their children. Two of their children were enrolled in the sixth grade. They were embarrassed, however, because their eldest boy, Mohammad, had a disability. When he started at the school, he could not figure out the pattern to put his chair on his desk as the other twelve year students were all doing at the end of the day. His sister, Tahoor, quietly helped him with these activities, knowing that he was mentally incapable of following the basic directions. Shortly thereafter, we called their parents in for a meeting to find out more background knowledge, so we could figure out how to provide assistance for Mohammad. It turns out that mom home schooled him when they lived in India because they were scared that Mohammad would get sent away to an institution for the mentally handicapped. Before the first semester was through, he was placed in a self-contained special education classroom that best suited his needs.
Advice for Content Teachers:
1. Focus on improving academic language. This will help them understand your content.
2. Look beyond vocabulary by focusing on the "bricks and mortar," multiple meaning words, and cognates.
3. Plan for purpose and products: Use academic language to write a lab report, orally explain a math problem, listen to and compare two famous speeches, and compare a scene from a novel and a movie.
Breiseth, Lydia. Academic Language and ELLS: What Teachers Need to Know.
Back in the late 1990s, many teachers in my school did not want to have ELLs in their classrooms. They often sent the students to me asking me to "fix them!" It was almost impossible to collaborate with teachers with this kind of mentality. I'm hoping that those teachers have since retired and a more open group of educators took their places.
One family came into my suburban Chicago school from India. They were a traditional Muslim family who came to America for a better education for their children. Two of their children were enrolled in the sixth grade. They were embarrassed, however, because their eldest boy, Mohammad, had a disability. When he started at the school, he could not figure out the pattern to put his chair on his desk as the other twelve year students were all doing at the end of the day. His sister, Tahoor, quietly helped him with these activities, knowing that he was mentally incapable of following the basic directions. Shortly thereafter, we called their parents in for a meeting to find out more background knowledge, so we could figure out how to provide assistance for Mohammad. It turns out that mom home schooled him when they lived in India because they were scared that Mohammad would get sent away to an institution for the mentally handicapped. Before the first semester was through, he was placed in a self-contained special education classroom that best suited his needs.
Advice for Content Teachers:
1. Focus on improving academic language. This will help them understand your content.
2. Look beyond vocabulary by focusing on the "bricks and mortar," multiple meaning words, and cognates.
3. Plan for purpose and products: Use academic language to write a lab report, orally explain a math problem, listen to and compare two famous speeches, and compare a scene from a novel and a movie.
Breiseth, Lydia. Academic Language and ELLS: What Teachers Need to Know.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
A Story about social security cards (it's funny)
When my children were babies, I was blessed to teach ESL to adults who were not literate in their first language. At this time, I had a high level class for students who were interested in getting into the GED program. We had a conversation about the importance of learning your social security number and not sharing it with other people. Then, all of a sudden, one student asked, "Which one?" This particular student was undocumented and had two different social security numbers she was working under.
One word of advice when working with adult ELLs: speak slow and use simple English.
Also, don't assume they have background knowledge when teaching a new concept. For example, on St. Patrick's Day, my students did not understand why they were being pinched.
One word of advice when working with adult ELLs: speak slow and use simple English.
Also, don't assume they have background knowledge when teaching a new concept. For example, on St. Patrick's Day, my students did not understand why they were being pinched.
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