How to Support English Language Learners in NON-ELD/ESL Classes:)

ELL Teacher Pros                                               September, 2016

Contributions of ELLs to Society                  Mawi Asgedom (T.E.D.)

Too often of late we hear that immigrants are a drain on society, a dangerous threat, predators, terrorists, etc.  As an educator who has spent her entire life working to support immigrants’ efforts to learn the language, graduate from high school, and go on to college, I can say that immigrants are one of America’s greatest strengths.  Mawi Asgedom is living proof of this.

Here is a man who came to the United States as a refugee from Ethopia with no English.  One can only imagine what went through his mind as all he heard, saw, and experienced was new and, in a way, alien.  The ELLs who come into our classes are often a bit overwhelmed.  Such students have so much to share, but are hampered by their lack of familiarity with this culture.  The one vehicle to ease the stress and assist such students in being fully integrated into our school culture (and society at large) is via the typical ESL/ELD classroom (or being with teachers trained in supporting such students in their mixed classrooms).  Dr. Asgedom was fortunate to have support from caring educators who never gave up on him and that led him to Harvard where he earned his doctorate.  With such experience, he has made it his mission to support immigrant youth through his travels around the states addressing educators at every level. 

So what can individual teachers do to support immigrant students in their classrooms?  Here is a short list (feel free to add to it):

1.     For mainstream teachers with ELLs in their classrooms, here are 12 ways to accommodate them.

2.     Build a family-like atmosphere in the classroom where are openly encouraged to help their classmates.  When small group work is called for, be sure that each small group allows the ELL to contribute with the help of the group.  Using this approach, not only does the student acquire English via content activities, but also the native speaker learns about different cultures in a personal way.

3.     Adjust assignments in ways that allow the ELL to show understanding of the content without getting bottled down in language.  Language will evolve over time through both direct (ESL/ELD teachers can assist here) and indirect instruction (content classes). 

4.     Build a classroom full of cultural contributions of all the groups (and then some) present in the classroom.  Be sensitive to cultural holidays that may not be part of their culture.  If a teacher wants to do Christmas, that teacher should also recognize the special holidays of other religious groups/cultures.  Such sensitivity teaches students to be culturally more receptive to different experiences and not fear them.

5.     Make an effort to learn to pronounce the names of ELLs correctly.  For some languages it may take some effort, but students will love and respect a teacher for trying.

6.     Keep ELLs relatively close to the front if the classroom is set up the traditional way.  This way it is easier to monitor them.  Place them next to students who love to socialize.  Socializers LOVE to talk so when small group work is called for, this group jumps at the opportunity to actively engage the quieter ones in the group’s discussion.  Sometimes, believe it or not, kids are better at getting a message across than teachersJ

7.     Discuss student’s progress with other teachers who have him/her in their classes.  It will offer insight into different ways to reach the student.

8.     Encourage parents to text/call you if they have concerns.

I have worked with immigrants for over 35 years and have truly enjoyed every moment of it. 

Hope September has gone well.  Only 8 more weeks until Thanksgiving (humor intended).

Denise (denise@ellteacherpros.com)

Marnie (marnie@ellteacherpros.com)

Cheryl (cheryl@ellteacherpros.com)

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Involving All Students in the Learning Process:)

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We are now halfway through the school year so how do we keep all of our students on track?  Though all benefit from being held accountable, not all do well here in this process.  What students struggle the most here-English language learners, those with special needs, and shy students.  Setting up a learning environment for all to succeed or fully participate is not a daunting a task.  It only takes a willingness to step out of one’s comfort zone and experiment a bit:). Here are some links with descriptions to start with and remember that these are only suggestions.  Explore to see what works for you and have fun! Ten Ways to Engage Students-   Many of these approaches are not new, but at this time of the year, a refresher is always good to have on hand.  Cooperative learning when the groups are carefully planned is an outstanding tool to use.  In such small settings, every student has a voice as well as peer support in completing a task.  When the teacher plans the composition of the groups, they build support within it so that the students with needs have peers who are more proficient in English or who stronger in grasping the academic content will experience success in accomplishing the assigned task for the group.  With this setup, the teacher can assess the progress of all students easily within the class period since the teacher is dialoguing with 9 groups of 4 as opposed to 36 individual students. Visuals, visuals, visuals!  There can never be enough of them to assist students in making connections between new content and prior knowledge.  Those supports can be teacher generated or student (group products) generated.  For ELLs especially, those visual links provide access for the ELLs to the content material. Identify KEY vocabulary and reinforce it consistently throughout the lesson.  Those key words should be key content vocabulary and not every interesting word in the lesson.  If every new word is addressed, it will be overwhelming. Engaging Students in Learning   Inclusive Teaching—All students must believe that they can succeed in the class.  All students must be held accountable for learning.  Teachers must identify student prior knowledge and build on it.  Teachers should share their experiences in learning the content when they were in school.  Students enjoy hearing about those stories since these stories show that even their teachers struggled in school from time to time and found the tools to eventually master the content. Teaching With Technology—Students love technology so it is a must to include it in lessons.  Google Drive allows students to collaborate online in writing or creating presentations.  Each student in the group (keep it manageable at 4 per group) has a different color so a teacher (as well as the group) can quickly see who was working and who wasn’t.  Power Points can also be easily created here through Google Slides.  Teachers can maintain folders for each class and within each class folder can monitor individual student submissions.  One feature I really like here is that a teacher can insert comments to guide a student in making corrections.  NO MORE PAPER! How to Keep Students Engaged in Class—   Let students all know that they should all be able to offer an answer to a question with multiple answers.  When students realize that they are more likely to be right than wrong, they are more likely to try.  If a teacher allows them to collaborate with a partner first, success is even greater.  Try a randomizer (or popsicle sticks) to randomly call on students.  This holds all students accountable. When giving instructions, students need to be quiet.  This may take some practice at first, but it is worth the effort so that the teacher does not have to repeat the instructions over and over.  Randomly calling on individuals to see how well the class understood the instructions.  Have a great February (leap year)! Denise, Marnie, Cheryl ELL TEACHER PROS Follow us on TWITTER @ell_teacherpros (3950 followers). Follow us on FACEBOOK as ELL Teacher Pros. Follow us on PINTEREST @dmcyberteacher (4590 followers—all academic content)

How to Take the Pain Out of Reviewing For Final Examinations:)

Wow!  It is difficult to believe that the year is almost over.  A well-earned break is just around the corner for all teachersJ

So, this newsletter will be devoted to making those 3 or 4 weeks productive and fun for both teachers and students.  If final examinations are on the agenda for the end of December (or at the return to school in January), review of content material is a must.  However, the “drill and kill” format is generally the least effective.  Since the goal is to support students in preparing for final exams, teachers should look at creative ways to facilitate the process.

1.  Here from the University of Central Florida are 101 activities to support all learners in fine-tuning their knowledge in any content area.  Though this is aimed at university students, many of the review techniques are commonly used in grades K-12! 

My personal favorites are EMPTY OUTLINES (pass out an incomplete outline of the class material and then have students with partners complete the missing pieces—I also pass out different outlines to minimize copying), PICTURE PROMPTS (visuals stimulate student conversation and that especially helps English language learners in building both conversational English and deepening their knowledge of academic English), DRAWING FOR UNDERSTANDING (in K-12 this is called a “quick draw” and students thoroughly enjoy it since they don’t need to struggle with spelling and are allowed to work as a small team in completing their work), and TOURNAMENTS (competition is fun for everyone AND if there are prizes, all the better).

2.  From Intervention Central, there is a collection of games, contests, and puzzles that motivate students to enjoy the learning/review process.  Again, teachers should see which games they feel their students will feel most comfortable doing and use them. 

          My own favorites here are QUIZZES DEVELOPED BY STUDENT TEAMS.  Some of the questions developed are even more creative than my own.  With this activity, teachers navigate the room listening in on the conversations and providing feedback as needed (without giving answers  since it is the team’s responsibility to make sure the questions are valid ones).  Another favorite of     mine is REVIEW-QUESTION BINGO.  Students   work in small teams to mark their bingo cards (they are marking only  numbers).  Once completed, the tea teams are involved, the odds of arriving at the correct answer are increasedJ.  Last, having students create COMMERCIALS ON THEIR ASSIGNED TOPIC.  With Google Slide, students can do a power point.  If they have access to cameras, they can film a commercial.  Again, teachers navigate the room and interact with teams as needed.

3.  The last site I would like to share on this topic is from QUIZLET.  I have created review questions for students on a regular basis on this site.  Students enjoy the diversity of activities.  Flash cards pop up with visuals and definitions.  Students may also elect to hear the word pronounced (a must for ELLs).  Then students play games matching the word to the definitions.  There are also several “video-game like” activities that are always well received.  Teachers could also have student teams create games to stump fellow classmates.

Well, I hope you and your students enjoy the activities.  Have a great winter break!

Denise (denise@ellteacherpros.com)

Marnie (marnie@ellteacherpros.com)

Cheryl  (cheryl@ellteacherpros.com)

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Fun Ways to Launch the Start of the School Year:)

Wow!  It is hard to believe that summer vacation is almost over:).  Hopefully your break was a restful one full of travel, play, and general recharging of batteries.  We have been so busy with moving, renovating our website, and preparing for conferences that we fell behind on our postings to the blog and for that we deeply apologize. 

So with school starting in the next few weeks, what can teachers do now to ensure a positive beginning of the year?  Those first weeks have the potential to decide the course of the other 9 months.  Now is the time to develop some strategies to build that crucial positive energy which will lead to a good year for both students and teachers.  This is a profession that will probably never lead to riches, but will offer multiple opportunities to inspire students to reach their potential.  Here is a video that in a humorous way validates what teachers do and why they should be valued over sports figures! 

Well, here are a few tips to ease into those first few days with zero stress:

1.  Stand at the door, ask for each for his/her name, and then greet each student with a hello, handshake, and smile upon entering the room.  Most students will be surprised by this approach.  It will also lower their stress levels as well. 

2.  After the bell rings and everyone is seated, share a corny clip on the excitement that permeates every classroom on day one.  Giggles will spring up around the room and that opens up the room to discussions on what they feel about the new year.  From this point, teachers might pair students up to discuss what they are looking forward to and why.  From this (5 minutes), students will share what their partners said remembering that there is no right or wrong. 

3.  Try to print out a roster with student pictures to speed up the process of learning every student’s name.  Assign seats early on (especially with middle school and high school where teachers see 130-180 students every day) to help with name recall.  Let students know that they will be able to test the teacher’s memory after a week.  If the teacher earns a “grade” of less than 90%, each student will receive 10 extra points in class participation (or whatever type of prize works for you).  Allowing students to test the teacher is always fun.

4.  With parental OK, set up a class FACEBOOK page, start a Twitter feed on the goings-on in the class, develop an Edmodo classroom.  Involve parents early on and they will love you for it. 

5.  Decide on a cellphone policy.  Many teachers allow their use (especially for students with very limited tech support at home), but with conditions.  If you are comfortable with cellphone use, develop rules for their use in your class, and consequences for breaking those rules (clear consequences for breaking the rules). 

6.  Have extra supplies on hand for students who don’t have them.  Discreetly provide them when appropriate.  Your school may have materials for this purpose as well.  A student who lacks the basics will start the year embarrassed and that could negatively impact his/her progress in class.

We hope the year will be a great one for all of you and your students.

denise@ellteacherpros.com

cheryl@ellteacherpros.com

marnie@ellteacherpros.com

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Liven Up the Review Process With GAMES!

This is the month of our well-deserved spring break!  It is because of this upcoming break that teachers will also be grappling with how to keep students on task as images of vacation dance in their heads:)

Break time might be a good time to check out a fun review site tool that will keep students fully engaged as they master the content of the lesson.  Once you feel comfortable with the site and can manage it like a pro, you will be ready to bring it the class in after spring break.  Since it will probably take the students a few days to settle in, it will be a great tool to motivate full class participation in a fun format.

What is this incredible tool?  JEOPARDY (but VERY easy to create)!  There are many formats that can be used in presenting this game.  I have selected 3 of my favorite approaches below:

1. Create the game yourself so you are thoroughly familiar all of the questions and answers.  Such an in-depth knowledge of the “game board” does not allow for students to argue over what they feel is correct or not.  Split the class into small groups of 4 or 5 who will compete as teams.  If you want to allot prizes, make them creative (not expensive) onesJ
2. Have students create their own game board in small groups.  For this, they would use Google Docs to create the questions and answers.  Students will check each other’s work BEFORE they go on the board.
3. Split the class into two teams.  The goal here is that each team creates the game.  The teacher then has each group deliver their game to the class on different days.  Further, the class taking part as the audience will follow a checklist to see if the game covered all the points that were assigned.

Another game similar to JEOPARDY, but slightly easier to set up is FLIPQUIZ. Think of this as a 21^st century version of JEOPARDY.  It is equipped with a built in timer.  Boards can be shared with fellow teachers or students.  For some students, this would be a highly effective study tool for them and they are having fun reviewing!  Click here for a quick explanation of some key features.

Care to use a non-quiz format for review?  Why not FAKEBOOK (like FACEBOOK but for students)?  Either alone or with partners, students could create detailed FACEBOOK pages on their assigned characters (or whatever subject you want).  Since all the students know FACEBOOK, you won’t have to spend too much time going over how to use it.

For non-tech scenarios, there is always academic bingo!  Teachers identify the key concepts or terms for students to place on their bingo cards and then the rest is chance.  Further, when a student wins, he or she must define each term (with support from peers of course) or use it correctly in a sentence.  Again, students are having fun while learning.  For teachers, they can quickly see what areas need a review and what ones don’t.

Hope you have a great restful spring break!

Denise

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Design Graphic Organizers to Support ELLs in Your Classes---FOR FREE!

With English language learners in practically every classroom and at every grade level throughout the United States, teachers need to create scaffolding devices to support student efforts to derive meaning from content.  Though there are many ready to print graphic organizers available on the internet, not all fit equally in any given lesson.  So what is a teacher to do?  COOL TOOLS to the rescue:)

Within COOL TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS,  teachers are offered a wide variety of online tools to develop their own graphic organizers to meet the specific needs of the students in their classes.  Differentiation is done with ease and all designs created can be saved for later use. 

I see myself using DIAGRAMMR with my low intermediate students in class, but I also see it working with ELLs in more advanced English classes as they try to incorporate more complex sentence structure into their writing, dissect more complex sentences to better understand the content, and edit their written work before it is handed in for grading.

Denise

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Scaffolding, Scaffolding, Scaffolding--THE Key to Student Success For Both ELLs and English Only Students.

With implementation of common core, the pressure is on for both teachers and students to raise academic performance across the country.  Technology via apps, cell phones, tablets, and laptops will not be the magic pills in making instruction comprehensible to struggling students.  Instead teachers need to pull from those tried and true simple hands-on tools that don't break the budget, but rather break down the barriers to the acquisition of knowledge.

Scaffolding takes on many different forms from classroom to classroom.  The imagination of the teacher provides for an infinite variety of approaches at all grade levels and in all content areas in this area.   In 6 scaffolding techniques,  Edutopia provides 6 very popular categories here that can be included into any lesson with a little careful planning.

One technique is think-aloud where the teacher shares her/his thoughts on say how to solve a problem.  With this approach, the teacher "opens her/his mind and shares what s/he is thinking."  Using this approach, students are given a clear picture of what will be expected of them.  I use it when teaching difficult topics in journal writing.  We write as a team as I think aloud (taking suggestions from them).  Using this technique, weaker students find the writing process a little less intimidating.

Then there is tapping into prior knowledge.  Find out what they know first through discussion, concept maps, games, whiteboards, etc.  By doing this, time is not wasted on teaching a lesson in which few students follow along.  Tapping into prior knowledge lays the groundwork for a lesson that will leave no student behind.

One must also give students time to talk with partners on key concepts.  Of course, this talking is timed and focused with accountability demonstrated by random call-ons thereby holding all students accountable.  Sharing thoughts with a partner (chosen by teacher) lowers anxiety for the struggling students.  This way there is no embarrassment if that student is called on in class since s/he has had time to prepare an answer.

The use of visuals is a must for academically weaker students to make those crucial connections to content.  Finding clear vivid visuals makes all the difference in student success.  I use PINTEREST to find many of mine (along with bookmarks to those sites).  My boards are all around academic subject areas (denise@ellteacherpros.com---now over 1,000 followers).  I pull from these sources regularly to find just the right images which will support my lessons.

Also, one should never forget one's colleagues.  They are a treasure trove of ideas and would be more than willing to share if asked.

Denise

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How Will Common Core Based Instruction Change Classroom Practice?

At various times during the summer, the vast majority of teachers will start prepping for the start of the new school year.  This activity will more likely than not go on a few days a week for several hours at each sitting. Why do teachers do this?  Teachers (including me) want the new school year to start off on the right foot with no lost time preparing students to have a successful year under the common core framework.

So, though teachers will still be able to hold on to probably 90% of what they taught in the past, they will need to reflect on new ways to cover the material.  A "less is more" approach will probably be the most effective since teachers will be able to go into far more depth in instructional delivery than in the past.  THAT is a good thing for in the past most teachers were forced to take a mile-wide 1 inch deep approach to instruction due to the pressure of meeting state standardized mandates for student performance in their districts.  Start selecting material that really inspires you--the type of material that you wished you had had more time to spend on but pressures being what they were, you could not do so.

Here are some suggestions which might provide some support in planning for the fall.  Remember that these suggestions are only that--suggestions:)

1.  With the support of administration, create a group of willing colleagues to do collective planning across disciplines to develop lessons.  This way students see, for example, that key academic words are not limited to just one discipline, but instead, will surface in all content classes.

2.  Locate teachers seen as model educators who would be willing to have a open door policy so that teachers can see what model common core lesson delivery looks like in practice.  At my site, 22 of my fellow staff members will also be delivering professional development workshops throughout the year as well.  This approach has the potential to be far more effective than bringing in outsiders to do the same.

3.  Ask administration for time to meet monthly with teachers who share the same students.  Why?  With this approach, a team plan can be created to best meet the needs of struggling students (especially English language learners).  Such meetings often times present different viewpoints on student strengths and weaknesses.  With such knowledge, the team devises agreed upon strategies to tackle student academic needs and monitor progress as needed.

4.  Build into the school day, tutoring support for students who are having a difficult time in their academic classes.  Provide primary language tutors along with content teachers if possible.  University students who plan on becoming teachers would be an excellent resource to tap here.

Here are some additional thoughts on preparing for the major changes coming to classroom practice from Harvard's Graduate School of Education.  Check them out and see what works for you:)


Denise

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Check out our ELD For ALL writing text.  10 weak writing scenarios that students must improve upon collaboratively.  Remember that weak writers need time to play with language and our book does just that.  Order it on our website at $12.95 (ebook).

16 Creative Ways to Add PINTEREST to Teacher's Tool Kit:)

Here is a truly amazing social media tool that fits into any content area lesson at any grade level for any teacher both novice and veteran alike.  That tool is PINTEREST!  To date, I have 33 "boards" covering all academic content areas as well as topics of special interest to me (ex.  my hometown of New York City). 

How can pinterest further bring order into a teacher's daily routine and enjoy the process along the way?  This infographic offers 16 practical ways (divided into 4 categories) to achieve this.  Of course, teachers will find it easy to add to this-just consider this a starting point only.

The 4 starting group areas here are:

CURATE CONTENT-whatever the content, teachers can add all the resources they need to this section.  Within this format, teachers can add visuals, movies, photos, academic content based real world  problems, etc.  Teachers can create boards  within to share with other teachers, students, and parents.

ORGANIZE IDEAS-organize boards around content areas, collect specific links on subject related boards, etc.

COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS-invite both same subject teachers as well as those from other disciplines to add thoughts, sources, teaching techniques, project based learning ideas, etc.

ALLOW STUDENTS TO USE PINTEREST-post their work, share projects with parents, have them work collaboratively with fellow students in creating  "virtual posters" on assigned topics, etc.

This is an incredible tool which would fit in perfectly with the technology focus found in common core:)

Denise

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10 Effective Ways to Teach Academic Vocabulary (Great Tips to Support Common Core Lessons)

The shift from reading textbooks to informational text will present students with far more challenging vocabulary.  For students to successfully navigate such reading materials, they will require strategies to arrive at definitions, more times than not, on their own.  So teachers will need to build these strategies into every lesson and reinforce them throughout the class period through all 4 language skills-listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  The more reinforcement, the more likely it is that students will retain the language and the skills which aided them in arriving at definitions.

Eye On Education has generated an excellent short tip list on both effective and ineffective ways  to teach vocabulary in this infographic on effective vocabulary instruction.  The suggestions here apply to all grade levels as well as all content areas.  An adaptation I have used for #2 is the frayer model (though it is being used for a biology class, it can be used with ANY content area and at ANY grade level).  Teachers can modify them in any way that works for their students.  I had the WORD in the center, top right box had a picture, bottom right a sentence from the text/book with the word in it, top left had a definition in their own words, and bottom left had a synonym or antonym or non-example.

These ten tips are great reminders that teachers must create original ways to build and nurture the growth of academic vocabulary for their students....and it can be a fun process:)

Denise

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Discover PBS Over the Summer Break:)

Summer is here so what better time is there to recharge one's love of the topic s/he teachers than now:)  PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) offers over 250 free online movies on all areas of history accompanied by free teacher guides (downloads)

Browse the entire PBS American Experience series featuring over many free online films and some trailers. Teachers may download teacher guides, go behind the scenes, and learn more about her/his favorite films.  Explore fresh approaches to exploring historical topics (and more in the video section by grade level and content under PBS learning media).

Though it is possible to purchase videos, why not consider the free option of viewing online?  All that is needed is a connection to an LCD projector and speakers.  This type of support makes content more accessible to English language learners since it builds missing background knowledge.

Hope you enjoy the films and the site:)

Denise

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Thousands of FREE Photographs to Enhance ANY Lesson in ANY Content Area and at ANY Grade Level!

With more English language learners and students with special needs entering mainstream content classes, teachers with limited experience in working with such students will require instructional support to address both language development and access to core content material.  Add to these new populations, the implementation of Common Core Based Lessons in which textbooks will take a back seat in the classroom.  So, teachers are faced with the task of enabling students to build those vital links to interact with content while simultaneously developing proficiency in academic English.

A major key to progress in these areas is the use of key content images.  The expression that a picture is worth a thousand words is quite accurate here.  A detailed image often times has the potential to fill in the gaps in background knowledge that an ELL especially might have in say a class on the US Civil War or the Great Depression.  Build in photos of people of the time, newspaper front pages, videos (yes, videos can be uploaded to boards as well), etc. and students can better visualize the historical event.  Their interest rises since they can better imagine the time period as the lesson proceeds.  

Here are three of my boards:

US History

Teaching

Science and space

Though students over 13 can open their own accounts, it might be better for the teacher to open his/her own account and then send students copies of boards the teacher has created (it also keeps students from wandering). 

To open an account, go to PINTEREST.  Once your account is open, you start pinning anything that suits your needs for school or personal interests.  As you find a photo you like, you PIN it to a board that you give a title for.  You may have as many boards as you like.

To provide access for students to teacher created boards, type  http://pinterest.com/(your username)/(name of the chosen board).

Later on this week, I will share with you how to create a digital online magazine.  Your students will definitely be motivated to read if they have a say in what reading material is added to their online digital magazine:)

Denise

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Jigsaw--A Cooperative Learning Tool Which Builds Students' Self-Confidence in Tackling Demanding Reading Materials

With Common Core, activities like jigsaw will provide academically weak students with multiple productive opportunities to interact with informational/non-fiction text.  If teachers want students to become independent learners, they must provide students with ample activities to support them in navigating complex texts.

 Jigsaw has as many variations as there are teachers who use it.  One common variation involves home groups and expert groups.  Home groups are created by just having students count off from 1-6.  Then all like numbers (ex. all the 1s, 2s, etc.) form home groups.  The teacher then numbers off students in the groups (1-6).  At that point, all like numbers move to form new groups (they will return to home groups after they do the jigsaw).   The teacher then assigns key chunks of the reading material to each expert group.   By having students work in small groups, anxiety for a struggling student drops.  S/he collaborates with fellow students within a safe peer group where questions can be asked and answered with no sense of embarrassment.  In this setting, poor readers are in groups of varying literacy.  Team spirit must be in play here as the group analyzes the text.  This leads to every student becoming an expert in the content.  Students then return to their home groups and each member teaches the others the content that they studied in their expert groups.

Here is a  classroom doing jigsaw.  Please note that though the video shows an elementary class doing jigsaw, it can be done at any grade level right up to professional development sessions for teachers:)

Denise

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Classroom Time Management--A MUST for Common Core Lessons!

For teachers already actively engaged in common core lessons as well as those new to implementing them, they all must grapple with time management:)  How does a teacher release students to project based learning activities built on the lesson concepts without total mayhem setting in?  After all, no learning can take place if students are not trained on how to use their time wisely. 

Spending the first 3-4 weeks of a new school year familiarizing students with class rules and repercussions for breaking them is time well spent.  Once students know the limits, they learn to respect them. That in place, the class is ready to undertake the exciting tasks awaiting them in common core based lessons.

So, setting limits to speech noise levels, time to complete academic tasks, think-pair-share activities, cooperative learning projects, etc. can easily be accomplished by using a timer.  When students hear the timer go off, they know that they have 30 seconds to complete their conversation.  Once the timer has gone off and the class is quiet, the teacher can do random call-ons to see how well the groups tackled the task.

Holding every student accountable to produce work is crucial if they are to do well on final projects.  Calling on volunteers is not effective since those students already know the answers.  It is necessary to take the pulse of entire class learning by calling on those students who don't raise their hands.  If they understand, the lesson is effective.  However, if after calling on 4 or more students who don't know the answer, the teacher knows to re-present the material in a different way to make sure that every student grasps key concepts.

This video on classroom time management  does an excellent job in showing the before and after of a lesson by a new teacher.  Though the teacher being filmed is new, what she learns here with support from her department chair and instructional coach could help any teacher regardless of the number of years spent in the classroom. 

As teachers watch this clip, they can either congratulate themselves for already doing such activities, or contemplate adjusting instructional activities to create a more effective learning environment for students.

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

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Visuals, Visuals, and More Visuals--Teachers Can Never Have Enough of Them:)

For students to create those vital connections to content, they should be provided with as much visual context as possible.  This key component of any lesson clarifies for students important vocabulary.  Why is this crucial to their mastery of content?  If teachers verbally explain/define core content words in the academic language, they will lose students who encounter many difficulties in deriving meaning from challenging vocabulary.  An verbal explanation with antonyms, synonyms, analogies, examples, and non-examples will leave such students behind.  Referring them to dictionaries is also an activity that yields little support since difficult words are being explained by often times equally challenging words.

Regardless of the learning styles of students, visuals are key tools to opening the door to academic success for English language learners as well as English speaking students who have a difficult time learning.  The saying that picture is worth a thousand words fits in this scenario with ease.  Instead of inundating academically weak students with lengthy definitions of content vocabulary, provide visuals, graphics, posters, charts, photographs, etc. of crucial lesson vocabulary.

So how can teachers find and store key visuals to use in class?  Pinterest is a great free source to compile great visuals from a wide variety of sources found on the site.  Teachers create bulletin boards (as many as they like) on topics that they wish to "pin" what they find.  Further, in navigating the net, there are many opportunities to add web photos, videos, graphs, etc. if the PIN button is found on the page.  If teachers also like to create their own visuals for class, they may pin them on this site as well.

Have fun pinning:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

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