Over the summer of 2018, I took the first step to a great journey...I made the decision to transfer to Concord High School (CHS) after working six years at Irvin Elementary school. The decision was based on a burning desired within me to support students who are facing the same struggles I faced as a high school newcomer student and language learner. Read more about my personal experience as a newcomer here!
I got our classroom ready with so much excitement! However, I was more excited to meet my new students. I had already met a few of them during our ESL summer enrichment program, so I was thrilled to meet the rest of my students. My New Classroom at CHS
Supporting ELs at CHS
I absolutely love my schedule at CHS! I currently have one class who meets in my classroom. This class is designed to support our newcomers. Students in our ESL for Beginners' course have been in the United States and enrolled in US school for less than a year.
My other two blocks I work in regular classrooms where I support English language learners through a co-teaching model. CHS is the first high school to implement an approach that seeks to support struggling learners by providing daily ESL, EC and interventionist support. These periods/courses are 45 minutes and year-long courses. Read more about the Spider Success Squad here. I serve students in English I & II, Biology, and American History/Civics. Meeting CHS Students
August 29th, 2018 was our Open House night. What an exciting opportunity to make a first impression on our students. I was thrilled to see former students!!! I saw students I had during my student teaching in 2012 as well as students I had while teaching ESL at Irvin Elem. I knew my year was off to a great start!
ESL for Beginners' First Week
Our first week in room #225 with our ESL beginners was AH-MAY-ZING!!
Even though I've met some of them during the summer, I wanted to make sure relationship building was a priority! Thanks to Carol Salva and her marvelous video with her Top Tips for a Strong Start, we had the best week ever! During our first week we:
I must say that my favorite part of the week was sharing our stories. After I shared my story with them, using Kahoot (see game here), we went around the room sharing our immigrant story. It was amazing how comfortable my students were to share about themselves!
We learned so much about one another.
We finished the week strong by looking at our ACCESS scores (English Proficiency levels). I can't wait to share the rest of our 2018-2019 school year with these amazing students and teachers!
And just right before I left the building...I had a teacher come to my classroom and just made my weekend!! See tweet below!!
Thank you for reading!
2 Comments
9/3/2018 03:35:02 pm
Emily,
Emily Francis
9/8/2018 09:08:54 am
Thank you so much, Carol! Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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