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There is no doubt that co-teaching is an effective practice to better serve English language learners. Co-teaching is defined as two educators who team-teach by providing simultaneous instruction to a group of students. Through this model, students receive content-based language learning which means that students receive content learning as well as language acquisition support. Co-teaching or team teaching is an opportunity to create a culture of shared experiences and shared responsibilities among two teachers. This, of course, increases the opportunity to provide a focus and intentional differentiation support students may need. But as easy and as effective as it may sound - co-teaching can be challenging for many of us!
This was true for Mrs. Eudy and me during the 2019-2020 school year. However, we both faced our fears by putting our students' needs FIRST and the outcome was very effective. We now recognize that co-teaching draws on the strengths of both - the content area teacher who understands the structure, the content, pacing of the curriculum - and the special area teacher who can identify unique challenges and individual needs students may have to fully access the content.
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I was honored to attend the South Carolina English Language Acquisition Kickoff as one of their keynote speakers.
My presentation was recorded and thought I'd share it here for you to access. Topic: Distance Learning Doesn’t Have to Feel “Distant” Presentation description: COVID-19 rocked every educators’ and students’ world. Educators across the globe had to adapt their teaching ways. Students across the globe had to adapt to a new way of learning. However, regardless of the changes -- we are all adapting, and education must continue impacting our students. Today more than ever, our English language learners need stability and consistency when it comes to their learning. Emily’s experience as an English learner affords her a deep understanding of the challenges her students must overcome to find success. This is why her distance learning lessons emphasize building relationships and providing compelling lessons. Understanding and embracing that each individual brings unique life experiences and assets into the classroom makes the learning experience so much fun and engaging. So let’s learn how we can make distance learning feel not so “distant” for our students and us. Presentation Slides:
There are several slides with resources in the notes section. If you find these resources helpful, please let me know. If you have any more resources I can add, please share them in the comments and I'll add them to the slides.
Thank you for reading and have a great school year! This post is featured on the Re-Imagening Migration website. Find article here:  Did you know that students are NEVER too old to enjoy a picture book? This article here tells you more. Even adults can learn from picture books - I do! The book Dreamers, written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, is a stunning picture book with an amazing story about an immigrant mother and her baby immigrating to the US. While discussing it with our newcomer students, I began placing sticky-notes everywhere with all the ideas and thoughts that were rushing through my mind. Here is what I was thinking: Packing Our Culture Dreamers book by Yuyi Morales I was 15 years old when I was asked to pack-up a backpack with a couple of outfits and whatever else I could fit in and carry with me on a journey from Guatemala to the USA. I remember looking around the room and packing a few photographs and recuerditos (keepsakes) I didn't want to leave behind. I do not doubt that many immigrants experience this moment when they have to decide what to pack and bring along their migration journey. Besides packing the essentials, many of us pack something that will remind us of the world we are leaving behind, representing our country, homeland, and believes. Just like we pack-up objects, we also pack-up our identity within us and hold on to it as tight as possible because we know it is what makes us who we are. The things we pack-up within us are experiences, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, family, foods, music, culture, heritage, and more. All this builds our individuality. Yuyi Morales narrates this personal experience perfectly in this image. We see how her backpack includes a jatana, a pencil, nature items, and Señor Calavera. If you follow Yuyi's Instagram account, you'd see how these objects represent her identity. Objects that she carried with her as she crossed over the Mexican border to come to the USA. And just like we see in her book, the objects that represented her identity were kept safe and packed up because they were being protected or perhaps they stayed packed up because she didn't feel like her individuality would fit in the new culture. In Dreamers, we see the characters trying to blend in and function in a new country and culture but with a substantial struggle to be who they are. I experienced this as well, and so do many immigrant students and individuals who come to the United States. While many of us love our home culture, our language, and everything about our heritage, society tells us that to function successfully, we must keep our background packed up and blend in the American culture and master the English language to be successful. For many of us, it'll be years and years till we realize that our culture, language, and heritage are valuable and core to who we are. For others, this realization will never happen - and heritage, language, and culture will be lost. To me, this is a sad reality that will hinder many generations. Opportunities to Unpack As an immigrant myself, I can tell you how intimidating it is to be yourself and unpack our background for all to see. You look around, and everything is new and different. You listen around, you and all you hear is the new language -- a language you don't yet understand. However, there are ways to embrace the differences while still appreciating what is packed within us and show them to the world. Here are a few of them:
Unpacked CultureHaving our culture and heritage unpacked is just the most wonderful feeling. How do you know your culture, language, and heritage is unpacked? - When you celebrate it, appreciate it, and embrace it. When you do not fear what others will say about who you are, how you speak, or what you're wearing. When you begin to find a place in your new home, you understand that we have more similarities than differences and contribute to society to create a beautifully diverse culture. As we were reading this book with my student, we both had different takeaways from the text. Yousef here was able to draw what he understood what was happening in the story, then retell the story using his own words. He was able to personally connect with several parts in the story and was very confident understanding it because the images speak so much. I am encouraged to write my takeaways because he did the same!
If you have read this book and would like to share your takeaways with me, please share them with me. I'd love to hear about your experience with this amazing book. Or if there is another book that would share these same ideas, I'd love to know of it.
Remember YOU matter! Your culture matters, your language matters, your heritage matters. So, showcase it...display for all to see and appreciate it. Thank you for reading!  Book Selfie for #ELLchat_bkClub I am so excited to share with you all about this fantastic book I just finished reading (twice). Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros - This is a beautiful family story - not only the main character Efrén Nava is highlighted, but also his parents and the entire family. Efrén is a fascinating young boy who at a very early age finds himself having obligations at home that go beyond his responsibility. The story begins setting a stage of a very humble Hispanic family living with very little resources but strongly united. Efrén's Amá goes looking for a job, while her children are in school, when she gets caught up in an ICE raid and is deported back to Mexico. Efrén is heart-broken but at the same time, his heart was ready for this news since he understood that his parents were in danger since they were undocumented in the US. He quickly begins taking responsibility for his twin brother and sister Mía and Max. I Love Efrén's attitude towards his family. Without complaining and without asking why he jumped in and contributed however he could to support his family and continue providing a sense of consistency and normalcy for his siblings. Throughout the story we see the family's strength to keep the family together - Apá works countless hours and goes above and beyond to provide for his family and find ways to bring Amá back home. I have to say how much I LOVE the way Ernesto honors Hispanic families and culture throughout the story.  Amá's deportation hurt the entire family - and we see how every one of them kept on pushing and functioning and planning regardless of how they were feeling.
It is a story that many students will identify with - whether is because they are separated from their parents or maybe because they are carrying on the same responsibilities and obligations Efrén is having to do. This is a story all teachers, principals, social workers and guidance counselors need to read. I was able to connect with the story because I experienced a lot of the things the family goes through - but if you have NEVER experienced anything like this, it would give you a needed perspective to better understand your students. I do not doubt in my mind that a lot of students in our classrooms are experiencing things at home that do not feel comfortable sharing with anyone at school; hence knowing about these topics would give teachers that understanding and the knowledge they need to advocate for students. During July, I participated in the #ELLchat_bkClub Twitter book chat where we engaged in conversation with this book. It was so exciting to hear from other teachers reading this book and see how they react to certain parts of the book. I also LOVED engaging with the author who participated during our entire book study.  Link to resources for our book-study Because I believe this book needs to be used in schools - whether is for bookclubs or guided/strategy reading groups or school group discussions, I made these chapter notes and questions as I read the book. Feel free to use them! If you create any more resources for this book, I'd love to hear from you. So far all I have are questions and topics for discussion but I would love to see educators creating an entire book study with activities for the book. Here's a great identity heart graphic organizer a book study participant created. Amy Sherman took the challenge in creating an identity map on Efrén Nava and it is just fabulous. This would be something amazing to have our students create too. You can find a printable version of the graphic organizer here.
    These are the questions we used for discussion during our book study on #ELLchat_bkClub. If you need an editable version of the questions pdf documents above, you can access them here.
This book is without a doubt a 5 starts book that middle schoolers and HS students would love. I'd love to hear from you if you have read it or if you decide to read it. There are many topics to discuss and I'd love to engage in conversation with you about this book. Author Ernesto Cisneros is very active on Twitter so connect with him and ask any questions you may have. Thank you for reading!  Maestra usa sus experiencias como estudiante inmigrante para capacitar a otros profesores |
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We started this session discussing how important it is to have an understanding on how second language acquisition (SLA) works. From a student perspective I can tell you that knowing and understanding the process of acquiring and reaching proficiency in a targeted language has a process and it must be respected. It sure takes a huge burden off our students' shoulders when they learn that it takes time and we can always start with basic before mastering the academic language.
For teachers, understanding SLA is important so when we plan our lessons, we plan strategically to support each student at his/her specific level of language process. |
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- Activating Background knowledge on SLA
- Content: 5 Stages of SLA
This were the amazing posters they created to show their learning.
For homework assignment, teachers were to read the provided articles and power point presentation and share thoughts on our padlet.
Everything you need and more for this pd is in the Wakelet below!
Everything you need and more for this pd is in the Wakelet below!
Blog post on ESL Strategies Course: Session #1
We kicked off our ESL PD for teachers highlighting students background - learning who our ELs are, seeing them for who they are, and for what they CAN accomplish.
All the resources used are in the Wakelet below.
All the resources used are in the Wakelet below.
- Activating Background knowledge:
- Content: Questions to Ask About ELs
The 5 simple key questions to ask about our ELs came from this article from Barbara Gottschalk. Teachers were asked to work with a partner and each partner was to read one of the key questions and create a poster to share with the rest of us.
The 5 key questions are represented here:
Mrs. Hatley and I are both ESL teachers at Concord HS. We both provide co-teaching/inclusion services in all content areas. Our teachers are amazing and very open to collaborate and learn new ways to support our English learners. Together we are creating a culture of responsibility to grow our English learners not only academically but also linguistically.
During the month of December, we sent our staff an email offering an ELL strategies course where teachers can learn effective practices to support ELs. Participation to our course was not made mandatory and CEUs (content credits) were offered.
We were super excited when we heard from over 25 staff members who wanted to participate.
Our group meets once a week for 30 minutes with a 30 minute homework assignment to be completed during the week.
During the month of January, we met four times and we've had a total of 10 teachers participating with consistency. Among the attendees, we have out MTSS couch, administrators, and core teachers.
The session and strategies learned were as follows:
During the month of December, we sent our staff an email offering an ELL strategies course where teachers can learn effective practices to support ELs. Participation to our course was not made mandatory and CEUs (content credits) were offered.
We were super excited when we heard from over 25 staff members who wanted to participate.
Our group meets once a week for 30 minutes with a 30 minute homework assignment to be completed during the week.
During the month of January, we met four times and we've had a total of 10 teachers participating with consistency. Among the attendees, we have out MTSS couch, administrators, and core teachers.
The session and strategies learned were as follows:
- Students Background: Learning who our students are! - Read Post HERE
- Understanding Second Language Acquisition - Read Post HERE
- SLA and Affective Filter - Read Post HERE
- ELLevation's Instructional Framework - Read post HERE
- Effective Activities that Support Effective Practices - Read post HERE
- Elevator Speeches about our learning in ELL Strategies Course. Post coming soon...
Thank you for reading!
It's here...Year 2020 is here!! This time of year is by far the most exciting time of the year for me. This is the time of year when many of us get into deep thought about all the exciting events that we experienced throughout the past year. A time of year to reflect and embrace what we have or have not accomplished as the year comes to an end.
This is also a time of the year to think about new beginnings, new goals, new journeys.
A new year brings hope and encouragement to perhaps complete what we couldn't accomplish the year before.
This is also a time of the year to think about new beginnings, new goals, new journeys.
A new year brings hope and encouragement to perhaps complete what we couldn't accomplish the year before.
I don't know about you but I am not very good about making a New Year's resolution or a list of things to accomplish. I just feel like I wouldn't be able to keep up with what I want and I don't want to feel disappointed.
I LOVE to be surprised by life! I don't know what this year has in store for me. I don't know where I'll go. I don't know who I'll be meeting.
What I do know is that I need a WORD. One word that will serve as a core focus to what I do, why, and how I do things in life. Whether is personal or professional, this word helps me stay focus on what matters to stay passionate about everything I do.
I started choosing an inspirational word for a few years now and the intentionality I put on focusing on this word has been powerful.
I blogged about my #OneWord2018 and #OneWord2019 if you'd like to read it.
I LOVE to be surprised by life! I don't know what this year has in store for me. I don't know where I'll go. I don't know who I'll be meeting.
What I do know is that I need a WORD. One word that will serve as a core focus to what I do, why, and how I do things in life. Whether is personal or professional, this word helps me stay focus on what matters to stay passionate about everything I do.
I started choosing an inspirational word for a few years now and the intentionality I put on focusing on this word has been powerful.
I blogged about my #OneWord2018 and #OneWord2019 if you'd like to read it.
On December 11th, I had the opportunity to host Writable's Twitter chat. If you are interested in learning more about the best strategies and methods to support your students in writing, I recommend you join this weekly chat. All you have to do is follow the hashtag #WritingMatters at 7:00 PM ET and join the fun.
Shaelynn Farnsworth gracefully invited to lead the chat and focus on how to support ELs during writing. I didn't come up with a super catchy title but our focus during the chat was "Writing Instruction for ELs".
When I think about supporting ELs in their writing, I think about interactive writing, visual writing, scaffoldings, and their classroom environment. This is why I made my questions around these topics.
We had great participation and a lot of great tips and resources were shared. I thought about blogging this with the hope that you'll find a great tip that can help you support your students become the successful writers you want them to become.
If you feel like answering these questions, please do so following the hashtag mention above and tag me when posting your answers. I'd love to learn from you.
Shaelynn Farnsworth gracefully invited to lead the chat and focus on how to support ELs during writing. I didn't come up with a super catchy title but our focus during the chat was "Writing Instruction for ELs".
When I think about supporting ELs in their writing, I think about interactive writing, visual writing, scaffoldings, and their classroom environment. This is why I made my questions around these topics.
We had great participation and a lot of great tips and resources were shared. I thought about blogging this with the hope that you'll find a great tip that can help you support your students become the successful writers you want them to become.
If you feel like answering these questions, please do so following the hashtag mention above and tag me when posting your answers. I'd love to learn from you.