Equipping ELLs

Does the thought of being observed by your admin make you panic a little bit? I think it’s safe to say most teachers don’t love observations. They cause extra stress and nervousness no matter how amazing of a teacher you are. If you’re dreading an upcoming observation, don’t worry! I am sharing five tips to help your observation lesson run smoothly so you can showcase just how lucky your students...

What do you do when you have a love/hate relationship with technology but you know there are amazing tools that will help your ELLs learn? You find simple tech tools! I am sharing 5 of my favorite tech tools that provide students amazing support that will help them succeed and soar. In this episode, we are covering really simple but powerful ways we can better support our ELL students through the...

Do you dread prepping your students for Access testing every year? I think it’s safe to say we all do. What if I told you there is a way to prep without taking precious time away from giving students the support they actually need? Toss the test prep packets because I am sharing 5 fun ways you can prepare for Access testing starting right now. We want to prepare our students for Access testing in...

Thanksgiving in the U.S. is right around the corner which means it’s the perfect time to look at why we should be thankful that we get the privilege to teach our English language learners. At this point in the year, you may be feeling tired and overwhelmed so I want to remind you why we are so fortunate to be able to work with amazing ELL students. Teaching is not easy and there are so many things...

Have you heard about the new, hot topic, translanguaging? If not, don’t worry! Today we are talking all about it! Tevia Tovares is joining us today to share her experience with translanguaging and how she encourages translanguaging in the classroom. We know how important it is to create a safe, comfortable, and inclusive atmosphere for our ELLs. In order to do this, we must allow our students oppo...

Do you know what stage of language acquisition your ELL students are in and how to support them in that stage? Understanding the stages and knowing where your students are at is so important in helping them successfully learn the English language. Cris Howard is joining us today to share her extensive knowledge on language acquisition and its importance. Keeping the stages of language acquisition...

Holiday season is upon us in the U.S. which means it’s a great opportunity to improve our ELLs’ English language using seasonal vocabulary. We can take advantage of the season and use the excitement of the holidays to engage our students and really work on their English skills. Today, I am sharing some activities I wish I would have done to take full advantage of the holidays with my ELLs. We’ve a...

Are you looking to create a culture of reading at your school and with your ELLs? We all know that reading opens so many doors for our students but getting them to read can be a struggle. Today I am joined by high school librarian Terrie Sharp, who is sharing how she helped create a culture of learning in her school. There can be many obstacles in getting ELL students and emergent bilingual studen...

I’m sure you’ve heard about the Science of Reading and maybe your school is pushing to incorporate it more into literacy lessons but you aren’t quite sure how to do that. You’re in luck! Today, we are continuing our conversation with Sara Marye about how to create skilled readers through literacy instruction and the Science of Reading. If you haven’t checked out last week’s episode , be sure to do...

The new “hot topic” in education this year is the Science of Reading. You may have heard about it or looked into it but aren’t sure how to incorporate it into your work with ELL students. Maybe you aren’t really sure what all the buzz is about. Sara Marye from The Stellar Teacher Company is joining us today to share her expertise about literacy and the Science of Reading. Sara has so much knowledg...

Disclaimer: the audio for this episode is not the best, but the content is so great that we still want you to hear it! There is a huge shift in how schools are teaching reading. They are moving away from Guided Reading and moving towards Science of Reading with a focus on phonics and phonemic awareness. Today, Aylin Claahsen is joining us to share her expertise on teaching younger students early l...

Reading can be a challenge for many students and it can be especially difficult for our ELL students. That’s why it is so important to systematically work on sight words with our students. Leslie Tomanovich is joining us today to share her experience and wisdom on teaching sight words to our ELL students. When it comes to reading, we want to find ways to reduce the cognitive load and frustration f...

Working with our ELL students on social emotional learning is so important now more than ever. Between virtual learning, the pandemic, and any traumatic experiences they may have been through, they may need help with coping skills and that is where SEL  comes in. Today, we are getting some wonderful insight about the importance of SEL from our guest, Rachel Davis. Rachel is sharing all about...

Have you ever thought about trying out a different lesson planning process? Planning units and lessons based on language forms and functions may be a method that could really benefit your ELLs! Today, I have special guest, Kristen Vibas, joining us to talk about how she plans her lessons around different language functions and forms. In this episode, Kristen is giving us an inside look at what her...

It seems like our ELL students are constantly taking assessments. They take them with us, for core classes, benchmarks, and the list goes on! But are these assessments helping to drive our instruction or are they just wasting time? Today, we are diving into how to better assess students authentically so that we can adjust our instruction to meet our students’ needs. We want our assessments to be m...

We all know that classroom management is crucial for a smooth school year. But where do you even start with classroom management, especially when you aren’t a homeroom teacher? Today, we are diving into how to get started with easy-to-implement strategies to help you have great classroom management this year! Classroom management begins with building relationships and trust with your students. In...

As we head into the start of another school year, we want to make sure that we are creating a welcoming place for our ELLs and newcomers right away. There always seems to be pressure to get started with assessments and lessons but it is so important to slow down the first few weeks of school. Sindy Bonilla is joining us today to talk about how she starts the school year so her students and familie...

The first day of school is filled with so much excitement but can be full of stress and anxiety for our students. We all try to start the year off right by building relationships and community and often do this by using get-to-know-you activities or icebreakers. Unfortunately, these can cause unnecessary stress and create fear in students, especially ELLs. Today, we are looking at what we can do o...

Do you feel like you are spending so much time planning lessons or that you’re on a hamster wheel of lesson planning? If that sounds like you, this episode is one you don’t want to miss! I am diving into three common problems I see when it comes to ESL teachers and lesson planning. In today’s episode, I am talking about one of the biggest stressors for ESL teachers - lesson planning. I am breaking...

Have you been curious what ESL teachers’ roles look like in other districts?  We are joined by special guest Jina Wood who is sharing what her role as the K-8 ESL teacher looks like in her district in Iowa. Jina gives us a look at her challenges and shares her tips on how she ensures her students’ needs are being met. In this episode, Jina talks about how she groups and supports her ELL stude...

How can you successfully support your K-4 ELLs in a very large district? Our special guest is sharing some insight! In this episode, Jen Ferreyra is giving us a glimpse into what her role as an ESL teacher looks like at her school. Today, Jen and I are talking about how she works with other teachers to provide the best support possible for her students. We are covering the challenges and benefits...

Are you wondering what teaching ELLs looks like in other schools or districts? Today, I am chatting with Karen Hartke to get some insight into what being an ESL teacher looks like for her and her district. Karen serves as both the only ESL teacher and the EL coordinator in her K-12 district which brings on unique challenges. In this episode, she is sharing with us what her role looks like, some ti...

Summer is flying by and we are finishing up our summer series, Successfully Setting Up for the School Year this Summer, by looking at how to prepare for our intermediate students. We want to be prepared so our classroom environment is one of trust, safety, support, and high standards. Today, we are looking at how to set up routines that help our intermediate students feel comfortable and confident...

We are seeing more and more newcomers join our classrooms in the U.S. every year. It can be both exciting and challenging when these students first join our classrooms but today, I am walking you through tips on helping both you and them be successful those first few weeks of school! We are continuing our Successfully Setting Up for the School Year this Summer series with an episode dedicated to h...

How great would it be if you could “plug and play” your lessons and resources next school year? Well, you can and I’m here to show you how creating templates can save you precious time! Planning lessons, creating activities, tracking data, meetings, duties - the list of tasks for teachers goes on and on! Good news! I’m sharing a way to save time and energy in your prep and planning. Today, I am ta...