The ESL Teaching Podcast

As I was planning my summer episodes for The ESL Teaching Podcast, I hit a wall. In the spring I was on a roll…sharing tips and resources for EL and regular education teachers. In June you heard episodes all about lesson planning. But then I thought to myself…I am on summer break and I would love to chat about other things that are a huge part of the teacher’s life. And that is the long and glorio...

In this episode, I will be sharing all about differentiating for varied proficiency levels in your classroom. You will hear about the four ways you can differentiate, as well as concrete examples of how it might look for you and your students.  This episode is part of this month’s series where we are talking about lesson planning as part of our short and actionable summer professional development...

Why is it important to have an objective in the lesson? Well, number one, it helps the students and you, the teacher, focus attention on what's most important in the lesson. In this week’s episode, I talk all about content and language objectives for your EL students. Last week, we kicked off our short and actionable summer professional development podcast episodes with an overview of mistake...

There are two types of teachers. Those who close their computer for the summer and only open it to begin checking their work email a week or so before school starts.  And there are teachers who combine their fun activities and relaxation with learning and catching up on professional development during the summer.   If you are in the second category, this episode is for you. I know how important it...

Let's talk about movement and engaging your whole body in language learning using TPR, or Total Physical Response.  Meeghan Carter is an ESL teacher in Delaware and brings a vast experience from being a classroom teacher to even owning her own business. She has worked with students primarily in grades pre-K to 8th.  Meeghan and I talk about topics that are so relevant to so many ESL teachers....

As the summer is nearing, I want to talk about planning and time management. Not for the students, but about what we, as teachers, should do before we leave on summer break.  You may be tired, and the desire to put things off until next year might be very strong. But over my years of teaching, I have learned that there are some small, but very important things that are so much better completed bef...

May is one of those months that is long and fast at the same time. Somehow everything falls into this month as a teacher and in our personal life. As the school year is nearing its end, there are a lot of moving parts for us teachers to consider. From grading, to paperwork, to somehow engaging the students who are seeming to get a bit antsy. It is easy to get lost in all of it, so in this episode...

A lot of teachers work with mixed-proficiency classes where they have newcomers and higher level students all at the same time. This makes for challenging planning, classroom management, and everything in between. With the school year winding down, it gets even trickier. In today’s episode, I wanted to revisit an episode I shared quite a while ago where I talk about three types of activities that...

This episode is for you to learn, find out, and get excited about the possibilities of technology in your classroom. I will not be talking about ChatGPT or AI tools, simply because I am still exploring how they can be used ethically by both teachers and students in the classroom. However, I will be giving you tips and tricks on how to use my top three technology tools. What you will hear about in...

As we continue talking about English Learners in the mainstream classroom this month, I wanted to bring back a previous episode from last year that is very relevant to our topic. With vocabulary being the main component of learning a language, this episode is all about how to pre-teach vocabulary when you are a regular education teacher.  Pre-teaching vocabulary is very important to an English lea...

Today’s episode is sharing thoughts and tips on how to grade English learners. You will hear the difference between grading and assessing, what makes teaching English learners equitable, and the differences between equality and fairness. Grading an English learner can be an adjustment. It should be flexible and not a rigid formula. It is also essential your assessments match the learning to help p...

Math teachers often express that they teach math…not language or how to read. Or even that math is universal. If this sounds familiar, then this episode is going to be for you. Students learn each subject through language. This episode will cover teaching math to ESL students. I will be sharing 4 math specific tips that can be easily implemented and will allow you to understand how to help your En...

We all know that new students start school not only in August or September, but anytime of year.  Often I get asked by general education teachers how to help a new English learner, so I have decided to record a series of episodes specifically for general education teachers. They will help you make meaningful connections with your multilingual students, as well as give you some simple steps to help...

This month we have been talking about how Spring can be a difficult season for teachers energy wise, and changes that teachers either need or want to implement. Today’s guest, Jamie Sears, will help inspire and reinvigorate your love for teaching. Jamie and I have a heart-to-heart conversation about building relationships, having fun, setting boundaries, lesson planning and really simple, practica...

In this episode I was able to talk to Molly Wheatly about starting a tutoring business, and how she went from being a teacher to now coaching teachers on how to grow their own tutoring business. Sometimes when we need a drastic change, we can benefit from taking a step back and look at the parts of our current situation that are missing. Just asking ourselves a few questions such as: what we love...

Sometimes we find ourselves desperate for a teacher contract in a new district, but facing unknown territory as an ESL teacher, you must navigate the stressful interview process and bet on yourself to achieve your goal of finding the perfect job. After many attempts at trying to find a new position for myself, years ago, I picked up some tips along the way. I learned about preparing for an ESL tea...

It seems like every year there are only two speeds within a school year: rushing to get everything covered up to the ACCESS testing, and trying to catch up and make it to the end of the school year. Sometimes it feels like we have no control over what is going on. To change the pace, I want to do a series of episodes that will allow you to take a look at how you can invigorate your life and career...

Valentina Gonzalez is a former teacher who has served 20 plus years in her own classroom, a district facilitator for English Learners, a professional development leader, and an educational consultant. Her work has been focused on literacy, culture, and language. She still delivers professional development for EL education and is an accomplished author. She explains how many schools send the wrong...

We spend so long preparing for testing and getting testing completed, but what do we do once the testing season is over? Getting back into the swing of things after weeks and weeks of testing can be really tough. In today’s episode, I share some tips with you for how to get back on track after ACCESS testing.  Do a classroom reset. You can do a classroom reset anytime, not just at the beginning of...

In today’s episode, we continue our coaching session from last week and discuss reading, writing, and phonics with ELs. For teaching literature, like Romeo and Juliet, it can be helpful to let students read in their native language first to let them access the content. You can also pre-teach vocabulary, or summarize chunks of the story and focus on key parts of the story, the balcony scene in Rome...

In today’s episode, I share a coaching session I had with a ESL Teaching Roadmap member. She teaches 9th grade ELA and ELD in a district that is just getting their ESL program off the ground. She explains that there is no curriculum for her to work from, so she feels like she is making everything up as she goes.  We begin by discussing one student, in particular, who is a newcomer in one of her mi...

In today’s episode, I speak with my friend, Amber Harper about teacher burnout. Amber is a full time kindergarten teacher and teacher burnout coach. After struggling with burnout for most of her teaching career, in 2016 she created Burned In Teacher. Now she uses her podcast, book, and online course and community to coach teachers through her 8 step burned in process to help them use burnout for a...

In today’s episode, I discuss academic connections in response to a question from one of my listeners about teaching English Content. Why is traditional English Language Arts content inferencing, finding metaphors and similes, and identifying literary elements,  so difficult for English Learners? It is a higher order thinking skill that requires a deep understanding of the language and having back...

In today’s episode, I discuss test prep with a dear friend and business bestie of mine, Laura Kebart. Laura serves busy middle school English Language Arts teachers who actively choose family time over prepping for class. Through her website, lesson plan resources, and annual virtual conferences, she helps teachers go home earlier each day so they can teach with confidence and enjoy life outside t...

In order for students to reach an optimal level of learning, they need to know what we’re talking about and that involves not only language, but background knowledge of the subject area concepts. In today’s episode, I will share 5 ways to build background knowledge for your ESL students. Being immersed in the language is so important, but this can’t be completely effective without background knowl...