Episode Summary The start of the new school year is typically extremely busy. There are new families registering students, students coming to their new schools, meeting their teachers and classmates. There’s lots of screening, placement, scheduling, action, action, action. Multilingual learners join our communities all the time. But somehow, the deficit mindset, which assumes they…
Episode Summary The new school year is here. And as I’m looking ahead, I reflect about what worked and hasn’t worked before and how I can encourage and empower my students even more this year. I work with teenagers, and there are a lot of nuances in their English learning, including one very important aspect:…
Episode Summary Many teachers either are starting their school year soon, or have already been at it for a couple of weeks. And this time of year, when everything is full of fresh new energy, is a good time to go back to icebreakers. Whether you have new students joining you or want to reconnect…
Episode Summary How do you build students’ EL literacy and confidence from the ground up? My guest, Kyle Larson, and I talk about just that on this episode. How to help EL students with literacy, especially as they enter the US educational system in upper elementary grades or later, is an eternal question for all…
Episode Summary Part of an EL teacher’s job is to advocate for their students and educate and support their peers in language acquisition theories, teaching strategies and content delivery. This is where professional development comes into play. Frequently it is up to us to plan and deliver it in such a manner that it touches…
Episode Summary Navigating a grade transition and collaborating with new colleagues can be quite a challenge when it comes to being an ESL teacher. In today’s episode, I chat with Sarah, who is a member of the ESL Teaching Roadmap membership. It’s been a while since I talked about ESL teacher coaching. And with summertime…