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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

…I please get some advice on how I can be a better ESL teacher? Eric Wenninger Hey David, As an ESL teacher myself, I can tell you it is a very rewarding field to work in. I would suggest talking more with your supervisor about how you are progressing with your training and what specific areas you can improve in. In addition to focusing on the great points in this blog post, you could also listen to Jenn’s very first podcast, Interview with an ESL Teacher. In the podcast, Kim (an ESL teacher) discusses several best practices for teaching ESL…

Episode 1: Best Practices for ESL

…couple of years off to try something else. Got a little classroom burnout and needed to spend some time. I was doing some team building challenge course leadership for a couple of years. I got my Masters in 1997 and I taught while I was doing my Masters in ESL, so 95 to 97. So I’ve been teaching since about 95. Gonzalez: So that– That has always been the plan then?[…] Kim: Oh yeah. Gonzalez: To teach ESL. Because I know there’s a group within the ESL teaching population that kind of fell back into it due to maybe there…

Can-Do Descriptors: A Free Tool for ESL Differentiation

…is used widely at our school now. So inspirational and so true! Laura Thanks for the post (and related posts) regarding ESL students and ways to reach them and hold them to high expectations in the classroom. There’s a lot to think about here, and with more and more full-time inclusion of ESL (fewer pull-outs) in my state at least, we have to think like ESL teachers for our students in order to meet their needs. Useful info! Thanks! Jennifer Gonzalez That is so wonderful to hear, Marcelle! I love knowing people are using the term; I think it’s a…

A Strength-Based Approach to Teaching English Learners

…these strengths and assets and the unique potential of our English learners. What brilliance might be unleashed? What confidence might be built? What might non-ESL* students learn from the ESLs? This would be a change in the way we view our English learners as well as a shift in how we view the very nature of teaching. The basis of teaching is to teach students what they don’t know. We’re trained to look for gaps in knowledge. We’re the teachers, the experts, the givers of information. At the beginning of the school year, most teachers will be asked to look…

Download a PDF of “12 Ways to Support ESL Students in the Mainstream Classroom”

If you liked 12 Ways to Support ESL Students in the Mainstream Classroom enough to want your own, nicely laid-out copy of it, then you are exactly the kind of person I want to stay in touch with. Sign up for my e-mail list and you’ll start getting a SHORT weekly email from me with something valuable to help you with your teaching. After hitting “Sign Up,” you’ll be taken straight to your download. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you. Having trouble? If this form is not accepting your email address, it may be because…

Interview with an ESL Teacher

“Excited to Learn English” by Luke Mackin is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 “Teachers are so overwhelmed, they see an ELL kid as one more thing, rather than as someone who has something really powerful to contribute to the class.” Listen now or read the transcript: In Episode 1 of the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast, we meet Kim, a middle school ESL teacher. She talks about the complexities of teaching English-language learners, like the power imbalance that arises when the kids speak English but the parents don’t, why ELL students won’t look their teachers in the eye, and…

A Starter Kit for Differentiated Instruction

…Tomlison’s book – How to Differentiate Instruction and I noticed that she also wrote a book called “How to Differentiate Instructon in Academically Diverse Classrooms.” I teach ESL to college level students and am wondering which book would be more helpful. Thanks! Michael Whalen Another great resource from the Cult of Pedagogy. Thank you!!! C Tucker I think that this is a nice example in a school that has the advantage of multiple teachers in a grade level, but how would you suggest differentiating if you teach multiple grade levels and are the only person teaching your subject? I teach…

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To Boost Learning, Just Add Movement

…Chen-Hui, & Low Wei-Shan, 2012). So when working with younger students, try to make the gestures match the concepts in some way. References Asher, J. J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. The modern language journal, 53(1), 3-17. Carruthers, S. W. (2010). The total physical response method and its compatibility to adult ESL-learners. Retrieved from http://tesolteachers.net/t.pdf Cook, S. W., Yip, T. K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Gesturing makes memories that last. Journal of memory and language, 63(4), 465-475. Donnelly, J. E., & Lambourne, K. (2011). Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement. Preventive medicine, 52, S36-S42….