A To-Do List

I recently celebrated my birthday, yay, and completed writing my yearly __ Things to Do While __ Years Old. Basically making a list of things I want to accomplish this year, trying to keep myself accountable and focused on goals I might otherwise overlook (like finally committing to that marathon...).

Well, last week I asked us to think about where our individual ELL programs are right now. This week I want us to think about what we want our ELL programs to look like next year. How can we improve our ELL services? What are some goals you can set for your program, and how can you keep your staff accountable for achieving them?

Here are some goal suggestions for you to consider!

Classroom Decor Is your classroom ELL friendly? Do you have pictures and sentence stems up on your walls? Do you use them on a daily basis? How often do you do upkeep on your classroom library, is it leveled and clear for students to know what to pull (and where to put back!)?

Student Placement Do you have trouble pulling your students in a timely fashion, or are you losing minutes with transit time? Did you know that NHA suggests clustering our high needs ELL students into one classroom? If you have 4-6 high needs students at a grade level you might think about having these students in one classroom. This not only helps with push-in/pull-out support scheduling, but it also allows your ELL teacher/coordinator to better support the classroom teacher. Instead of supporting all three sections of third grade, your ELL teacher will be able to spend more time with the designated ELL classroom teacher. Many of our schools do this already and to great effect.

Student Engagement How often are you incorporating experiential learning in your teaching? What's holding you back from doing more? Set up a classroom barter and trade day. Go on a nature walk to discuss seasons and weather.

So, take a minute and create a little to-do list for your ELL program. Write them down and post your commitment. I encourage you to share it with me, I'm here to support you in shaping the best ELL program for your school!