If students don't verbalize...

If students don't verbalize, students don't internalize.

 

I attended the Michigan Association for Bilingual Education, MABE event last week along with some of our fantastic colleagues across our NHA Michigan schools. As always, talking with our team served to refresh and renew my spirit!

 

 

Like any conference, there were hits and misses. Two break out sessions really spoke to me. I'll share some highlights and encourage you to follow the links to learn more.

 

"Improving English Language Learners' Writing: Focus on Accuracy and Fluency"- Dr. Zuzana Tomas http://supportingwriters.webs.com/apps/documents/

- I loved how she opened this session up: she had all participants respond to a prompt either a) in a language other than English (if known) or b) by writing from left to right. It was a great framing exercise for us. We immediately felt the struggle of a non-native English writer.

- she gave concrete examples on how to improve and develop students' accuracy and fluency

- she recommended a pretty great resource here http://www.brainfriendly.co.uk/ which I'm excited to explore further

- and to top it off she gave us a new and exciting EL-related blog to read http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2012/09/5-fun-ways-to-use-dictagloss-in-efl.html

 

"Language and Literacy for ELLs Creating Systematic Change for Academic Achievement"- Melissa Castillo  https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B62A1VcJ6ws3TWRoZDU4OWhrYWs&usp=sharing 

- here's a video clip showing Melissa's ideas for Building Academic Vocabulary

- Melissa works as an EL coach on a national level. I actually sat by a team of EL teachers from Montcalm that are currently working with her.

- I used her phrase 'if students don't verbalize, students don't internalize', a great reminder that we, and all teachers of ELs, need to speak less and listen more. Get our students talking purposefully!

- she addressed the Brick and Mortar word concept

 

These are some great resources! I encourage you to dive into these links and see what takeaways you can find and apply to your own teaching!

 



Get the Party Started!

It's only right to talk about parties on cinco de mayo. Am I right? :)

So many of our schools take time to celebrate our kids, families and cultures they represent. This is more than a day of fun, its a great example of how schools show they want to know about our kids.

At the most recent Service Center meeting, one of our very own success stories was mentioned by a proud parent. A parent/colleague that works here at the Service Center talked about the great cultural night held at Excel Charter Academy this past week. Please join me in applauding Heidi at Excel for initiating this event, a first for the school.

That's a whole lot of happiness!

 

I think any school that has similar events will say that for all the work it takes to plan and coordinate the event it is completely worth it.

 Many of our schools that do a cultural night have classrooms choose a country to research and present on. They'll usually have cultural ambassadors, either kids or parents, that talk to the class about the country.

 

And the food...have we mentioned the food?!

 

So if you haven't tried this at your school and want to I encourage you to start planning! Start by forming a group of teachers/admin that share your vision. Pick a date and commit. We want to see your pictures and pass on the inspiration to the next school!