Lau vs. Nichols

I mentioned that I participated in the National Title III Directors meeting last week. After leaving I felt much more knowledgeable on the educational law that supports ELL students. I know many of us skimmed/read/memorized the ELL manual, but just in case you didn't I wanted to touch on one of those landmark educational cases that helped frame what we do today.

Check out this page, especially the link to 'the bilingual education timeline' http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/roots_in_history/bilingual.html
This is a half-page summarizing the Lau vs. Nichols case. This is why we, as ELL teachers, in fact have a job :) So thank you 1974!
http://www-tc.pbs.org/beyondbrown/brownpdfs/launichols.pdf

In summary, Lau v. Nichols states that by simply allowing students access to curriculum does not ensure their quality of treatment.

NHA-Wide ELL numbers

Hello! Greetings! Happy (late) Fall!

 

I know you have been busy with the flurry that is the beginning of the school year. I myself am just emerging from the flood of compliance requirements. Whew!

 

So in an effort to start anew (even though it is the end of October....) I give you something that we just love to look at! Data :)

 

Totals	#
NHA Schools with an ELL Population	64
Schools with 1 ELL staff	17
Schools with 2-4 ELL Staff	8
Schools adding ELL Staff (in process)	3
NHA ELL Teachers	37

Totals	#
Languages	77
Current ELLs	2,828
Top 3 Languages	Spanish(1,586), Bengali (234) and Arabic (144)
Top 3 ELL Population at a school	Vista (263)
	Hamtramck (257)
	Walton (204)

Wow!

Regional Conferences Fall 2013

This year we introduced the first Regional Conferences specific to English Language Learners. We had more than 70 people participate at 5 different locations across 3 different States. I send a huge thank you to all those who participated. I left each meeting with a list of follow-up questions and a renewed motivation to tackle our biggest task: to better serve our ELL population and the teachers who teach them.

Thanks go to Forsyth Academy in NC, Pathway School of Discovery in OH, South Point Scholars, and Hamtramck Academy in MI for giving us room to host these events. Each one of these sites were picked because they are great examples of what an ELL-minded school looks like. I hope you, like me, will continue to use the teachers at these schools for inspiration and guidance.

West MI teachers discussing how to get our ELL families more involved at our schools

South Pointe's representation of where their kiddos come from 

marked by little jewels on the map

Team Central Michigan!

What Hamtramck teachers think the roles of 'ELL Coordinator' are

You gave me a lot to think about! 

My to-do list for the year! Stay tuned!

NHA-U and NTO

Welcome back to you (us)! I took a break blogging while you took a break (hopefully) teaching :) But now I'm ready to greet another year at NHA and am really excited to continue working with my favorite population of learners, the ELLs and the teachers that teach them!

So while I did get some down time this Summer I also had the opportunity to teach at NHA-U and NTO. Thank you so much to those of you that participated at these events! You truly helped focus my thoughts and ideas for the year to come. I hope we'll see more of you next year!

Our lovely view from DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, MI

NTO particpants hard at work!

Love it! There's something about chart paper that makes the teacher in me smile!







You Can't Say You Can't Play

In my search for relevant resources and information I ran across this snippet from Thia American Life. I really enjoy it because it makes the case for being direct with whatever you want to teach- in this case including anyone and everyone in play.

Check it out-  HERE

Prezi II

http://prezi.com/yutxtsr5g1fv/la-la-the-amazing-penguin/?kw=view-yutxtsr5g1fv&rc=ref-41970801

Our colleague Pam shared that she is an active Prezi-user! Take a look at her Penguin prezi here, what a great way to engage and do a little schema building for your students!

Want something to give your to your classroom teachers today? Pam put together a nice presentation on 5 things you can do today with your ELLs.

http://prezi.com/fsy97dh6kwto/five-things-to-do-tomorrow/?kw=view-fsy97dh6kwto&rc=ref-41970801
Thanks Pam!

Welcome to a Prezi!

Here's a fun technology to become acquainted with if you're tired of having your kids create PowerPoints or posters.

I created one in 10 minutes that gives you a little insight to my professional background, check it out here:

My History

Hit the arrows on the bottom to guide you through.

Why I love it:

• really easy to learn- don't give up!
• has a 1 minute teaching demo
• you can search many topics and see some great Prezis already created
• Fun and engaging!