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!

 



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!







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!