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!







The Silver Lining of an Audit

 

You might be aware, if you're a Michigan school that receives Title III dollars, that occasionally Federal programs are audited :)

Auditors like to see a lot of evidence that things are being done well. I was so happy to receive some examples of such events happening in the EL community.

Many of our schools actively seek to engage EL families, and this week I was able to see some examples of that. Is your school doing something similar? Want to join the bragging wall (by my desk!)? Send me an example of what great parent engagement strategy you do!

Newsletters- EL teachers fill in their colorful form on a monthly basis highlighting school-wide activities, EL activities and upcoming events.
Literacy Nights- EL families are invited to attend these events to learn strategies and win academic supplies to use at home.
Cultural Celebrations- Many of our schools strive to foster cross-cultural communication by hosting potlucks, dessert nights and morning coffee dates.

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!

Dancing!

I attended the MABE conference in Dearborn, MI this past week. I found a lot of useful tools and can't wait to pass them along. But this jewel from YouTube, highlighted by keynote speaker Rushton Hurley made me smile so much I needed to pass it along!

What a great sample of world cultures and the simple ways we can connect across continents. Take a look at his site www.NextVista.org, it's full of great videos and inspiration. Have fun!

Calling all Chatty Cathy's

Now if you haven't seen these handy dandy phones in use you are missing out!

These are great tools for students to practice speaking.

Let me demonstrate for you...

Get it? :)

You can speak at a whisper and have the phone magnify your voice right back up to your ear. I've seen these work well in classrooms when the teacher asks the students to revise and review their writing.

Lucky you, I have 4 of these ready to send off to the winner of this week's challenge.

In order to be considered for this amazing prize you have to email me an example of a lesson or activity that you did this year that went well.

I will randomly draw a winner and notify you. Plus I'll have a lot of great tips to share :)

Thanks for playing!

Get Excited about Language!

I had the pleaseure to visit our schools in Ohio this past week and picked up some great ideas to share with you!

What better way to engage a student and get them excited to play with words than to allow them access to your materials! Pathway Charter Academy makes it hard not to pick something out and take it home to play with!

Everything displayed was asking to be picked. From word games, to dictionaries and books.

A dictionary never looks as engaging when hiding away in a bookshelf.



Just like a birthday gift, these shiny bags are sent home containing stories and materials to be used and returned. From the schools experience it seemed the kids loved showing off their Book Bag of goodies.

So get your things off the shelves! Display them and encourage students to bring them home. And hopefully a little incentive will bring those materials back to you :)

Crossing Continents via the Mailbox

I have stolen yet another lovely idea from our friends at Hamtramck Charter in Michigan.

You know, for many of our kids, the world is what they see in a 10-block radius. Let's try and broaden that lens. Take a look www.postcrossing.com ,a site that allows you to participate in a more modern (less annoying) version of the "chain letter". Send and receive postcards from all over the world. It's a nice way to do a writing project in an unplugged way.

I'm excited about it, I think I'll join as well :) Start decorating my desk. Hamtramck had great wall art in using a map with push pins denoting where the postcard originated from. And I don't have to tell you, we could all use some refreshers when it comes to geography.

Craft-tacular

Whenever a holiday rolls around (whether it be Valentines or St.Patty's) I can be found reaching for the construction paper and glue. I love crafts. Tearing apart orange paper and gluing it together to make a knarly pumpkin for my bulletin board was always something to look forward to for me. How about you? From my experienc eyou either love it or it makes you wince :)

Nevertheless, I encourage you to whip out the scissors and glue sticks and peruse the fantastic site Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) for some inspiration. Not only is it engaging for students it falls under the "experiential learning" which we all could do more of.

Are you still lacking motivation?! If your class/small group crafts something for me (and sends it to the Service Center) I will return the favor by writing letters to your kiddos (basically allowing me ot get in on the fun too, even if it is from an office desk :))

Total Physical Response 101

If you enjoy getting your kids up and moving, you'll love using TPR. This is an introduction to the research behind the method by James J. Asher. Aside from it feeling fairly dated, it shows fun ways to engage students in a non-verbal way.

Welcome Back!

I hope you all had a restful and recharging holiday season. I also hope your kids came back happy and ready to learn :)

The start of the new year is a good time to review how we as teachers and coordinators can welcome our new ELL students into our classrooms and into our schools. We're likely to recieve new students periodically and it can be a challenge for you as the teacher and the student who comes in halfway through the year. Imagine that scenario for a newcomer to the country. It is our goal and our mission to allow newcomers to feel safe and comfortable in their new environment.

Here are two great video clips that demonstrate the need for teachers to connect to their students and tips on how to make that transition as easy as possible for the student.

Welcoming Newcomers

Want more tips to pass along to your teachers of ELL students?
http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/reachingout/welcoming/

http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/cultureshock.php

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/38575/

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/33042/

It's a Wonderful Vacation :)

It's the holiday season. We'll all be taking breaks (some longer than others!), go home and refresh hopefully to return in January with a reenergized spirit.

What will our kids be doing over that break? Probably not a lot of language learning....

Now's a great time to send home a vacation packet. Compile some fun worksheets, literacy games and fun reading passages. Check out our list of resources to get some free printables. Try adding an incentive for all those students who do the work and bring it back in January.

Do you work with older/more responsible students? Why not consider letting them "check-out" a classroom book.

Did you start a class blog? Now would be a perfect time to test out if that kind of communication works for your kids. Assign them some special projects, or begin a discussion to be worked on over break.

Want to do a hands-on project before heading out the door? Have your kids write a holiday postcard to another student/friend. You can address and post them over the break for a special surprise.

Want to talk about Santa? Describe the wish-list that many children write and send to St. Nick. Want to get his real address, see some holiday traditions from around the world?
http://www.santatelevision.com/
*having lived in Finland for a period of time, I loved explaining to my ELL students about Santa's home in Lapland!

Happy Holidays and New Year!

Thanks for all you do and for all your wonderful ideas! 

Engaging Your Students with Technology!

Technology! If you're not embracing it, what are you waiting for?! Don't let budget restraints get in the way of tapping into resources that are readily available. Whether you're fortunate enough to have a whole classroom of Ipads or not, there are ways to be creative and engaging.

We know our ELL students benefit from repetition, and we also know we sometimes can get frustrated by having to repeat the same lesson over and over! So why not let someone else teach that lesson a 2nd, 3rd or 24th time?

http://www.schooltube.com/

Has a wealth of lessons that are filmed, uploaded and viewed by schools from all over. Check out their Oral Histories- beautiful research projects done by students on their family's history.

http://esl-lab.com/

Let them listen to someone else talk. This site has an assortment of pre-recorded discussions, complete with multiple choice questions to test your student's listening skills (all without making you lose your voice!)

http://matteson317.blogspot.com/

Love blogs? (you know I do!) Create your very own one for your group of kids. Here's an example of one I used with a group of ELL students in New York.

Other tried and true options:

Take pictures of your students demonstrating verbs- create a personal picture dictionary.

Grab a hand-held camera and record your kids reading or acting.

Sign out the computer lab for extra research time/English interactives

Do read alounds with books on CD