The art of asking a question

Have you even had that feeling, either during the middle of teaching or immediately after saying goodbye to a group of kids wearing befuddled looks on their faces, that maybe you are not getting through? This has happened to me more times than I care to admit. But similar to other shortfalls, I feel it is better to know you're missing the mark than to not.

So where to start? How to adjust?

I have found that a little self-reflection can go a long way. We as ELL teachers know we are constantly differentiating instruction. But are we differentiating our questions? Anyone familiar with the Socratic method of teaching and learning will tell you that the great bulk of learning is done through questioning.

The trick to asking questions to a group of multi-level learners is to understand the complexity of the question we are posing. Take a glance at Bloom's pyramid. Think of your questions as a ladder, you should start at the bottom if you don't want to tip over.

Want some more support with creating intentional questions? Take a look at this winner of a diagram!

Any questions? :)

A Living Word Wall

I've had the opportunity to have conversations with many of our ELL departments and a common theme in each of them is, how can we do a better job of addressing basic langauge acquisition while supporting classroom learning?

It's a hard thing to balance, and often the feeling is that we have to do more content support than direct language instruction. This can feel frustrating and worse, like you're really missing the point of being a teacher of English Language Learners.

Happily, many of our colleagues are finding creative ways to balance those two important areas. Instead of just displaying a word wall, they've made it a living, functioning place where students are expected to actively engage with and learn from it. What I love most about these examples is how organized and deliberate they are, and of course the illustrations!

How can we advocate to our classroom teachers the importance of living word walls like these? I believe a good place to start is to take examples from the schools below. Set up a wall in your room/area/cart(!) as a model for other teachers to get inspiration from. Do you have a crafty student? Have them be your illustrator.

*Hamtramck Charter, MI



Ridge Park, MI

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.

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!