Our Class
Classroom Norms
At the beginning of the year, the students and I work together to develop norms. The students use Jamboard to document their ideas about showing respect in their first language. We group the like ideas together and name the groups. Then we write our ideas into sentences.
These class norms are behaviors that we all agree to , even the teacher.
Final Set
How can we show respect to each other?
How can Mrs. Miller show respect to you?
Plot Development.
First year English Language Learners review story elements and learn about plot development by reading excerpts of The Witches by Roald Dahl. After the students watched the movie, the were given a set of images from the film that they had to sequence. They worked in groups to write short summaries of the events on a sequence poster. Finally, they used the posters to learn about plot development.
We love to take pictures and show them to the world.
ESL Unit: English for Work
One of the learning anchors we use in class is a Google Slides presentation. I use the slides to guide us forward and to provide a visual to help my English Language Learners. The presentations are shared in Google Classroom along with other resources and assignments for the unit. The students have access to this digital learning anchor for the entirety of the school year.
This presentation was built with Pear Deck. The first picture shows the students’ bell ringer. The students are able to type right into the presentation and I can see their responses in real-time and have the option to show responses, with or without student names, to the class for discussion. The other pictures are more examples of ways I use ESL strategies for teaching. Concepts are often color coded, pictures are used, and audio is provided as much as possible.
Professional Development
New Teacher Orientation
Many new teachers feel overwhelmed with the information and task given to them at the beginning of the year. This professional development session was created to support their understanding of the reading standards and provide a framework for effective unit planning. The pictures are snapshots of slides from the presentation. Participants were provided with time to use the materials and practice the skills being modeled for them.
Teaching English Language Learners
Professional development is more effective when the participants have the opportunity to engage and interact with the content. One way I do this while facilitating training for classroom teachers is to have them practice completing an assignment in a different language. The pictures below show teachers experiencing authentic activities that they can then take back to the classroom and put to use.