EP 132 Supporting Newcomers in General Education
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You are an effective and hard-working educator. The work that you are doing for your students is appreciated. Thank you for your dedication and the time you put in to ensure your students succeed.
In this week’s episode, I will share strategies on how you can support general ed teachers in supporting Recently Arrived English Learners in their classroom.
I can remember it as if it happened during my planning period yesterday. The school I was working for at the time had welcomed a large number of refugees. The ESL teachers were so excited, however, there was slight panic among the general education teachers. The most common question we received from them was how were the newcomers supposed to participate in the lessons. The teachers had valid questions about learning supports, accommodations, and social-emotional concerns.
The concerns and questions were getting louder and louder. We knew as a team we had to do something to support the teachers and the students. That is when we had the idea to have a series of professional development workshops for the teachers. Each of us led a section of the professional development and the results were astounding. Let me share with you some of the strategies that teachers said worked wonders with their newcomers.
The first strategy we showed the teachers was how to modify and scaffold assignments for Language Learners. We did this by providing a sample assignment and provided a list of modifications and scaffolds. The teachers then independently wrote down how they would modify the assignment. Within about five minutes, the teachers were able to modify
the sample assignment. This showed the teachers that modifying assignments does not have to be a difficult task. It also made them feel empowered. I would suggest you lead a mini-session on how to modify assignments for newcomers. Provide the teachers with simple strategies on how they can do this for their students. If you are not able to do a session, meet with teachers during their planning periods.
The second strategy is centered on participation. The second session was about how to be intentional about how you included Language Learners in the classroom activities and lessons. We started by saying that newcomers can and should participate in all the classroom activities. We gave examples of what this looked like and scenarios to avoid such as putting them on an app while the class is participating in an activity. Like I mentioned earlier this does require you to be intentional in your planning.
One strategy we showed is calling names by pulling popsicle sticks. This encourages the teachers to be equitable when calling on students. We also provided strategies on how to include newcomers in your lessons. This could be providing a sentence frame and/or repeating what a peer said. You can also have them point to an answer or pick a choice. This does require some pre-planning, and it will be worth it. General education teachers might need some additional support with how to make this work, so I offer to stop by and observe to give some feedback. You can also have them send over some lessons to offer some quick and effective feedback.
In the last session, we shared how to use the ESL teachers as a resource. We let them know that we are there to not only advocate for the students, but we are there to advocate for them as well. In this session, we gave very specific ways on how we can support them throughout the school year. This will look different for different schools and scenarios. My suggestion to you is to brainstorm how you want and can support general education teachers at your school. Be very clear and concise about your boundaries when you decide to communicate this to the teacher. If not, you can run the risk of getting burnt out.
There are many ways you can support general education teachers on their journey to supporting newcomers. Use some of these strategies today to help you start that process.
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