Preparing for the New School Year in the Midst of Uncertainty
Welcome all-star teachers!
As we jump into today’s topic, I would like you to reflect on your wins for the week. Every week I want to highlight a teacher’s win. A win can be big or small. I want you to celebrate your wins, and we want to celebrate with you! If you have a win you want to share email me at millie@myadventuresinesl.com.
Many of us have no clue how the upcoming school year will look for us. This can leave educators with the feeling of uneasiness because they don’t know how they can prepare for the school year. I know are going to want to have a solid plan going into the new school year.
As you all know, I am a huge advocate for preparing for the new school year. One of the biggest components of my program The ESL Teacher Master Plan is coaching ESL teachers on how to setup their school year for success. Since there is so much uncertainty on how to plan for the school year, there can possibly be unwanted stress on how to prepare for your ELLs. I want you to decide right now that you can still prepare for the school year.
One thing that I am doing is looking at the curriculum and creating my long range plans to be either hybrid/in-person. I am also considering pre-recording myself reading stories and texts, so I can be ready for the hybrid/virtual learning. The great benefit is that if I don’t need it my ELLs can still benefit from those recordings.
I am also thinking about how I can build relationships with my students. That truly is the key to a successful classroom. One way I am planning to do this is take virtual field trips with the students. I also want my students to collaborate with other students virtually. This is something that can be done in the class or virtually if we have in-person classes. This summer I will start building relationships with the students and also providing them with the opportunity to collaborate with other students all over the world.
First look at your planning process for building relationships and long-range planning for ELLs to determine what activities can be both virtual or in-person. This will become beneficial if you have to have classes virtually and in-person.
Also, Start thinking about ways you can create virtual lessons and ways you can take those same virtual lessons and teach them in person.
Then, create virtual field trips and collaborations with other schools. This will continue to build a community even if you are in person or have virtual sessions.
ESL Educators here are your next steps:
- Create a long-range plan for the school year that accommodates both virtual and in-person learning.
- Brainstorm some ways you can build community with your ELLs and their families virtually.
- Plan some virtual field trips for your ELLs through Skype Education and Nearpod.
How are you preparing in a time of uncertainty? Drop your comments below!
