EP 121 Strategies for Gen Ed Teachers to Support Newcomers

We are going to start off today’s blog with your reflection question. 

What are the tips and strategies you give to teachers when they ask how to support newcomers?

Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer yourself honestly about where you stand. 

This scenario may sound familiar to many of you listening. A new student arrives at the school who speaks little to no English. Their general education teacher(s) may go into a small or not-so-small panic about how to support them during class. 

Naturally, I want to share all the practical and textbook strategies of what they can do in the classroom. From what I have experienced and seen teachers want the best for their newcomers and genuinely want to help. What’s frustrating for us ESL teachers is getting them to trust the process of acquiring a language. 

Since teaching ESL, I have heard many stories and strategies on how ESL teachers support general education in this process. That can include providing professional development, offering to show them how to scaffold and differentiate content, and offering support through observations. I even went to a TNTESOL conference and one of the presenters spoke about how she provided a monthly strategy focus that she sent out each month to general education teachers. 

Here are some strategies that you can share: 

1.  Pre-teaching Tier 2 Vocabulary – this is a strategy that teachers can use that will benefit newcomers and other students in the classroom. 
2. Content/Language Objectives in student-friendly terms. This will help the newcomers understand the expectations of the lesson. 
3. Doodle Notes/Cloze Notes – this is a strategy that you can use to help with newcomers taking notes in class. Teachers can provide the students with partially completed notes and the students fill them. You can even include a word bank to provide an additional scaffold. 
4. During tests, teachers can allow notes, add pictures and diagrams for visuals, and define vocabulary. 
5. Add hands-on activities to the lessons and use manipulatives to further support their learning. 
6. Remind the teachers that newcomers may be going through a silent period, but that does NOT mean they aren’t learning. Also, share with the general education teachers the importance of the productive struggle. 

If you are ever in a situation where you aren’t quite sure how to provide guidance on how to support newcomers, use the strategies that I shared in today’s podcast.

What’s your go-to strategy that you share with teachers?

You can download the transcript here.