Teaching Strategies
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Creating a Safe & Welcoming Environment for Language Learners
While researching and learning more about how to create a learning and welcoming environment, I learned that there are major components to creating a warm and welcoming classroom environment. Those components are physical, psychological, and emotional. We are going to start today’s episode with your reflection question. How are you currently creating a safe and welcoming environment for your Language Learners? Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer yourself honestly about where you stand. Creating a warm and welcoming environment for your Language Learners is something that should be done all year. I noticed that educators focus on this a lot at the…
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Common Mistakes When Looking for Resources (How to fix it)
We are going to start off today’s episode with your reflection question. Do you struggle with finding resources? If so, why? Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer to yourself honestly about where you stand. Have you ever spent your entire planning period searching or scanning for resources? This is the biggest struggle that most teachers have when it comes to supporting Language Learners. When speaking to educators like yourself, they consistently say they are constantly on the hamster wheel of looking for resources. Day after day I hear this from educators. A lot of them share stories of being overwhelmed because they…
- Classroom Strategies, Lesson Ideas, Reading Strategies, Speaking Activities, Teaching Strategies, Writing Strategies
Science Strategies for Language Learners
Welcome back! In this week’s episode, we have guest Lauren Rickman joining us. Lauren will be providing strategies and ideas on how to support Language Learners in science. I want to introduce our guest Lauren. Lauren has been teaching for 8 years. Lauren has two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree, and recently received her administration license. Lauren also has a 21-year-old pet cat named Savannah and a bearded dragon. I want to add that Lauren is being VERY modest about her accomplishments. She is literally one of the best middle school science teachers in the state of Tennessee. Last year she was nominated and advanced very far in the process…
- Building Relationships, Classroom Strategies, Newcomers, Planning Strategies, Speaking Activities, Teaching Strategies
Social & Emotional Support for Language Learners
Welcome to My Adventures in ESL! In this week’s blog I will be speaking with John Burnett about how to support the social and emotional health of Language Learners. In today’s episode, I will be speaking with John Burnett. John has 11 years of experience in education and mental health. Currently he is a middle school counselor. He has also been an elementary school counselor, a Spanish teacher, and an assistant principal. John received his Bachelors in Spanish from the University of Memphis, Masters in School Counseling from Cambridge College, and an EdS in School Administration from Freed Hardeman. John enjoys building bridges and making connections with students, families, and…
- Classroom Strategies, Curriculum, Planning Strategies, Reading Strategies, Teaching Strategies, Writing Strategies
Finding a Curriculum: Tips & Strategies
We are going to start off today’s blog with your reflection question. How are you planning to plan for your Language Learners this school year? Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer to yourself honestly where you stand. One of the biggest obstacles that many professionals who support Language Learners face is the lack of a curriculum. This is the biggest question that educators are asking themselves and others. The most frustrating part of this is that searching and looking for a curriculum can take so much of a teacher’s time. I know this because I have been there, and I am still…
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Bringing Student Interests into your ESL Classroom
We are going to start off today’s blog with your reflection question. Are you including your student interests in your lessons? Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer to yourself honestly where you stand. There are so many times when we are looking for lessons to teach that we are so worried about simply finding a lesson. Often we forget to ask ourselves, will the students find this lesson engaging? Not including the students interests and strengths in your lessons can lead to some of the lessons falling flat. This will result in the students being disengaged. Bored students will not connect to…
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Encouraging Collaboration in your ESL Classroom
We are going to start off today’s blog post with your reflection question. How are you encouraging collaboration with your Language Learners? Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer to yourself honestly where you stand. I think a lot of us have been there or experienced the dread that can come over students when we ask them to work together. You can hear the collective sighs and eye rolls. Every year of my teaching career, I have truly wanted my students to have an authentic collaboration experience. One where they are eager to work with each other on assignments and tasks. A lot…
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Setting Your Language Learners Up for Success this School Year (and Beyond)
Welcome educators! Before we get started I want to share with you an amazing free tool I have available to you. It is “The Ultimate Guide to a Successful School Year”. In this guide I walk you through how you can take those nervous jitters to have an undeniable confidence throughout the school year. All because you started with these basic steps in the guide. To download the guide go to myadventuresinesl.com/ultimateguide. We are going to start the blog off with your reflection question. How are you preparing your Language Learners for success in your classroom? Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer…
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How to Quickly Write Language & Content Objectives
Welcome all-star teachers! Here is our weekly reflection question: How consistent are you in writing language and content objectives? Writing language objectives and content objectives can be overwhelming and time consuming for any teacher. When learning how to write content objectives and learning objectives, there are way too many resources available. This can lead to you feeling confused and in some cases frustrated. Before I started teaching, I faintly heard of content and language objectives. The first struggle was understanding what is a content objective and what is a language objective. A content objective identifies what the students will be able to know and what to do by the end…
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Creating a Welcoming Environment for your Language Learners
Download Transcript Here This year I want to switch it up and start asking you a weekly reflection question. After hearing the question, take a moment to think and jot down your answer. I know some of you are listening to this on the go or possibly reading this in passing. I would still like you to take five minutes and reflect. This can have a huge impact on your teaching. Here is our weekly reflection question: Are you providing your Language Learners and their families with A+ customer service? Have you ever been in a situation where you have witnessed your Language Learners and/or their families receiving subpar treatment?…
