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Black Lives Matter
Welcome everyone, Right now is a painful time for Black Americans in the United States. We are exhausted and many of us feel defeated. There is no in between or gray area. It is not okay to stand by and not take active steps to dismantle racism. This system elected a racist president that it causing harm to communities of color all over this country. Fighting racism is an ongoing fight. It is a fight you have to do EVERY SINGLE DAY! Here are some things you can do everyday to help: Educate yourself about what is happening. It is not the job of Black people to teach you about…
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Virtual Learning Strategies for ELLs
Welcome all-star teachers! These past few weeks have been a journey. I want you to take a moment and think about your wins for the past week. Share your wins with me at millie@myadventuresinesl.com The problem many of us are having is that we are in the midst of a pandemic. Our ELLs are having to switch to virtual learning with little technology. As ESL educators, this has caused us to become creative in how we are supporting our ELLs. A lot of my ELLs have very limited technology in their homes. Therefore the only way they can assess the internet is by using their cell phones. Many of them…
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Using Visuals with ELLs
Welcome all-star teachers! As we jump into today’s topic, I would like you to reflect on your wins for the week. Think about your high points and your areas of growth. We have all heard these words “just use visuals”. Visuals are a great scaffold but finding visuals and determining when to use them can be a struggle. As I was strolling through the internet, I kept seeing how visuals are a great scaffold for ELLs. Even when I was planning with my team, co-workers would simply say use pictures. That was an effective and simple solution but I was still stuck on how and when to use them with…
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Fostering Independence While Working with Small Groups
Welcome all-star teachers! As we jump into today’s topic, I would like you to reflect on your wins for the week. Have you ever wanted your students to be more independent in completing their assignments while you are working with a small group? Creating and fostering independence can be a struggle for most teachers. You know exactly what I mean when you can’t work with a student for one minute without being bombarded with questions from your students. I can remember it like it was yesterday. I decided I was going to have independent group work for a lesson. In my mind and on paper I planned an elaborate lesson.…
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Plan Engaging Lessons During Testing
Thank you for joining me today as I share some lesson ideas you can use during testing season. Before we get started I want to hear your wins for the week. If you have small or big win please email me at millie@myadventuresinesl.com. I will share them on the podcast to encourage other teachers. Testing season is upon us and having engaging lessons for your ELLs can be an obstacle. Naturally students may not feel like engaging in a lesson after spending 3 hours testing. That is why it is crucial to make sure your lessons are engaging. Last school year I felt I was on a roller coaster with…
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Refreshing Your Mindset
Hey educators! Welcome to today’s mini training. I hope every one of you has had an amazing week at school and thank you for all your hard work as educators. In today’s mini-training we are going to learn how to refresh our mindset for the second semester. If you are stuck and need to refresh your mindset then I have a FREE mini-training just for you. It will include a guide and videos on how you can refresh and renew your ESL classroom. In this FREE mini-training you will have each video delivered to your inbox. Click here to get your Reflect & Refresh course. During the second semester, school…
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Teaching Grammar & Punctuation without the Guilt
Hey everyone! Welcome and I hope you all had a fantastic week at school. This past week was our first week back at school, and I didn’t realize how much I missed my ELLs. I would love to hear about your 1st week back adventures. Have you ever been confused on how to include grammar in your lessons? While you might not want to do standalone grammar lessons, there are so many engaging ways you can include grammar in your lessons. So try not to shy away from grammar lessons with your ELLs, embrace them. As with many teachers, I usually learn about my student struggles through my “teacher radar”…
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Advocating for the Arts
Welcome everyone! I know everyone is excited to get back to their students and hit the ground running tomorrow. I am personally excited to come back more focused and determined. When I return I plan on reviewing some classroom procedures and refocusing the students. There are a lot of huge events for my students, such as concerts and art shows so I am very excited for them as well. A far to common problem that I am noticing is that ELLs are sometimes denied the opportunity to participate in the Fine Arts or Exploratory classes due to scheduling. It breaks my heart when I hear these stories because ELLs deserve…
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The Speaking App that can Transform your Classroom
I stumbled onto FlipGrid by chance. I was searching for speaking apps and this one popped up on my google search. While I was exploring the app, I noticed all of the features that can beneficial to English Language Learners. FlipGrid is a video discussion platform that is being used in classrooms around the world. I loved that is resembles students favorite social media platflorms such as SnapChat and Instagram. This had students more motivated to participate in the activities. Here is how you can use FlipGrid in your ESL classroom. Flip your Discussion Questions Before or after teaching a lesson post a discussion question on flipgrid instead of the…
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How to balance multiple level ESL students: 3 Strategies for your ESL Classroom
ESL teachers around the world all have the same question….”How do I teach when I have 4 or 5 different levels of ELLs in my classroom?” This may seem overwhelming at first, especially when you first start teaching. Even if you are a veteran teacher you can still feel overwhelmed by having various levels in your classroom. Here are some strategies in how you can balance multiple level English Learners in your classroom. Keep it Simple You are probably thinking that is easier said than done, but I promise you this is a strategy that can transform how you teach and support multiple level English Language Learners. You can teach…
