Week Five: Incorporating ESL Concepts into the STEM Curriculum

My Google Alerts this week focused on how ESL instruction fits into the STEM curriculum.  I found two different articles that focused how schools are working to blend the ESL and the STEM curriculum in order to better serve their students.  The article: “What do robots, eggs, and laws of motion have in common? Ask these 100 students”, discusses how more than 100 students participated in the Summer Engineering Academy at Loachapoka Elementary School.  This program was taught by several teachers including an ESL certified teacher over the summer break. The students who participated in the program ranged from pre- first grade to seventh grade.  The students spent the month of June problem-solving with their peers exploring the scientific method and mathematical reasoning. The work in the camp was differentiated with each grade level being given a different challenge to solve. Then within each grade, the students were then broken down into into groups of three or four students to design a project.  This design allows for lot of collaborative learning and discussions using academic vocabulary, which is especially important to ELLs.   

The program used curriculum from Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit organization that introduces STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) concepts to classrooms in schools around the country. Ms. Blanco, the ESL teacher at the district stated “Even though it doesn’t seem like it would, it (STEM) goes hand in hand with language development, because students are working together collaboratively to talk and solve problems. You’ve got to be able to read the problem, read the directions, follow procedures, write about it as you go through the engineering design process, to log and evaluate the results that you got and make adjustments to your design.”  It is important for both ELLs and mainstream students to be exposed to academic vocabulary, which is an area that many of our students are lacking in. 

The second article: “Programs aim to improve Merrill School Performance” concentrated on how Merrill Elementary School in the Beloit district will focus on promoting parental environment, curriculum development and school climate.  In Merrill Elementary School, 95 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged, and 27 percent are English Language Learners. The school's first area of focus is centered on improving curriculum and better exposing the students to STEM curriculum and programs.  The school district is currently researching how to make its curriculum more rigorous and engaging for all students including its growing ELL population. Some possible options that were discussed in the article include offering more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classes or foreign language.  I think that it is great that a school district is keeping its ELL population in mind when it is looking to improve its curriculum and the overall achievement level of its students.  More school districts need to follow a similar plan when looking to improve the curriculum for its students.  An effective ELL program is not a supplement to the mainstream curriculum and it should be considered in all subjects taught in the school.  There shouldn’t be a separate ELL curriculum taught in isolation, instead the ELL program should be integrated into all aspects of the curriculum.  Both of these articles do a great job presenting how the ESL curriculum can be integrated into the STEM curriculum and into the science and math classrooms. 

Coleman, K. (2017, June 28). What do robots, eggs, and laws of motion have in common? Ask these 100 students. Retrieved June 28, 2017, from http://www.oanow.com/news/local/what-do-robots-eggs-and-laws-of-motion-have-in/article_90fde828-162d-5f79-b5b2-e1ab43f98e4f.html

Gavan, H. (2017, June 27). Programs aim to improve Merrill School performance. Retrieved June 28, 2017, from http://www.beloitdailynews.com/article/20170627/ARTICLE/170629780

Week Four: Success with Technology in the ESL classroom

            My Google Alerts this week highlighted the positive academic achievements that can be made by English Language Learners when they are given the appropriate tools and when teachers are given the proper training.  I found two different articles that focused on the academic achievements by English language Learners when using technology.  The first article discussed how the Socorro Independent School District won the 2017 School of TechXcellence Award by District Administration magazine, HP and Intel, for an innovative, effective and replicable technology program in math instruction that is contributing to student success.  The second article focused on providing teachers with professional development that focused on enhancing communicative skills through the use of art and technology in the classroom and how teachers can use technology to better reach their ELLs. 

            In the article: "Socorro ISD wins 2017 School of TechXcellence Award", the author discussed the achievements in math that were made by English Language Learners.  The Socorro Independent School District (ISD) is one of only 19 schools from 14 states that were selected for this award. The Socorro ISD received the award for the success of its Math as a Second Language 4 English Language Learners Academy.  This program promotes math literacy and builds comprehension of math among English Language Learners.  Most teachers think of Reading and Language Arts when they are planning lessons for ELLs, but ELLs also need vocabulary supports and in Math, Science, and Social Studies.  It was refreshing to see how schools were using technology to not only assist their English Language Learners in Reading, but also in math and in other subjects.

            The Second Article: "Enhancing Communicative Skills through Art and Technology", focused on professional development and providing teachers with the training needed to best incorporate technology into the English as a Second Language classroom.  This article was from the Educational Research Center from the School of Education in Puerto Rico.  I found the perspective of the article to be very interesting because if was being written from a Spanish speaker’s perspective, which is totally different from the other articles that I have found through my Google Alerts.  The article discusses the professional development for English teachers of 21st century learner.  This program was funded by a grant from the Puerto Rico Higher Education Council, No Child Left Behind, and Title II Funds (NCLB – 15-01).  The program highlights the need for learning English and discusses how English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language in countries around the world including: China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt, and Brazil.  The article stated how in these countries, learning English as a foreign language is becoming a requirement in most schools.  Both of these articles reinforce the need for ELL teachers to be utilizing the technology that is available to them in order to best prepare their students for the world outside of the classroom. 

Enhancing communicative skills through art and technology. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2017, from http://cie.uprrp.edu/esl/enhancing-communicative-skills-art-technology/

Report, S. (2017, June 13). Socorro ISD wins 2017 School of TechXcellence Award. Retrieved June 20, 2017, from http://elpasoheraldpost.com/socorro-isd-wins-2017-school-techxcellence-award/

Week Three: Best Practices for the ESL Classroom

           My Google Alerts this week focused on best practices to use with English Language Learners in the classroom.  My first Alert focused on effective teaching strategies to use with ELLs in the classroom. I also received an alert about a school district cutting funding to its English as a Second Language Program and how the cuts would affect the English Language learners in the district.  My last alert for this week was a news article that was describing a new software program that is available to help English Language Learners acquire English.  These alerts all fit together because they all impact the educational quality of the ESL classroom.  Budget cuts are a sad reality that have strong impacts the education that our students receive.   The new software program Mirrors & Windows for Passport, helps to engage students and can help in language acquisition, which is ultimately following along with the best teaching practices. 

            When I was reading over the Seven Teaching Strategies for Classroom Teachers of ELLs, my immediate thought was that they were things that should be taking place in all classrooms and not limited to just the ESL resource room.  Judie Haynes describes seven teaching strategies that should be used in all classrooms with English Language Learners.  These strategies are: provide comprehensible input for ELLs, make lessons visual, link new information to prior knowledge, determine key concepts for the unit and define language and content objects for each lesson, modify vocabulary instruction for ELLs, use cooperative learning strategies, and Modify testing and homework for ELLs.  These strategies fit easily into best practices for teaching.  These are strategies that all teachers should be familiar with and comfortable with using them in their classroom.  The number of English Language Learners in our country continues to grow and having a classroom with an English Language Learner is becoming the norm.  Teachers need to be best equipped to meet the needs of all of their students in their classroom.  I think if more classroom teachers read about the best teaching strategies for ELLs it would alleviate some of the fear and apprehension facing some classroom teachers when it comes to having ELLs in their classroom. 

            I also came across a current news article focusing on the Boston Public School District and how it was cutting its budget for Special Education and English Language Learners.  This article was very surprising for me.  In the past, many other school districts in my area reduced staff and chose to cut funding to some of their programs.  However, they quickly realized that this only hurt the students.  Since then, the districts have begun to hire back teachers and increase funds to their educational programs.   It is surprising to me that in 2017 a school district would be continuing to cut important programs at the risk of lowering test scores and not making AYP.  The parents were voicing their concerns about the budget cuts and how they would only widen equity gaps. I am glad to see that the parents are speaking up for their children and I am interested to see what the final budget outcome will be. 

            My final alert was about a new program called Mirrors & Windows for Passport.  This program is designed to be used in the language Arts classroom; however it can also be utilized in the ESL classroom.  Mirrors & Windows for Passport allows students to access a variety of relevant and topical information about assignments, produce videos, submit and receive feedback on their work, and communicate with their teacher.  One of the best aspects of the Mirrors & Windows for Passport program is how it can be used to differentiate instruction.  The program features a gradual release of responsibility to the student. In the reading portion of program, there are three different levels of reading support, from guided reading to directed reading to independent reading, included with every unit.  This use of technology helps to ensure that students being challenged at their individual levels. 

            This week focused on three different alerts that focused on the best teaching strategies.  The article on the seven teaching strategies showed how teachers can easily follow the best teaching strategies in their classrooms.  The second article highlighted how budget cuts can have an impact on best teaching strategies and language acquisition, and the third article provided a glimpse at software that is available to differentiate instruction and help teachers meet the needs of all the students in their classroom. 

Haynes, J. (2010). Seven teaching strategies for classroom teachers of ELLs. Retrieved June 15, 2017, from http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/seven_teaching_strategies_clas_06140.php

Leckstrom, J. (2017, June 8). EMC school introduces online learning environment for English       language arts curriculum. Retrieved June 15, 2017, from    http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/emc-school-introduces-online-learning environment-english-language-arts-curriculum-2221004.htm

Pattison-Gordon, J. (2017, May 31). BPS criticized on special education, English language           learners budget. Retrieved June 15, 2017, from http://baystatebanner.com/news/2017/may/31/bps-criticized-special-education-english language-/

Week Two: The Benefits of Using Technology in the ESL Classroom

Last week I focused on some of the resources available to ESL teachers to use in their classrooms. This week I am focusing on what effective technology integration looks like in an ESL classroom and why technology is important.  English language learners benefit from technology because it provides both audio and visual support for text, which helps in English language development.  Technology helps English language learners find a voice, which eases the transition to a new language (Brozeck & Duckworth, 2011).  I was surprised to find that in 2017, there are still some misconceptions involving the technology integration in the ESL classroom.  Technology integration is best defined as the practice of integrating technology into teaching and learning.  There is a significant difference between implementing technologies on a surface level and actually intertwining it in a way that produces maximum results for teachers and students (Woodson, 2017).  This means is that just telling students to complete a separate internet activity or sending them to the computer center alone may not be the best use of educational technology, which is a common practice in most classrooms (Woodson, 2017). Technology can and should be deliberately used throughout the process of teaching and learning, so that it plays an active role rather than being a supplemental piece that is added to the lesson as an afterthought.

Integrating technology into the ESL classroom is crucial to student learning and language acquisition.  There are numerous benefits to integrating technology into the ESL classroom.  Some of these benefits include: increased student engagement and motivation, mobility, the teaching of valuable tools for the future, time saving for teachers, the promotion learner independence, and access to target culture (Woodson, 2017). In order for the students to acquire language, they need to be invested and motivated and technology makes this possible.  The mobility component is also an important aspect because for most ESL students.   The most authentic experiences with the target language often happen outside of the classroom setting.  Teachers can also include tools into their lessons that allow materials to be accessed on smartphones, laptops and tablets, which helps to keep students thinking about the material long after class if over.  One of the main goals of ESL teaching is to help prepare students to be successful globally, and technology helps to better prepare students for interaction in the real world.  The best way prepare students for the advancements in technology is to give them continual experiences with the tools and programs available today, and continue to update the tools and technology whenever possible. 

Teachers definitely know the importance of managing time, and technology helps both teachers and students get the most out of the time available to them.  Another advantage of technology is that it helps to promote independence.  This is important because it also helps to increase the students’ self-esteem and sense of worth.  Technology can also provide supports to the students and parents outside of the classroom, when the teacher is not available to offer assistance.  The last benefit to technology that I read about this week involved the students’ exposure to the target culture.  This exposure to the target culture can help make the content understandable and help the students to develop context.  The exposure to the target culture though the use of technology is often current and meaningful to the student (Woodson, 2017). 

Last week’s readings post provided ways in which technology can be integrated into almost any classroom and this week’s readings gave some very important benefits to using technology in the English language classroom.  The benefits highlight the need for teachers to be current and up-to-date on their teaching methods and strategies in order to best prepare students to function in a global environment. 

Brozek, E., & Duckworth, D. (2011). Supporting English language learners through technology. Retrieved June 7, 2017, from      https://www.nysut.org/~/media/Files/NYSUT/Resources/2011/March/Educators%20Voi   e%204%20Technology/edvoiceIV_ch2.pdf

Woodson, K. (2017). How to use technology effectively to transform Your ESL classroom. Retrieved June 07, 2017, from http://www.fluentu.com/english/educator/blog/esl-technology-resources-for students/