Mainstream Content Teachers With ELLs--How Can They Be Inspired To More Effectively Meet The Needs Of Their ELLs?

I just finished attending an inspiring Saturday workshop on meeting the needs of ELLs in grades K-12 content classes (not ELD/ESL ones). The workshop was at Stanford University and it brought in renowned experts in culture, technology, content delivery, academic language, etc .

Now, it doesn't take much to get me inspired on such topics, but passing on this excitement to some colleagues is taxing on patience.

So my question is this. How can I get "old dogs" to learn new tricks?

Thanks.

Denise

www.ellteacherpros.com
www.teachingsuccesseswithells.blogspot.com

Tags: ELD, ESL, English, Science, geography, math, social, studies

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Permalink Reply by Janine on April 26, 2010 at 8:16pm

Could you post some of the ideas you learned? I still like to believe good ideas are inspiration in themselves. :)

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Permalink Reply by Denise Stewart on May 8, 2010 at 8:01pm

The one disappointment was that the specialist on technology and ELLs never addressed technology beyond www.wordsift.com (which is totally awesome).

As for the rest of the conference, I found out that the ELL population has soared in the south east. I attended a workshop with a professor from University of Arkansas and she noted that their ELL population has risen by over 200% (and climbing). At UA, they are spending a lot of money on coaching support for mainstream teachers of ELLs. It was inspirational to see that they have risen to the challenge and are making a difference. This teacher support ideally comes from school staff with the training to make the endeavor a success.

I also attended a workshop on boosting academic writing and vocabulary skills of ELLs. I have been doing much of this for years, but I believe in staying current. In this workshop, with video (http://ellib.stanford.edu/), a teacher conducted an excellent lesson on algebra for 8th graders. He differentiated throughout for ELLs. If you go to the link, you will find other free resources from Stanford.

Next year another workshop is being planned. I can't wait:)

Denise

www.ellteacherpros.com
www.teachingsuccesseswithells.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by Janine on May 24, 2010 at 7:54pm

I will look into the suggested sites and pass them on to our ELL teacher. I have many ELL students from various backgrounds, so I am seeking to know more about what they need and what I can do. Thank you for sharing.