Hi,
I have been in the ELL field for about 25 years. I have an MAT in ESOL from the School for International Training in VT and I work in CA. I am currently an adjunct faculty member at National Hispanic University in San Jose, CA in both the Teacher Prep program and the Undergraduate, Liberal Studies program. I teach Linguistics and Advanced Methodology for working with ELLs. This course is to fulfill the CA authorization to work with ELLs and to fulfill the graduate units needed to clear a credential.
I started with teaching adults, which I loved. I've worked with adults in K-12 Adult School, Community College credit and non-credit programs and community based organizations. I loved the work but not the salary.
I then moved to K-12 and was a Teacher on Special Assignment focusing on ELLs, primarily in Mainstream classes, training underprepared teachers in the district, testing, etc. in a very large suburban district near San Francisco. I then moved to a very small rural district where all the ELLs were Spanish speakers and I was the ELL Coordinator for the district. I also taught pull out groups in the elementary schools in both districts and a period of ESL in a Middle School.
For most of my 25 years I have presented at professional conferences in local, regional, state and international venues. I really love presenting which helps me hone my craft and keeps me on my toes, always expanding, and hopefully improving, my teaching.
I then got involved, in 2000, in online teaching with Teachers and state-wide professional development for teachers. I worked in about seven districts across CA and finally formed a consulting agency with a friend and colleague.
We have had our website up for about a year and have had a lot of contact with teachers all over the world, which is very exciting. We provide a lot of free resources for mainstream and ESL/ELD teachers. We also have classes and publications, which focus on mainstream teachers with ELLs in their classrooms. If you'd like, please check us out at
www.ellteacherpros.com If you subscribe, for free we promise you'll get no ads for male enhancement, unclaimed raffle tickets, etc. :-) Instead you will find a slew of free sites for working with ELLs, professional development, professional content lessons, etc.
I look forward to hearing back from you all. Thanks for the specialized subgroup.
Marnie