TGIF

Happy Friday!

Good luck to everyone as you are probably....
- celebrating the end of a week long training
- dreading opening your classroom door next week (what's behind Door #1?)
- keeping the number of bad teaching related dreams to a minimum
- wondering where you put the so and so before you locked your classroom door behind you
- figuring out if the new principal/assistant principal/etc will finally bring a vision to your school
- slowly training your habits (and body) to the parameters of a work day

and last but certainly not least...
- hoping for a smooth and joyous 1st (and every) day with our students, colleagues and school leadership!

To make this last one happen, in my humble opinion (although research certainly substantiates this) change at schools- particularly the good kind that will help us feel more productive, supported, safe and be meaningful- does not happen unless there is a level of relational trust that is established school-wide. Obviously, the site principal plays a large role in setting the tone at a school, but don't underestimate the power of the positive individual teacher. Smile! Befriend a new teacher. Bury the hatchet with a more established colleague. Swing open your doors this year- you will learn so much from collaboration.

After all, who doesn't want to feel fulfillment in their job, especially when there is so much to do and our students' needs are so diverse. Yeah, remember differentiated instruction? Our colleagues help/advice/feedback here is what will ultimately help make it happen. And make it easier on you!

Something more to think about as the 11th hour is upon us.

And yes, I promise. I'll get back to ELL stuff. And get off the soap box.

Have a great weekend!

- W

Remember One Thing

I know.
The time for trainings is upon us. The time to be sitting somewhere for a day? 3 days? A week? and doing the split personality teacher persona: wanting to focus on the present professional development, questioning how it is supposed to fit into our instructional day and how it doesn't conflict with what you sat through a year ago.

Believe me, I know.

And here we are. It's August 2009. You are signing-in groggy-eyed, taking in the venue, sizing up your presenters, welcoming the next flavor-of-the-month, district initiative, state mandated curriculum/program or AB blah blah blah. In any case, it is always the same constraint- it is a foreign agenda that once again will consume our time, detract us from forging important relationships between staff members and allow us to talk about something that once was in the hands of schools...

Instruction.

Yes. Instruction.
When was the last time you talked about it with colleagues?

And I don't mean necessarily just about ELLs. Instruction in general. Wait time. Checking for understanding. Information processing theory, etc.

So remember one thing as you sit through the pain: Good instruction for ELLs is good instruction for all . It is simply put (but not so simply implemented, it seems) good differentiated instruction.

In solidarity,

- W

Ever wonder what the legal genesis for ELL instruction is?

Trivia is awesome.

And you never know when you may actually need to give someone this information or respond to an administrator, parent or layperson. I always feel that the more that we as teachers understand the larger picture in which we operate and realize that every decision and action that takes place in our schools and classrooms involves a political (and other) stance of some sort, the more effective advocates we become for our English Learners.

D'oh! I've managed to deluge you with a mouthful again.

Let's just skip to the info...

Lau v. Nichols

This seminal court case was brought by Chinese-American parents on behalf of their English Learner children against the San Francisco Unified School District. They argued that they were not receiving the help they needed in school due to their inability to speak English. They based their they claim to the rights they felt they were entitled to under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because of its ban on educational discrimination on the basis of national origin.

In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the students and this case greatly expanded the rights of language minority students, and paved the way for policy, services and funding sources for "Limited English Proficient (LEP) students." Of course, now we know them as English Language Learners.

And yet, 35 years later, in some places, we are still having conversations about serving these students their basic needs: adequate ELD instruction; fair, valid measures of assessing progress in English proficiency; culturally responsive, relevant ELD curriculum and respect for ELD as a content area as essential as language arts and math. Not to mention a little more respect for those of us who teach and support ELD teachers!

Anyway, thanks for taking a stroll down the annals of history. Can't understand where we should be heading if we don't know what has taken place!

Here's a link to the Office of Civil Right's reference to this case if you feel like taking a peek! http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ell/lau.html

- W

August Rush

Whoa. I feel like I've been throwing out a lot at you already- and the school year hasn't even begun yet! Okay, I'll give it a rest with the advice for a little bit.

But.

I will point you to some places that may be useful to poke around at that are simple to read and will get us all back into the teaching groove.

One good source of easy-to-follow, yet relevant articles based on research is the NEA today (National Education Association) quarterly magazine. This is a good starting point to get a handle on general topics of importance to us as teachers. Every now and again, they specifically address the topic of ELLs. A particularly wonderful and quite recent article appeared in the January 2009 issue titled "A New Look at America's English Language Learners."

You can access it here: http://www.nea.org/home/29160.htm

Okay. That's it.

Go squeeze a bit more sunshine in (unless you live here by the San Francisco Bay) during the countdown to teaching, and the various flavors of professional/staff development days sandwiched in between.

- W

The Question of ELD Curriculum

So school will be starting up very soon. In fact, in some places in the country, they start next week! (Again, disregard if you are on a year-round schedule). One of the questions that I hear very often, particularly as a new year dawns and teachers are reminded of all they have to do is: "What materials do I have for my ELL students?"

A fair question. But first, let's talk about the difference between state-adopted and supplementary curricula/materials/programs. The former is the officially "sanctioned" curriculum/program that the state somehow deemed fit, i.e. rigorous and "scientifically based" (I will hold my sarcasm) per the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

State-Adopted Curriculum

The still official California ELD curriculum is "Into English," soon to be entering into it's third decade (end of the 90s, through '00s and it's almost 2010!)

Yes, its starting to come back, isn't it?

However, now, there are choices- and plenty of textbook companies waiting at the cash register for orders. Next year is an "adoption year" for the state, in which a new curriculum will be chosen from a list that made the NCLB/state cut. So, next year, districts throughout the state- hopefully yours included- will create adoption committees of classroom teachers and maybe others to evaluate the curriculum available and determine what their district will choose to adopt. The law requires that each comittee create its own evaluation rubric, although there are state guidelines for suggestions.

Supplementary Curriculum

As you can imagine, some districts have actually adopted supplementary curriculum in the interim, as they have realized that Into English does not provide enough rigor, materials or comprise a complete program that would serve the needs of ELL students at all five proficiency levels. They also became concerned and frustrated that the state has not seemed to give ELD the importance it seemed to be giving it in the late '90s. In any case, you may have heard of Santillana's Intensive English, and Ballard & Tighe's The Carousel of Ideas among others as examples of supplementary ELD curriculum.

Knowing is Half the Battle

So as you start daydreaming of what you will be teaching in the upcoming school year, also ask yourself what you will be teaching with. If you don't have ELD curriculum, what have you used in the past? If you do, realize it may be replaced soon. In any case, this is a good opportunity to become informed, maybe participate in the adoption process, and serve as an advocate and voice for your students and colleagues who may not be as aware of the "larger context" that we operate in.

Every instructional decision we make, the materials we use and how we deliver all reflect our values, beliefs and the political constraints under which we operate.

Till next time!

- W

CELDT 2008-2009

Yesterday I gave an update on the most important changes to the CELDT in a while.

Read the following in case you want a refresher on the CELDT and a little info on the upcoming school year:

CELDT_101

- W

Time to Shift Gears

Changes to the CELDT

August.
Back to school sales in full swing, questions filling parents minds' and the dreams/ nightmares? of a new school year soon to fill our sleep.

Remember too: newcomer ELLs and incoming kindergartners in many districts are tested on the CELDT to determine their incoming English proficiency level. Did you know that starting this school year both kindergartners and first grade ELL students will be joining their older ELL peers in taking the reading and writing sections of the CELDT?

That's right.

So, it would be a good idea to contact your ELL Coordinator, Specialist, Coach or site administrator or any colleague with whom you can share information/ learn more about this important change to the CELDT. It will mean yet another logistical challenge for 1st grade teachers in particular to tackle as they CELDT test their ELL students on a one-on-one basis.

It is yet another good reason to collaborate and find solutions to logistical challenges, but also not to forget that there is an important reason for the CELDT- for many school districts, it is still the only source of information they have for making instructional and program decisions about teaching and placing their ELL students.

Just one more thing to keep in mind as a new school year begins.

Also remember: this is a good forum to ask questions, share experiences and learn about all things ELL!

- W