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| August 2016 PLC Group; Welcome | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 8 2016, 09:27 AM (183 Views) | |
| Lisa Z. | Jul 8 2016, 09:27 AM Post #1 |
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Administrator
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Welcome to our PLC group! I am excited to work with you this year and glad that you've jumped aboard on the EL train : ). This will be a place where we can share ideas and communicate with each other about different topics through the year. Some months we'll meet in person, but most often we will post here to take the place of an in-person meeting. In order to simulate the meeting format, you will need to respond to at least one person's post. You can respond to more if you would like to. 1. Please introduce yourself, the school you work at and the grade level you teach as well as if you will be teaching EL students this year. 2. Please read the websites and comment on some ways that you could take to start the school year for your students and create a welcoming environment for ELs. Also include ways that you can get to know your students. 3. Respond to one person's post. Resources on Starting the School Year: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/getting-know-your-ells-six-steps-success http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-create-welcoming-classroom-environment http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/ell-teachers-back-school-checklist Edited by Lisa Z., Jul 24 2016, 01:19 PM.
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| LeighP | Aug 15 2016, 06:41 PM Post #2 |
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1. Hi! I'm Leigh Pendergrass. I teach 10th grade English at The Howard School. I don't teach any EL students; I have a few students who have completed the program, but they are pretty much proficient in English. I do have a pretty good number of language minority students, so I use SIOP to help support those students. 2. Some of the things that I am trying to do to make a more welcoming classroom for my students were listed on the websites that were posted. For example, I definitely agree that getting down the correct pronunciations of students' names are important. Since my last name is weird, I always use myself as an example (people have mispronounced my first and last name my whole life), and I tell them to please correct me if I get their names wrong and that I'll do better next time. I also did "About Me" sheets on the first day and other early Do Nows to help students tell me about their personalities. Finally, I did a parts of speech review and had students use examples of some parts of speech to introduce themselves to the class. |
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| davidleepoe | Aug 23 2016, 01:21 PM Post #3 |
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1. My name is David Poe. I teach intermediate ESOL at East Ridge High School. I have one block of actual ESOL and then I teach 2 blocks of Algebra I exclusively to ESL students. This is my first year as a teacher. 2. I like all three articles, but I think that the most important thing is to get to know your student’s names. I think that this is important for native students also. I like to do lots of activities in the first week of school in which the student has to say their own name. that way I can see how they pronounce it and it helps to memorize their names as well. I also have a regular 9th grade homeroom. After about a week, I started mispronouncing the names of my regular native students. I only did this while taking roll at the beginning of class. After the roll was taken on the second day, I saw and heard the frustration with the students at my pronunciation of their names. I explained that the way they were feeling is how many of our ESOL students feel every day. I encouraged them to get to know the foreign students in their classes and make sure to pronounce their names correctly. |
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| Lisa Z. | Aug 25 2016, 06:53 PM Post #4 |
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Administrator
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David and Leigh, I like how both of you did activities and demonstrations to show other students how important it is to pronounce names correctly. David, I am sure that after hearing their names mispronounced your gen. ed. students will understand better about how upsetting and irritating it is when someone does not pronounce their name correctly. Leigh, I like how you extended the activity to include some personal information about the students. |
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| LeighP | Aug 27 2016, 04:46 PM Post #5 |
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David, I really like the idea of mispronouncing names during roll. What an interesting way to build empathy for your ELL students. That sounds like it could be s really interesting activity. |
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| CandaceBaggett | Aug 27 2016, 08:07 PM Post #6 |
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1. My name is Candace Baggett. I am a first grade teacher at Lookout Valley Elementary (I have also taught K and 3rd). This year I only have one EL student. Our EL population was reduced when we lost our ESL teacher a few years ago. So, EL students zoned for our school now attend a nearby school where they receive services from an ESL teacher. However; the family of the child in my class declined the services and decided to keep him in our school, meaning I am the only teacher he is with all day every day. 2. Out of the three articles, the thing that stuck out to me the most is the importance of building relationships with the family of our EL students. Let me explain - throughout my career I have always prided myself on the relationships I build with my students and their families, but I find myself feeling insecure in that area in regard to my non-English speaking families. I can only imagine how insecure they feel! I am working on this! |
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| CandaceBaggett | Aug 27 2016, 08:13 PM Post #7 |
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David - From an elementary teacher standpoint, teaching Algebra I sounds challenging enough, but teaching Algebra I exclusively to ESL students as a first year teacher sounds super challenging. I am very intrigued, and hope you have a great first year! |
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| TrinityOwens | Aug 30 2016, 12:13 PM Post #8 |
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Hey friends! I am Trinity Owens. I teach ESOL, grades k-5, at Calvin Donaldson. I am going to send out a welcome letter to my parents, but I really liked the idea of inviting parents to write a letter back. I think this is a great way to empower the parents to feel welcomed as well. The way they feel about the school is definitely passed to the student. I'm thinking about doing this. Our translator would be happy to help translate letters in Spanish if I got any. For my illiterate parents, they could ask a literate friend to write it, if they really wanted to write a letter describing their child. Also, it would be optional, so no one would need to stress about it. Candace, students zoned for your school, come to me at Calvin Donaldson, if they choose to not waive services.
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| TrinityOwens | Aug 30 2016, 12:18 PM Post #9 |
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Leigh, I like the "About Me" page idea. I was thinking about making one that included a self portrait and a name poem. For each letter in their name, they need to tell something about themselves. How do you do yours? |
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| CorinHarpe | Aug 30 2016, 08:26 PM Post #10 |
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1. I am Corin Harpe, and I teach 6th grade ELA at Sequatchie County Middle School. I have one EL student this year and some language minority students that would benefit from SIOP. 2. In terms of the articles, I thought it was interesting to have the parents write letters about their students in terms of their accomplishments and personal interests. This would establish a positive relationship with both the parents and the students. I never thought about giving parents the opportunity to share what they know about their children in a letter to the teachers, and I think it is a great idea. This year I have really made an effort to get to know my students and their interests outside of school, and I think it has helped with classroom management. Edited by CorinHarpe, Aug 30 2016, 08:34 PM.
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2:19 PM Jul 11