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Ofelia Garcia- Teacher's College

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Share any & all ideas related to EL here!

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2020 - D35 ML Summer Book Study - Breaking Down the Wall

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2020 - D35 ML Summer Book Study - Breaking Down the Wall

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2021 - D35 ML Summer Book Study Notes - Reading & Writing With English Learners 

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2021 - D35 ML Summer Book Study Notes - Reading & Writing With English Learners 

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Register Now Participants in this session will:  Examine the stages of second language acquisition  Practice strategies to promote oral academic language and vocabulary development  View research and resources for supporting students' home languages in the classroom  Experience lessons that incorporate oral language, reading and writing across the content areas. New format for virtual learning: April 22, 2020 - 2.0 hour live interactive webinar April 22- May 6, 2020 - 3.0 hour asynchronous assignments and reflection TARGET AUDIENCE: teachers, interventionists, educators and practitioners who support multilingual learners in grades 4-8.

Find out more

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Register Now Participants in this session will:  Examine the stages of second language acquisition  Practice strategies to promote oral academic language and vocabulary development  View research and resources for supporting students' home languages in the classroom  Experience lessons that incorporate oral language, reading and writing across the content areas.

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Find your community with the IRC's monthly virtual collaboration opportunities for educators & leaders serving multilingual learners. At these "drop-in" monthly events, meet other educators in your role across the state! Ask questions, receive feedback, share ideas & resources & more! New Educators: First Tuesdays of the month

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WIDA Can Do Descriptors This infographic offers an easy access to all WIDA Can Do Descriptors by grade level. Click on the button below to make a copy.

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The Unboxing Video: A fun classroom video activity

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Unboxing videos can be a really fun, effective way for your students to show what they know. Here’s how to use this activity in your class!Wait ...

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EL Summer Technology 2020 Presentation - Padlet - SeeSaw - Flipgrid 

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EL Summer Technology 2020 Presentation - Padlet - SeeSaw - Flipgrid 

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Teaching EL Students with comprehensible input

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Blog for resources such as Google translator sheet & EL descriptors handout for teachers

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We know the importance of providing students with high-quality feedback. As many districts revamp their grading practices and switch to mastery-based grading systems, they are becoming increasingly aware of the value of formative assessments, using data to drive instruction, and ways to provide meaningful feedback to students.

It is equally important as we discuss ways to "empower" our students and encourage students to take ownership of their learning to allow them to provide us with feedback, too: How's it going? How's my teaching? How can I better support you?

Yes, there's a risk here. However, if we truly want to place our students in the driver's seats, we must. If we truly want to model a lifelong quest to continuously learn and prove, we must. If we really want to strengthen our instruction and our connection to our students, we must.

ALSO- it took a lot of relationship building over time. Keep in mind, it can be considered very disrespectful to "correct" an adult in many cultures and in many homes. Students must learn and understand why you want feedback, and trust must be built prior to asking kids for meaningful feedback.

This can be done in a few ways, and here I've linked a few such ways. This will of course depend on your grade level, and your students' levels of language proficiencies.

I loved doing this because it showed my students that I wanted to know their thinking. I wanted to center them. I wanted my classroom to be their most exciting but also their safest. I received some harsh feedback some days, but it pushed me to be better. I didn't ask for student feedback on every lesson of course, but I did try to do this often. I never asked for student names on their papers, and I always tried to leave a space for additional comments. It normalized feedback as a part of our learning for me to ask for feedback, and they started to ask each other for feedback on their work, and became more reflective thinkers in the process.

Sometimes it was just a simple thumbs up, thumbs down. Or sometimes they'd hold up a happy face symbol or a sad face. Other times, I'd ask them for a STAR (great job explaining the steps today) or a STAIR (you can improve in explaining the steps today).

I tried to match the feedback collection tool to whatever my personal instructional goal was for the week (make directions simpler and clearer, build excitement about a topic, etc.), but sometimes I just wanted to know what they were thinking on a random, rainy Tuesday.

A few years ago, I received a GEF Grant to begin a dance program that taught students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades the histories and techniques of merengue, salsa, cumbia, and bachata through reading, videos, music, and of course- dancing. I constantly wanted feedback from the students, so we had conversations throughout the weeks of the program, but here is a survey I had them complete after the program ended.

When I was teaching third grade, I was awarded a GEF Grant for flexible seating. Feedback from students and parents was critical. Here is my student survey that we completed. I told my students that the purpose of this survey was to inform our district leaders and decision makers if this is a good thing or not for other kids. Their purpose was to share their experiences honestly. We walked through each question together to ensure everyone understood what the item was asking.

Often, I needed feedback on my instruction when students were with me. Here is one type of survey I asked students to complete. I specifically wrote "in room 9" because I wanted the students to give me feedback on how students felt when they were in my classroom as opposed to school in general.

After a specific unit of study, I wanted to find out what they liked, didn't like, and what was hard. Frequent questions I'd include in that type of data collection (aside from performance data and formative assessment data) included:
*Why do you think we learned about ______?
*How will ______ help you in life?
*What was your favorite part of this unit? (The kids can always choose to write NOTHING)
*What did you dislike from this unit? (The kids can always choose to write NOTHING)
*What was the hardest part of this unit/project?
*What was the best part of this unit/project?
*What was one part of the project that challenged you in a good way?
*What advice do you have for next year's students about this project?
*How should Mrs. Spina change this project to make it better, more fun, harder, or easier?

Sometimes, I used a checklist format.

Other times, I used a checkbox format. This particular survey would be for An Excitement Level... If you've read Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess, you may want to use this after an EXPERIENCE instead of a LESSON. ;)

For some students, I've found that the more simplistic language, the better. Plus, we all love emojis.

Here are just some thoughts. What are some of the ways you've asked for feedback?

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Innovative Inspiration with English Learners

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We know the importance of providing students with high-quality feedback. As many districts revamp their grading practices and switch to mastery-based grading systems, they are becoming increasingly aware of the value of formative assessments, using data to drive instruction, and ways to provide meaningful feedback to students.