This source offered ways in which to promote ELL involvement even when the families are facing obstacles such as unfamiliarity with school practices, language proficiency, and cultural values. This article also discussed topics such as “linguistic intolerance” and how this affects ELL families and what a teacher can do to help them. This article also stresses the importance of community-based education and activities in order to empower and support families, teach them how to advocate for their child, how to openly communicate, and what supports are available. 

I would use and recommend this resource to others because it offers relevant statistics, strategies, and explanations that address many ELL family issues. Specifically, this article discusses communication barriers, characteristics of the ELL population, logistical issues, differences between the home and school culture. This article also offers strategies in which to overcomes these barriers. For example, if logistics is the family issues, this article suggests that arranging childcare for the family, providing transportation, or finding a time to meet outside of the parents’ work schedules as possible solutions.  

Beatriz Arias , M., & Milagros Morillo-Campbell. (2008, January). Promoting ELL Parent Involvement: Challenges in Contested times . Retrieved November 13, 2019, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED506652.pdf. 

All of the FIS practices described above may cause ESL students some stress, but probably the most important cause of culture shock for new students is the language of the school. For ESL students matters are more complicated because they are exposed to two unfamiliar and different cultures at the same time: the culture of Germany, their new country, and the culture of FIS, their new school. However, if your child seems to be taking an unusually long time to adjust to the culture of the school and is continuing to exhibit physical, emotional or behavioural problems at home, it is suggested that you contact the ESL teacher or counsellor. (These features also include interpersonal aspects such as the equal and uncomplicated relations between the sexes, and the greater freedom and independence granted by parents to their children, as manifested for example in later curfew times or the sleep-over party.) On the other hand, they realise that their parents (and even more so their grandparents back home) may be hurt by any overt rejection of their own culture and customs. American food, clothing, sports, pop music and movies have a high status among students and the "cool" kids are often American or those who espouse American culture.

This article covers what causes the specific culture shock that is school shock. It tells you what school shock is. The causes of school shock are fully explained. This article also covers the effects of school shock. And how to help students overcome school shock.

I would use this resource to help guide me to helping the student’s family unit understand why their child is experiencing these feelings. Why their child isn’t doing so well in school. And what they can do at home to further help their child overcome school shock and culture shock as a whole. I would recommend this resource to any of my colleagues for their own students and their family unit. I would recommend them to use this as a jumping off point, because that is what this particular resource is. 

Shoebottom, P. (n.d.). ESL students and culture/school shock. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/shock.htm.

Breiseth, L., Robertson, K., & Lafond, S. (2015). Encouraging and Sustaining ELL Parent 

Engagement. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/encouraging-and-sustaining-ell-parent-engagement.

 

This resource gives some ideas on how to help an ELL family get involved and stay involved. It gives a variety of suggestions on family involvement both at home and at school. Some of the ideas it mentions is the following: looking for ways for the families to help with the student’s homework, looking for ways the families can volunteer, and considering alternatives schedules, locations, kinds of events. It takes into consideration how the families may feel and the difficulty they have because of their language barrier. 

 

            This resource covers a lot of different ways families can get involved with their students. It gives ideas that they can do at home and school. I think that it is a good source to use as an educator because it gives ideas on how to reach the families of ELLs. I also think that it would be beneficial to remember this source because it gives ideas under each way of how the families can be involved. It is a good source because it lists what the teacher needs to know, a reflection, and different strategies to implement as well as links to other resources about family involvement. 

 

            I would use this resource because of the examples it gives on how to get the families involved. If I could not think of something or if my other methods did not work, I could see what examples and strategies this resource suggests. I would recommend others to use this resource because of the different variety of situation of how to get them involved. I would also recommend it because not only is it easy to navigate, but it includes links to other resources as well. 

 

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2019, from 

https://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589935334§ion.

This article reviews the key issues of collaborating with interpreters. First, the article defines an interpreter as a person trained to convey spoken or signed communications from one language to another. Next the different roles of interpreters as cultural brokers and linguistic brokers was discussed. The different people who can be interpreters and how to select them was addressed in the article, as well as the processes before, during, and after the session. Different problems that can occur when using an interpreter were also discussed, such as misrepresenting information. Overall this article gave good insight to the key issues of interpreters, the use of them, and the issues with using interpreters. 

An interpreter is a person who conveys the meaning of communication through spoken and or signed language from one language to another. The interpreter may have the role of a cultural broker or a linguistic broker. A cultural broker is a person who is knowledgeable about the client’s culture and/or speech-language community. A linguistic broker is a person who is knowledgeable about the client’s speech community or communication environment. The factors including in the selection of an interpreter include level of proficiency in English and the other language, prior experience, training/educational background, and status of certification. One of the issues that comes with using an interpreter is that meaning may be accidentally misrepresented. Interpreters also influence the client’s understanding of statements and questions. In addition to these issues, dialectal differences may also influence translation. 

This resource is credible as shown by it being on a professional association’s website. The resource gives objective information about interpreters and the issues involved with using them. The information provided in the resource is accurate as well. While the information provided in the article was very useful, there are some issues with using interpreters that the resource did not address. This article could be improved by discussing both the pros and cons of using interpreters with ELL students and their families. 

I chose this resource because I was particularly interested in the issues with using interpreters. I have always thought there could be nothing wrong with using one, and that it would just be easier to always have an interpreter. When looking through articles about the issues of using interpreters, I chose this one because it was on a credible organization’s website. I knew that by reading this article I would be reading accurate information, and not something made up. I would recommend this article to someone because it is not objective. It gives facts about interpreters, what they do, and then some of the issues with using them. 

Name: Joshua Milani

Lbreiseth. (2019, May 2). School Registration: ELLs and Immigrant Students. Retrieved November 16, 2019, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/apoyo-escolar/school-registration-ells-and-immigrant-students.

 

This resource Colorin Colorado gives facts and varying information that is important for teachers. This resource is also essential for ELL and their families as it expounds on the enrollment process in schools. A few of the important subjects in which this resource explains is the ability for schools to ask about a student's immigration status and the documents that schools can request as part of the enrollment process.  This resource for ELLs and their families also provides information on laws and policies that may protect immigrant students.  This type of information can provide significant support for ELL children and their families. Teachers, as well as ELL guardians, may use the knowledge gained from these types of resources to assist in the development of their children. 

            After reviewing and evaluating this particular resource, I have a better understanding of a schools inability to ask about a student’s immigration status. It is also important to understand that a teacher cannot report on immigration status. This allows immigrant students to feel safe during school because the ELL and their family is protected under FERPA. I also learned that during the school enrollment process, a child must only have proof of age and residency. A school cannot discriminate against a foreign birth certificate. These resources also include a fact sheet with information both parents and teachers need to know about the enrollment process in a school district. This fact sheet also makes the information very clear and includes race and ethnicity data about school obligations, social security data, and proof of residency. This resource is excellent and provides information in an easy to comprehend format for both teachers and parents. 

I would use this Colorin Colorado resource if an ELL or family member were working to be enrolled in a school. Mainly because the information is both clear and simple to comprehend.  The information regarding school enrollment processes can be confusing and overwhelming for teachers, the ELL, and their families. This resource presents all of the vital “need to know” information is a simple format. An addition reason I would recommend this resource to others is that it goes above and beyond when it comes to information that is more specific. For example, if a teacher or ELL parent wanted to learn more about the specific laws regarding immigration, they can be referenced using this resource. All laws and their Supreme Court cases are easily accessible. These resources also provide videos to assist in clarifying specific matters, such as, how to handle a child involved in the enrollment process. This includes evaluations, access to records from other schools the child may have attended in the United States, etc. For these reasons, I feel that this is an excellent resource to assist teachers, ELLs and family in enrolling into the U.S. education system. 

Annotated Bibliography:

(n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2019, from https://media.edweb.net/edWebinar/?view=20171101edweb54. 

This webinar listed an array of resources and things to do to increase family engagement.  An interesting strategy she mentioned, was to make videos for the parents.  These videos can be used to explain tough concepts to parents, so that they can help their children at home.  By showing parents how the teacher is presenting the material to the students, the parents will be able to assist their children at home to reinforce their learning.  This can also be helpful for students who are at a higher level and finish their work or tests early.  Once the early finisher has completed their work, she asks them to make a quick video for their parents that will be reviewing the day’s assignment.  She expressed that since creating these videos, she has received more parental feedback, and enhanced the quality of her overall interaction with parents.  Preparing for teacher conferences was another strategy she discussed.  A few tips she listed for creating the environment, were setting up a space with comfortable chairs for parents, and pushing tables together with a table cloth and plants to give it a homey feel.  Another suggestion, was to hang posters of the different cultures of her student’s families around the classroom.  This shows families that their culture is respected and acknowledged in the classroom.  Also, providing student work samples or projects that are not finished yet, can give the parents a better idea of where their student stands academically.  Giving the parents things to work on at home with their student, is another way to engage parents.  This will also reinforce the idea that the teacher and parents are a team that work together for student success.   I think this webinar gave wonderful ideas to help engage families.    

Summary:

The purpose of this webinar was to give teachers tips and resources for engaging parents.  All students will benefit from family engagement.  Family engagement will also have a tremendous impact for English Language Learners.  This webinar provides many tips to engage all families.  One of the strategies she discussed; was different things the teacher can do before the beginning of the new school year to engage parents.  Sending a post card to students and parents welcoming them to the new school year, is a great way to start building that relationship with families.  She also suggested sending parent surveys to learn about the child, and also find out how the parent can contribute for the year.  

Evaluation:

I have heard from other teachers that getting parents to engage can be difficult at times.  The tips that were provided in this webinar were easy to do and not very time consuming.  This webinar expressed the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship with parents.  The parent’s voice matters, and so does the teacher’s voice.  Only by working as a team will the student have their best chance for success.

 

Reflection:

     This webinar detailed ways to involve parents in the school community.  I believe that the tips provided, give parents and students individually appropriate expectations.  I feel that I have gained a better knowledge on ways to involve parents in their student’s learning.  I believe this resource would benefit seasoned teachers, as well as future teachers.  These are tips that I will be using in my future classroom. 

Annotated Bibliography: 

How to Reach Out to Parents of ELLs. (2016, February 4). Retrieved November 17, 2019, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-reach-out-parents-ells.  

This article discusses how to reach out to English Language Learners parents for the better of the students’ education. The more involved the parents are in the school, the more likely the student is to succeed and want to learn. One topic discussed in the article was arranging community and home visits. This can help not only the parents feel more welcome into the school but also will help the family as a while feel welcome into the community.  

 

Summary: 

The article I chose focuses on different aspects that can help the families of ELL students feel more welcome into the schools and community. Not all parents have a lot of time to visit schools due to reasons such as work or personal issues. This article suggests that in order for ELL parents to get more involved is to arrange a community and home visit. Some parents have an issue with going to schools due to time restraints from work or they simply feel intimidated by the school setting. Allowing for parents to meet all the same people they normally would in a school setting outside of the classroom might help them feel more comfortable and will help them want to pay attention more, rather than feeling scared. 

 

Evaluation: 

This article covers ways to reach out to ELL families. Welcoming ELL parents into the school setting and can be very intimidating for parents to come to willingly. The article discusses a way of helping the parents feel more at ease by arranging home and community visits. The article also mentions hosting a back to school night for the parents and arranging a tour could be beneficial for the parents to understand what exactly the school is like. The article also provides videos that discuss the benefits of reaching out the ELL parents. 

 

Reflection: 

This resource was very informative and provided a lot of information about how to reach out and include ELL parents into the school setting. Most teachers don’t know exactly how to go about including ELL parents into their classrooms and this article does a very good job of explaining how to do it. Most of the time ELL parents are just as nervous as the teachers are because everything is so new to them. I would recommend this resource to others because it provides a lot of ideas for including ELL parents into the classroom and how to make them feel comfortable. Some examples are arranging home and community visits, host a back to school night in the language of the student, and set up a school tour for the parents to explore the school.  

 

Hiatt-Michael, D. B. (2007). Promising Practices for Teachers to Engage Families of English Language Learners. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=e000xna&AN=470158&site=eds-live&scope=site

            This eBook provides a variety of activities, communication skills, and other resources, for experienced teachers and preservice educators to work with families of English language learners. These resources are aimed towards those who are searching for ways to connect with ELL families from diverse cultures and multiple proficiency levels in English. However, the information within this article can also be useful to parents, administrators, and others who find an interest in learning about ELLs and family involvement in the public-school systems. `

 

This eBook has seven main sections each touching on important aspects of schools connecting with families of English Language Learners.  These sections range from creating partnerships with ELLs and their families to developing an understanding of ELLs within the community, and finally engaging parents of ELLs to become leaders within their schools and communities. The main focus of this eBook is to inform teachers of their role as the center of academic success in the classroom. As the center of academic success, it is important that teachers reach out to families and foster an environment that promotes learning and collaboration across different cultures. In turn, communication between teachers and families increases a student’s chance for success in the classroom. 

 

I think that this resource is a great tool not only for preservice teachers but for experienced teachers as well. It explores a wide variety of ideas all relating to the importance of connecting and working with families of English Language Learners. Diversity is important in schools and this source outlines the learning possibilities that can be unlocked when schools and their communities come together as one. By promoting communication between the two, learning environments become more positive and confidence is built within ELLs and their families. Encouraging parents and families of ELLs to become more active leaders of the community is beneficial to the entire community and its schools. Supporting diversity as a teacher sets a good example for your students and also teaches them to appreciate each other and gain more knowledge about the world outside of what they already know. The more diversity students are introduced to, the more well-rounded in their knowledge they will become.  

 

Reflection:
Reading this eBook has helped me to further develop my understanding of the importance of connecting with ELL families. As a future educator it is my responsibility to ensure that my English Language Learners are recognized and represented not only within my classroom and in my school, but in my community as well. The way to achieve this is by communicating with parents and families and encouraging their involvement. This is a resource I can continuously refer to in my own teaching experience and share with others to highlight the importance of these ideas. My goal as a teacher is to include all students despite their differences and restrictions and this resource has given me the instruments I need to unlock my potential as a guide and an educator to unlock my students’  potentials in becoming active members of their communities and school systems. 

Chen, C.-T., Kyle, D. W., & McIntyre, E. (2008). Helping Teachers Work Effectively with English Language Learners and Their Families. (Undetermined). School Community Journal, 18(1), 7–20. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=eue&AN=508061288&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 

      The resource provides information on teacher perspectives and attitudes on ELL student family involvement before and after participating in professional development opportunities. The resource outlines the challenges, current practices, and most effective practices for involving families of ELL students. The information provided by the resource is personal yet informative and will help other educators facing similar challenges.

            This article looks at how teacher perspectives about parent involvement change after participating in professional development activities. Teachers generally had the same positive outlook on parent involvement before and after participating in professional development, however, some specific perspectives shifted. One of the biggest shifts was seen in how and when teachers contact parents. Teachers reported contacting parents over the phone or sending a letter home to discuss concerns or bad behaviors. After the professional development, more teachers were open to the idea of home visits and were open to using home communication to talk about positive things the students do in school. More teachers reported that they called all students families to share positive news about their child’s school performance. Teachers who started to do home visits reported that the parent and teacher relationship was stronger moving forward, and that these families even started to show up for school events following the visits. 

            I think the article shows a realistic insight to how a lot of teachers may attempt to involve families of their ELL students. These attempts, though they have good intentions, are merely surface level and don’t often lead to successful relationships with parents. This article shows that more personal and family-specific attempts work best to show families that you care and want them involved in their child’s education. Once more teachers started visiting their student’s homes, it led to families being more responsive and active with teachers, their children, and the school community. I think that the typical news letters that get sent home are often overlooked because it’s not specific to the child, it’s just a generic form sent home to everyone. Also, if calls and contacts made are always negative, it will push parents further away rather than welcome them. 

 

            I think this answers a lot of realistic questions and that it aligns with a lot of common practices seen today. We think the calls home and news letters are good and show an effort, but they’re really not effective. I also think that a lot of the things we can do better as teachers to communicate and involvement families aren’t as hard as we make them seem. Yes, a language barrier is a challenge, but it can be worked around. Sending home positive notes, calling home with positive comments, and visiting the home aren’t such farfetched things to do in order to develop a healthy and positive family relationship that will mutually benefit the child’s education. 

 

Summary:

This resource is titled “The Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing on English-Language Learners: Implications for the Practice of School Psychology”. This article talks about ELL students struggling with high stakes tests. A lot of ELL students have a high risk of failing these exams. This is a big issue for ELL students and their families because they sometimes have a hard time coping with the negative consequences of high-stakes tests. Examples of high stakes-tests are the tests that students have to take to get into to the next grade level. If ELL students fail these tests this could cause a lot of stress among families. There has been so many challenges to provide ELLs with the appropriate education they need to graduate. This article provides information that addresses all of the issues that ELLs and their families go through. School psychologists try different way to help support them when going through unintended, negative consequences of high-stakes tests. 

 

Evaluating:

This resource was written with a clear format and was easy to understand. This article had an abundance of data on how high-stakes tests can affect ELL students and their families. This is a very good resource for teachers and families to use.  It has given me a lot of insight on what ELLs have to go through on a daily basis. I feel like everyone who works in the school system should read this article to be informed. School psychologists give some helpful strategies on how you can make coping easier for families. 

 

Reflection:

I would use this resource because I am now well informed of all of the issues that high-stakes tests can cause to ELLs and their families. There is a good list of supports that families and teachers can use to help children who are struggling. The information in this article is very important and useful. School Psychologists can really try help any student with any problem. I would recommend this resource because it is very informative, and I think that it is very easy to navigate. This article also gives great advice on what parents can do with their child at home. 

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

Li, C. c. li@northeastern. ed., Kruger, L. J. ., Beneville, M., Kimble, E., & Krishnan, K. (2018). The Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing on English-Language Learners: Implications for the Practice of School Psychology. School Psychology Forum, 12(3), 79–90. Retrieved from
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=eue&AN=132755896&site=eds-live&scope=site

 

Evaluation: This resource provided a multitude of data that represented positive impacts and results with the presence of parent involvement in the ELL child’s academics. While the data presented offed solutions within programs such as SIOP, analysis of the data shows drawbacks and challenges as well, such as parent transportation, work schedule and language barrier. Another important drawback is that not every teacher is available to make house visits, and vice versa with parents being able to host them. Participants in the SIFI project on all sides gained knowledge and useful experience going forward. Teachers learned new strategies to implement parent involvement as well as adding activities that benefit the families cultural awareness in the classroom. The parents learned how their role is vital in their child’s success in the American schooling system.

 

Reflection: This article was useful and offered pros, cons, and new ideas that teachers could find useful as well as ELL parents doing research on their own involvement. The article is realistic and while it offers probable solutions to involve ELL parents better, points out that problems like parents work schedules and transportation will arise and are common in these types of situations. The two groups studied in the study displayed different viewpoints on parent involvement at the beginning. Cohort 1 would apply to parents who go into the ELL students learning experience with a more traditional viewpoint of involvement and that it is more likely to be needed in cases of bad grades and trouble. Cohort 2 would apply to parents going into their child’s learning with a positive open mind to becoming involved. By displaying tables to demonstrate the data, ELL parents will have an easier time reading information that pertains to them. Overall, I think this article is easy to read, navigate, and support strong data to encourage ELL parents to become involved in their students learning experience.

APA Annotated : Chen, Cheng-Ting. “Helping Teachers Work Effectively with English Language Learners and Their Families.” Scholarly Community Journal, vol. 18, no. 1, 2008, pp. 7–20., https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ798678. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019.

NEA. (n.d.) Partnering with families and communities. Retrieved from www.nea.org/home/63601.htm

          This article focuses on the issue of ELL families and their involvement in student’s education. The article begins with discussing the importance of parental involvement on education and how many schools struggle with getting parents involved in education. Several “starting points” are stated to help teachers get ELL families involved. This source is helpful for teachers who are unfamiliar with ELL families and how to make them feel welcomed into the school setting.  

This article provided by the National Education Association (NEA) describes how a teacher help ELL families become actively involved in their child’s education. As suggested by research, parental involvement is a leading contributor to improved academic performance, lower dropout rates, and better student attitudes. One of the first starting points of helping families to become more involved is to be open to different forms of parental involvement. Another way to help build involvement is to build relationships with families and the community, in ways such as home-visits. This article provides many other examples of how to get families involved in education, but another important factor to consider is the families immigration status. Some families are unsure of how to obtain citizenship, but with the help of teacher resources, they can be pointed in the right direction. 

           When a non-native family immigrates to the United States, regardless of the reason, it may be hard for the family to get acclimated to the new lifestyle. Most families want the best for their child, which pulls a heavy focus on education. Many families are hesitant to become involved in their child’s education for various reasons, some being that they have language barriers, they have lack of time to do so, etc. Family involvement has a positive impact on student performance. If a teacher is able to get an ELL student’s family to participate in their education, the student may have greater success in the school setting. 

Much of the information provided in this article revolved around getting to know the family and the dynamic of the ELL’s home life. When a teacher recognizes that not all families are able to participate in the same way, they are opening the door to parents who would not usually take part in a child’s education. As a future teacher, I don’t always think about being an advocate for students’ families, but it is just as important to make the family feel safe as it is to make the student feel safe and welcomed into the school. Considering factors such as immigration status, current home situations, and the family dynamic can help a teacher determine how they can help the family, and how the family can participate in their child’s education. 

Robertson, K. (2016, January 14). Bilingual Family Night for ELL Families. Retrieved from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/bilingual-family-night-ell-families.

This article describes the importance of family involvement as well as the steps required in order to set up a successful family night.  As an educator it is vital to embrace and enhance connections between school and home.

 
Summary

This article talks about how to implement a bilingual family night for families of ELL students.  A family night can establish shared expectations with the parents about the upcoming school year and it allows for suggestions and supports to assist families in helping their child.  In order to host a successful family night, communication is key; send home letters in the NL, make phone calls, etc.  You can also provide food and childcare, by doing this it sets the mood of a friendly and comfortable environment.  It’s important to have staff members/translators able to communicate with families so that everyone’s opinions and voices can be heard.  Emphasize the importance of attending conferences and getting involved within the school in order to feel “more in the loop”.  It is also beneficial to do a fun learning activity with the families, this promotes positive and healthy homework interactions later on in the school year.  Finally, give families a way to volunteer that best works for them.  It’s critical to embrace each child’s individuality as well as their families’ skills and assets.

 
Evaluation

I think this article really emphasizes how important family involvement is to a child’s success.  All students, especially ELL students need strong support from both school personnel and those at home.  When both schools and families are involved the student is more likely to achieve higher grades and test scores, have better attendance, have better social skills, and graduate to move forward in higher education. By having a family night, you are facilitating a direct connection between school and home.  Parents can be involved and see what their child does during the day.  Too often are ELL families kept in the dark.  Schools need to shine a light on the positivity and value their program has to offer.

 
Reflection

This resource can be useful for all teachers and speech pathologists. As a future teacher I would definitely try to implement this into my school.  My goal is to see all students succeed, and it’s really hard for a child to succeed without the encouragement and involvement of family members.  This resource is a great guide on how to set up a bilingual family night.  Speech pathologists can also implement this at a smaller scale if they work in a clinic. No matter what, families should and need to be involved. 

This website is all about interpreters and the roles of an SLP along with the responsibilities. It begins by providing the definition of an interpreter and then explains that interpreters may serve in the role as a cultural broker. Several other topics are covered to inform the reader about how an interpreter is used and the best ways to collaborate with him. The article states different concerns with this issue according to legal and ethical standards.  Case studies are provided to incorporate real life scenarios. This source is helpful for SLP’s who use an interpreter or may use one in the future. 

 

Summary: 
This article provided by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) describes interpreters and collaborating with them. It states that the SLP should remain in the room the entire session even with the interpreter present. An interpreter may influence a clinician’s ability to diagnose, treat, and seek reimbursement for services. The student and the SLP should meet with the interpreter in advance to ensure that the collaboration will go well. It is important to make sure the correct languages are being addressed for the correct students. An issue with interpreters is funding. It can become expensive although clients are not expected to pay out of pocket for these services. There may be some problems with using an interpreter, but there are ways to be successful and work around it. 

 

Evaluation:
When ELL families moves to the United States, it can be difficult in many different ways. Communication is extremely important, and it can be a challenge when one does not know how to do so. In some cases, there may need to be an interpreter. This might be looked down upon and present various issues however, we need to do what is best for the child to ensure success. This process can be tough because so many things need to be taken into consideration for choosing an interpreter. Schools may think it is too difficult and just throw the idea out right away. If an interpreter can bring about a student’s ability to communicate, then it should be considered more in schools.

 

Reflection:
Most of the information in this article is about interpreters and the issues and considerations that need to be brought about. I think this article would be a great resource for other SLP’s to use because ASHA is an accredited website that is very useful for SLP’s. It talks about interpreters and how we can collaborate with them to make sure our students success even if it is a controversial topic. As a future SLP, I personally do not think I would want an interpreter in my therapy session because it is my job to get the child to communicate however, if that is the only option that they will produce language, then I would want that to occur. I think this article clearly states the pros and cons of an interpreter, and I would recommend it to any SLP.

Anonymous. (2016, February 4). How to Reach Out to Parents of ELLs. Retrieved from 

https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-reach-out-parents-ells.

This article provides a step be step outline for how to reach out to the parents of ELL students. It serves to create a sort of checklist that provides teachers with suggestions and techniques for getting in touch and staying in touch with your ELL students. The author sequences its information starting with using the parents preferred language, then talking about educating parents on U.S. school systems, arranging home and community visits, and finally welcoming parents to the school.

Summary:

The resource I chose is about reaching out to the parents of ELL students. This article details the importance of getting the parents involved and it talks about how it benefits ELL students to have their parents involved in their education. The article talks about reaching out to the parents in their preferred language by using a fully bilingual interpreter, translating the information you give to them, and even taking the step to learn their language to make them feel comfortable. This resource also outlines things we need to educate parents regarding the school and information about resources that are available to their students. Lastly the article talks about having home and community visits and welcoming the parents into your school. 

Evaluation:

I think this resource is very well written and broken down in a way that makes the steps towards positive teacher parent relationships doable and easy to understand. I think that by using these points we can build and maintain good rapport with the parents of our ELL students. This article is clear and to the point about how we as teachers and school staff can successfully reach out to ELL parents and make them feel welcome into their child’s education. There is so much important information in this article that will serve to make us better at bringing parents into the school setting for the benefit of their child. This article gives many suggestions for us to look at when reaching out to ELL students parents. It is beneficial for us to look at this and use these key ideas moving forward to ensure the success of all of our students and to make ELLs and their families feel safe and welcome during their transitional time. 

Reflection:

This article was very helpful in breaking down steps that we as teachers can take in order to include and educate the parents of our ELL students. It goes over simple things that we can do to help reach out and engage with them. The initial effort on the part of the teacher will go a long way in building a good relationship with the student and parent alike. I think welcoming parents to the school is huge because I do not want there to be a barrier that separates teacher from parents. Creating an atmosphere of acceptance and warmth for the whole family will make the whole situation more successful and it will enhance the students education. 

Zalaznick M. (2019, August 1) Schools Deepen Connections with ELL Parents. Retrieved from https://districtadministration.com/schools-deepen-connections-ell-family-literacy/ 

This article describes how one school is setting up a program to improve ELL parents’ connection with the school and teachers. It states the plans and reasoning behind the school’s decision. The program will reflect the idea that it is important for teachers to build a line of communication with parents.

Summary
The article I chose is about one school’s way of better connecting with English Language Learners’ parents. One program that a teacher is implementing is a resource room for parents who are learning English. This allows the parents to work on the same program as their children use in the classroom. The article goes to describe how another school is working with a local college to set up a workshop for English Language Learners and their parents. The works will be broken up into two sections. One will focus on language and the other focuses on soft skill that allow parents to improve their connection with the school. The article ends with stating that these programs allow educators and parents to work together to develop academic, social, and emotional strategies that will help a child to succeed. 

I believe this article is a great way to show how easy it is to improve English Language Learners’ parents’ involvement.  It states ideas that any school could implement if they just took the time to do it. When parents are learning with their children, the student’s attendance improves along with their achievements. This article helps schools and teachers see that giving parents a way to be apart of the classroom makes the parents stronger supports of their children. Overall this article is a great piece to start the necessary conversation about helping English Language Learners’ parents to be more involved.

This article was helpful to see simple ideas that can be implemented in a school. This article would be great to use in a school district that is having issues with English Language Learners’ parents’ involvement to show them what they can do. It is important for teachers and schools to take the time to help parents, so they are able to understand their children’s assignments and their assessments. As educators if we take the time to make the parents feel more comfortable and confident with helping their children, the priority of education becomes higher. Implement these types of programs could change the education of every English Language Learner.

National Educational Association. (n.d.). Partnering with Families and Communities. Retrieved   November 22, 2019, from http://www.nea.org/home/63601.htm 

Summary:
My chosen resource discusses what schools should do to ensure that ELL families are involved within the school system. This article explains how research has been done that more parent engagement has increased students’ attitudes, academic performance, and decreased the dropout rates. The article provides many useful tips on how to keep the ELL families involved during the time they attend school. These strategies include knowing that engagement can come in many ways or forms and to accept the different forms of engagements. Extended families play a big role and it is important to always make them feel welcome to attend school events. Building relationships with the family is important because if the family feels comfortable, they can put their trust in the faculty members at the school which will increase the students trust in their teachers. Communicate in the families preferred language as much as possible or use interpreters. This will also bring the family comfort knowing they understand and aren’t confused during conversations. Welcome their culture to the classroom by allowing the ELL student to apply their cultural background to their schoolwork. Most importantly, make sure the family knows their rights of parents of an ELL student and share resources that can help them when needed.
Evaluation:
Something that stood out the most to me while reading my chosen resource are some examples of strategies used. Being able to recognize different family involvement was a big one. Not all parents need to be in the PTA or chaperone a school dance to be considered involved. The school can hold a free English class for parents and extended family. This keeps the family members aware of what’s happening in their child’s school and help them feel comfortable in an unfamiliar environment. I also notice one strategy stated to use the families preferred language as much as possible. I feel that most people are under the impression that because the student should be focusing on English that their native language should never be used to help with the learning process. This is not true, especially for the family of the student. They should always have a clear understanding of what is happening and using their preferred language is what is going to work for them.
Reflection:
I would use this resource for myself because I discovered ways to involve families of ELL students that I never thought of before. Involvement doesn’t need to be the same as every other parent in the school and it most likely won’t be the same because these types of parents are different from the non-English Language Learners parents. The strategies are simple and very easy to use within the school system. I would recommend this to any teacher or faculty members who have ELL students. The involvement of any parent at the school is important for the student’s success and it shouldn’t be any different for ELL students. 

APA Citation: Breiseth, L., Roberston, K., & Lafond, S. (2015). Connecting with ELL Families: Strategies for Success. In Colorin Colorado. Retrieved from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/connecting-ell-families-strategies-success

Summary: English Language Learners face many difficulties throughout their transition from their home country to here. This article discusses how natives of English can help the family adjust to their new surroundings. The authors make a point to remind us that not every ELL comes from the same place or speaks the same language, they give advice on how to handle each family as a unit and an individual. It speaks on learning more about the ELL student, scheduling around important holidays (that are not school sanctioned) and creating a welcoming environment for all that enter the classroom.

Evaluation: This article greatly supports the ideas of uplifting an ELLs family within the community. By listing advice and displaying examples of the struggles ELLs face, greatly helps an outsider view how to help another. The article was well written and easy to understand. The information was quite helpful in the sense that it brought to life some major problems ELL families face. The article gave information about supporting ELL families, that can be used across all platforms. It reminded the reader that there are was to be supportive of others in your community and not only through the teacher’s perspective.

Reflection: This resource is not only useful for teachers, but it’s useful for any occupation that sees ELL families or children on a consistent basis. As a future educator, however, I would be able to implement these strategies within my classroom. Hopefully, I would be able to encourage my colleagues to do the same. This resource is a great reminder that not all people share the same beliefs and cultural normalities. It provides great advice on how to help an ELL feel more comfortable within the room and allows for both sides to get to know where the other person stands. For example, if we (as educators) do not take the time to get to know our students, we may never know if our teaching is taking away time from their ability to celebrate their religion/religious holidays. 

Ferlazzo, L. (2016, January 30). Response: Building Relationships With Families of ELLs. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2016/01/response_building_relationships_with_families_of_ells.html

Summarization: Out of all the resources that I researched for this assignment, this one stuck out the most to me in terms of its content. It provides one question that all of its information is centered around, and that question is the following: What are some of the ways teachers can actively involve & connect with English Language Learner’s parents. The resource then provides answers from parents of ELL students and teachers that are vocalizing their opinions and experiences with either the parent or teacher and what they believe can be done to help the situation. It also offers various strategies that can be done to help bridge the engagement of interaction with parents, such as: Answer their FAQs, Share Student Progress, Using Technology to Engage Parents of ELLS, etc. There are in depth examples and strategies that offer much knowledge for the teacher to better develop communication with parents of ELLs to ensure they are successful and are comfortable inside the classroom.

Evaluating: As stated in my summary, this resource offers in depth examples and strategies that can be used to improve communication with parents of ELLs. I find this to be vital as it is able to help me properly understand how to address these problems and questions that I have. It is also very useful because these answers and experiences come from both sides, the parent and teacher, and it lets us see from each perspective. The answers and suggestions feel real and things that I can implement into my classroom if I have an ELL student. This is important because it will provide more respect with the parent and create a positive attitude about the classroom which will hopefully have the same effect with the ELL student. A main focus that is present throughout is that of establishing a positive rapport with the parent to help and establish an effective relationship between parent and the teacher. It stresses the importance of putting effort forth to show the parent that you care about their involvement and their child’s success, and just the small bit of effort can show them that they are not alone, and it can change their whole perspective on the US School system. 

Reflection: I finished reading this article with the motivation to make sure that I do every single one of these suggestions if I have an ELL student in my classroom. Making sure not only the student feels comfortable and excited but their parents as well is such an important job of an educator. As an educator, it is important that we do things out of the box because it is the only way that our students will show more meaningful and effective results in terms of success. Making sure that English Language Learners are seen and represented in every aspect will help increase their confidence and overall attitudes not only in school, but around their community as well. As previously stated, I will make sure that this resource is used because I want my classroom to be very diverse, positive and comfortable. It covers such important topics and includes many effective strategies that will help me reach my goal of making everyone feel safe, wanted and equal. Not only will it help me as a teacher, it will help me as a human being, someone who wants to help others in any way that is possible. This resource has given me the chance to unlock my full potential as a future educator to help push my ELL student further and further and help them reach their full potential. By doing this, they can leave my classroom and go do things out in their community and make a difference, kind of like the difference I hope to make with my future ELL students.

APA Annotated Bibliography: 

Noonoo, S. (2017, October 11). The Journal. 5 Strategies for increasing engagement with ELL families. Retrieved from https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/10/11/5-strategies-for-increasing-engagement-with-ell-families.aspx.

 

Summarization: This article did a great job on discussing the benefits of ELL parent involvement, as well as some strategies on how to strengthen it. Firstly, it discussed how the number of ELL students are at a rise, making up around 10 percent of the current student population. With this rise, we need to furthermore increase the amount of parent involvement in students’ success, because parent involvement can be a key factor to ensuring that success. One strategy that a teacher can use to increase parental involvement is to find out what those parents think. Upon finding out that a parent’s work schedule may not line up with meeting times or how they may feel about education in general provides the school district more information as to why that involvement may be lacking. Using this information, a teacher can use that feedback to make changes to make the parents feel like their involvement matters and that they have a voice through things like offering communications to the parents in their native language. 

Evaluation:  After reading this resource, I found that it did a great job on discussing ELL parental involvement in a short and concise manner. There were, however; many different strategies that it could have included. As stated in my summary, the three strategies that this article discussed were to discover what the parents think, use that information to make changes, and offer communications in other languages to make them feel like their opinion matters. I believe that these strategies are a great start and help break the barrier a little bit between the teacher and the parents. I know that this article was meant to just be a quick guide and not a lengthy summary about everything ELL, but the information that it did provide was very helpful and is a great start to bridging the gap between teachers and parents of ELL students. 

Reflection: This article was a great little resource with the information given about the rise of ELLs in the classroom, as well as some strategies to get more ELL parents involved with their child’s education. The strategies listed are great, simple things to do that I believe would really help give the teacher more information about them, as well as making the parents feel more involved in their child’s education. Simply sending a survey home to the parent in their native language about their beliefs of parental involvement is a great way to give the teacher opportunities to get those parents involved, as well as letting the parents know that the teacher actually cares about their involvement. This article also importantly highlighted the teacher using that feedback given by the parents to make and implement changes on better ways to get parents involved. Overall, this article gave me some good, simple ideas to use in my classroom on how to boost parental involvement as well as making the parent feel like they are valued in their child’s educational experience. 

APA Citation: University of Miami. Waterman, R., & Harry, B. (2008). Building collaboration between schools and parents of English language learners: transcending barriers, creating opportunities. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from http://www.niusileadscape.org/docs/FINAL_PRODUCTS/LearningCarousel/Building_Collaboration_Between_Schools_and_Parents_of_ELLs.pdf.

This resource is about involving other schools and parents of English language learners to the classroom. It also discusses about the barriers between school personnel and how to break down those barriers. It discusses a variety of topics including how to effectively involve principals, school-districts, and special needs, undocumented immigrants, and school sites into the classroom. The quality of the resource is excellent quality because it is supported by research and the authors are creditable. 

Summary: My resource discusses a variety of topics that talks about school personal and how to involve parents of ELLs in their child’s academics. It also discusses the barriers between school staff and parents of ELLs. For example, one topic is that many school personnel do not understand the culture of ELLs and have misunderstandings of how parents are expected to be involved in their child’s schoolwork. The resource also states how to bring down those barriers by having school staff receive professional development to understand how to collaborate with parents toward common goals. It also examines how to effectively have an opened-ended meeting with the parents of English language learners.

Evaluation: When I was evaluating which resource to use for this assignment, I knew needed a resource that is creditable. My resource is by two authors, one who has a Ph.D. and the other who has an Ed.D.. This resource supports its claims by research. This article generally explains effective ways to interact with parents of ELLs and how to involve them with their child’s academics. It also explains not only teacher and parent involvement, but how school principals should provide support for parent involvement and school-district support. I evaluated this resource by ensuring that the authors were creditable, the claims were supported by research, and what the resource were claiming.

Reflection: I would use this resource when I have my own classroom. This resource is an excellent tool to learn about how to better my relationship with the parents and the school’s relationship with the parents. I would take what I have learned and put it in my classroom. I would recommend this to other teachers because it’s very informative on how to build parent-teacher interactions. I would also recommend this to other teachers because they can be informed about other important topics they might have not realized they needed information on. 

 

Melo, R. (2017, July 10). Parent Guide for English Learners-English and Spanish versions. Retrieved November 25, 2019, from https://educationnorthwest.org/resources/parent-guide-english-learners-english-and-spanish-versions.

 

 

Shelby Burd

Summary:

This resource is for ELL parents about how to support their children in school. It gives a small vocabulary bank of what they should know about their children in school, such as identified, taught, tested, and determined to be proficient. Another thing they focus on in this pamphlet is what the students will be given to help them succeed. A very important topic discussed is how the school knows that the student is an English language learner and how they will become proficient in English. This is followed by a plan of how the process works and common questions the parents and students may have. 

Evaluation: 

I think that this is a great resource because it talks about a lot of things that most resource packets don’t have for ELL parents. It gives a bunch of scenarios and examples of how school will be for their children. This is great because most parents worry how their children’s experience in school will be. One thing that I think it could have used is more resource links in the pamphlet. Such as local links or addresses of places that they could use helpful or get involved with the community. This was a more specific to the topic of how their children will be in school but it would’ve been nice to have a more community family tie to it! 

Reflection:

I really loved this resource because its easy and fun to read. The have it in a different language and if it could be converted to more I would love this as a resource in my future classroom. I liked it so much because it was very informative for the parents and students but not a boring strict paper with information parents don’t understand. I think the vocabulary, facts, and the path of the students progress in school is a great way to communicate to parents and their children depending on the age! 

Arias, Beatriz, M., & Milagros. (2007, November 30). Promoting ELL Parental Involvement: Challenges in Contested Times. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED506652.

This article describes and goes into detail about the challenges parents of ELL students face when they try to be more involved at school. It also discusses the implements of parental involvement. 

Summary:

This resource goes into detail about the various barriers that parents face when trying to be more involved in their child’s education. One of the main difficulties talked about is that ELL parents are seen as lacking resources. This can be seen because of the parent’s lack of English, or not having the proper schooling to be able to help. All of these stereotypes of the parent’s can be blamed on the school not giving the ELL parents the chance to be more involved.  If the parent’s were given more opportunities to help, it can make them feel more wanted and valued. 

Evaluation: 

I think that this article explains very well all the challenges that ELL parents may be facing at the school their child attends. However I believe that it lacks the resources and explanations on how the parents can overcome the challenges they are facing. There is still some details about what the parents can do to show they are helpful and pretty much how to ignore the problem, but not much on how the teachers can help. The article tends to blame the school for the problem which is something that I do agree with. Overall I think the article is helpful to someone looking to gain information on the subject of ELL parents not being involved in the school setting.

Reflection: 
I would use this resource to show school personnel that they are being seen as the blame as to why not a lot of ELL parents are involved at school. I would also use it to show parents what the main problems are seen to be about them being involved. I would also like to see if the parents agree with the article. I would recommend this article to classroom teachers who have ELL students in their classroom so they can see the current problems so that they can try to involve the parents in their room and avoid the problem. I would also recommend this article to parents of students who are not ELL so that they can be more welcoming to the ELL parents wanting to be involved in the classroom.

https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-reach-out-parents-ells.

Summarization: I picked this article because it was one of the first articles that I felt really helped me understand how to formally contact a parent of an ELL. It provides a lot of ways to keep in touch with parents of an ELL student. It really gives you a lot of ways to give the parents the warmest welcome into a classroom/ community where people that don't speak the same language are welcome. It also talks about opportunities for parents to attend a seminar to learn English.

Evaluation: The article did a great job of give the reader a bunch of ways to give opportunities to parents of ELL students to be welcomed into the classroom/community. It also shows future teachers how they can help these parents transition into a new environment. It makes it more at home for them coming into a new community and school district.