Professional Development by Lisa Taylor

Digital Resources to Support Instruction

lisamarietay99 — 2025-07-23 16:36:23 UTC

1. Colorin Colorado: a website to support English language learners. This resource can be used to plan and include scaffolds and language support in daily lessons, provide bilingual resources to increase family engagement, and engage in professional development opportunities to keep up to date on best practices.

2. Newsela: a website that provides leveled reading passages. This resource can be used to find engaging leveled passages to meet student's proficiency levels, pre-teach and build vocabularies, and choose from a variety of writing prompts to increase writing skills.

3. SeeSaw: a digital platform that can be used as a portfolio and communication tool. This resource supports oral language skills by allowing students to record their learning, provides a variety of assignments across content areas, and includes a communication tool to engage with parents and share student work.

4. Quizizz: a digital game based assessment tool. This resource allows teachers to create assessments that include a number of supports, increases oral language skills through the use of collaboration, and increases vocabulary skills.

Language Acquisition Theories

lisamarietay99 — 2025-07-23 17:03:34 UTC

1. Krashen's Input Hypothesis: learners acquire language best when they are exposed to comprehensible input, which is language that is slightly above their current level of proficiency. When learners understand the message, language acquisition occurs naturally. To help language occur naturally, teachers should focus on meeting their students where they are, provide meaningful content, and create learning environments where students are encouraged to take risks.

2. Social Interactionist Theory: language develops through social interaction. Learners build language skills by engaging in meaningful conversations with more knowledgeable peers or adults, within their Zone of Proximal Development. Teachers should focus on interactive learning opportunities and peer collaboration such as partner work, group work, and real-life learning experiences.

Steps to Write a Teaching Philosophy

lisamarietay99 — 2025-07-23 17:42:55 UTC

1. Self-reflect: begin by asking important questions such as: Why do I teach? What are my core values?

2. Identify personal teaching goals: think about teaching knowledge, teaching skills, lifelong learning, and professional relationships.

3. Incorporate theories or research: provide examples of second language acquisition theories

4. Discuss instructional practices and perspective on assessment.

5. Share a personal experience: from a previous or current teaching moment

6. Keep it clear and concise.

The Power of Self-Reflection

lisamarietay99 — 2025-07-23 17:56:44 UTC

1. Set SMART Goals: goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

2. Create a journal: use a journal to write down one "Grow" and one "Glow" about lessons, student engagement, and assessments.

3. Participate in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): Engage in collaboration with teammates to discuss student data, share ideas, and learn from others' strengths.

Cultural Resource for Educators: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGsuboIQoM/5U1G4H8w9Fo6XEOv8xhE5A/edit?utm_content=DAGsuboIQoM&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Assessment Accommodations

lisamarietay99 — 2025-07-23 18:09:42 UTC

1. Oral accommodations: reading aloud the questions helps reduce the cognitive load of decoding unfamiliar words which allows allowing students to focus more on understanding the meaning and applying the content area skills.

2. Extended Time: providing additional time supports comprehension by allowing the student to work at a comfortable pace without feeling rushed. This also helps reduce anxiety that comes with taking assessments.

3. Chunking assessments: this also reduces the cognitive load put on student's while taking assessments. Breaking up reading passages and questions over multiple days can help students better process the information and demonstrate their knowledge more accurately.

Professional Growth

lisamarietay99 — 2025-07-23 18:21:28 UTC

1. Colorin Colorado: a website that provides a number of professional development opportunities, such as articles, videos, and webinars. Topics include supporting English language learners, best practices, family engagement, and social-emotional learning.

2. Teachers of English to Speaker of Other Languages (TESOL) Conferences: conferences and webinars that provide information on research-based strategies, resources, collaboration with educators, best practices, and information on second language acquisition.

3. District or School-wide professional development: opportunities to attend courses, conferences, and webinars that provide information on culturally responsive teaching, policies, and assessment practices.