New POW: Universal Design for Learning: Making Learning Accessible for ELL Students

Our world is increasingly diverse and globalized. Teachers are dealing with multilingualism and bilingualism in the classroom more regularly.

According to the National Council of Teachers of English:

• ELL represents that fastest growing segment of the student population, with the highest growths in grades 7-12.
• English Language Learners now represent more than 10 percent of the nation’s K-12 enrollment.
• Non-native English speakers ages 14-18 are less likely to complete high school than native English speakers.

Diversity in languages provides an opportunity for these students; there are strengths and assets of being able to speak more than more language.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that provides ALL students equal opportunities to learn. It encourages teachers to design flexible curricula that meet the needs of all learners. The goal of implementing UDL principles is that it makes the teaching and learning in the classroom engaging and accessible. One of the benefits of UDL is that students have a range of needs, skills, interests, and experiences. UDL hopes to maximize these differences by building curriculum that responds to the needs of the students.
According to the National Center on Universal Design for Learning, “The UDL framework enables educators to plan their instruction with all kinds of learners in mind. ELLs, while limited in their English proficiency, come to school with tremendous variability in their home language skills, from full oral and literate proficiency, to very limited skill sets. Rich English-language instruction that provides students with oral and written access to their native languages has at its core the UDL principle of multiple means of representation.”

Pepper has released a new workshop focused on Universal Design for English Language Learners as part of it’s Pepper Online Workshop (POW!) content. This workshop will explore short videos specific to incorporating UDL strategies for ELL students and examining the principles of UDL design as related to English Language Learners.
You can check all of our new POW content by visiting the Courses and Workshops section on your dashboard.

Connecting with Parents of English Language Learners

All families want the best education for their children and ELL families are no different. Even with language barriers and schedule constraints, parents of ELL students can be your biggest ally. Education Week Teacher Contributor, Larry Ferlazzo recently posed the following question.

The responses he received gave some important feedback to help teachers understand and connect with ELL students and their families.

There are several strategies that teachers can practice and implement with their English Language Learners parental outreach that can help to actively involve and connect with the parents.

• Answer the FAQs - Many ELL parents have questions that need to be answered when their sons/daughters first join the new school. Some of these questions might relate to the child's language level, making friends or doing homework. Keep in mind that many ELL parents may feel uncomfortable asking questions early on.
• Share Student Progress - Many parents of English language learners worry about progress as well as other aspects of school that may be challenging to ELLs. Making friends, learning the second language, and even the students' progress compared to others in the classroom are some of the concerns that parents have.
• Connect Through Culture - Connecting ELL parents through a cultural understanding is the best way to build a strong relationship to ensure the student's success in school. Educating oneself about the race, culture and ethnicity by doing research will help to build a culturally competent foundation to communicating and connecting with the parents.

(credit: Response From Rusul Alrubail)

Additionally, provide a variety of ways to meet the families: face-to-face meetings, Open Houses, newsletters, and social media. Technology can provide a lot of assistance with language barriers when interacting with ELL families. Thankfully, we are in the 21st century and technology is here to the rescue. There are a number of tools that can help you bridge that communication gap. Google Translate, Remind, and Class Dojo are a few popular options for finding technology help.

Karen Nemeth, Ed.M. is an author, consultant and advocate focusing on early childhood education for ELLs/DLLs, and recommends trying to engage parents in four key areas:

• Engaging families in their child's learning.
• Engaging families as active participants in the school community.
• Engaging families to improve two-way communication
• Engaging families to make sure they receive the support they need to ensure their child's school success.

To successfully connect with parents of English learners, schools need to make a whole-school effort to establish a welcoming environment and build bridges that go both ways.

Pepper ELL courses can provide insight to working with students and their families that are learning the English language. These courses will help build relationships with your ELL students and ultimately help them learn. Be sure to check out Pepper for other professional development opportunities as well.

Reaching and Teaching English Language Learners

"The hardest part of living in a different country is the language barrier. Because you know you have to learn the language in order to survive." – Betina Johnson

Most teachers will agree that building relationships with students can drastically affect classroom performance. As classrooms across the United States are becoming more diverse with increasing numbers of students whose primary home languages are not English, teachers must try to make connections with these students and, if possible, their families. Knowing what students are interested in will allow teachers to craft lessons that engage students and are relevant to them. Larry Ferlazzo, Sacramento, CA high school teacher, states, “When teachers get to know their students, they can make better decisions about the curriculum, instructional strategies, classroom management, assessment, [and] pacing.” In his recent article, 7 Tips for Building Positive Relationships with English-Language Learners, he also gives strategies to build and maintain positive student-teacher relationships. These include the following:

1. Regular Check-ins - Make a point to talk with a few students each day.
2. Reading Student Writings - Students often feel more comfortable communicating through writing.
3. Teachers Writing about the Classroom - “Taking a few minutes to write about the class (whether it is a simple reflection on how a lesson went, how a student demonstrated an exceptional insight, or sharing a few successes and challenges from the week) and then sharing this writing with the class can increase trust and respect between the teacher and the students.”
4. Teacher/Student Letter Exchange - This provides both a way to connect and learn more about your students as well as provide a writing sample that can be used to monitor growth.
5. Weekly Reflections - Teachers can stay connected to students by having them write a weekly reflection. This reflection could simply be a journal or responses to questions.
6. Evaluations - Asking students to complete anonymous evaluations can help build trust between the student and teacher.
7. “Talking and Walking” - If time and schedule allows, take a brief 5 minute walk with a few students each week. This provides a comfortable environment and another opportunity to connect.

These are just a few ways to connect with your ELL students. Pepper’s ELL courses, Constructive Classroom Conversations for K-5, 6-8, and 9-12, will help teachers facilitate meaningful conversations in the classroom. The overall goal is for participating educators to better understand student-to-student classroom discourse and use what they learn to facilitate higher quality interactions that build disciplinary knowledge and skills.

Teaching Math Modeling for Problem Solving

The National Science Foundation has funded a pilot program to help elementary teachers learn to teach Math Modeling to their students. Elementary students learn from the beginning using modeling and manipulatives. But this concept is something greater. According to a recent article in Education Week, this type of mathematical modeling “is something different and more complex: It's the process of taking an open-ended, multifaceted situation, often from life or the workplace, and using math to solve it.” In keeping with new standards, the goal is help students see the relevance and application of math to everyday life. The focus is on critical thinking and problem solving with the outcome being sometimes “messy” - meaning there may not be one definitive right answer. Students are being taught to work logically through a problem and develop a solution that can be justified. 

This pilot program, the IMMERSION project, is part of ongoing efforts to improve student proficiency and critical thinking in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), project leaders say. The project is designed to provide professional development to teachers from three different districts over three years. According to an article on the project website, “IMMERSION will help K–8 teachers incorporate modeling into their mathematics teaching by providing intensive professional development training during the summer, followed by support and collaboration during the school year as teachers begin to implement mathematical modeling activities in their classrooms—a practice that can have far-reaching effects on how students perceive and use mathematics. The study will focus on increasing the achievement of all students, including special education and advanced students, students with limited English proficiency and economically disadvantaged students.” This focus on differentiating instruction in addition to the math modeling will prepare these teachers to better meet the needs of all students.

You can find a wide variety of professional development options for Math in the Pepper Course Offerings. All of these courses focus on helping teachers teach math in a meaningful and engaging ways. You will also find courses focused on ELL and Special Education.

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Constructive Classroom Conversations: Teaching English Language Learners

Pepper has released another set of courses focusing on English Language Learners. These courses are developed by the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University. The most recent release, Constructive Classroom Conversations, is available at 3 different levels: Elementary, Middle, and High, which allows for differentiation of content. Each course is designed with the belief that in order to improve the quality of student discourse, educators need to listen closely to existing talk. Additionally, the course asks participants to gather, analyze, and share examples of student conversations from their classrooms.

Participants will engage in four distinct sessions:

1. Constructive Conversations
2. Teaching, Facilitating, and Reflecting on Conversation Skills
3. Modeling and Scaffolding Conversation Skills
4. Cultivating Conversation Expertise

It is suggested that teachers taking this course currently work as classroom teachers or have access to students in order to successfully participate in coursework and complete practical application assignments.

You can watch a course overview video to meet the instructors and gain a better understanding of course content.

You can get more information and a full course outline by visiting the appropriate course section below:

• Constructive Classroom Conversations - (K-5)
• Constructive Classroom Conversations - (6-8)
• Constructive Classroom Conversations - (9-12)

The overall goal is for participating educators to better understand student-to-student classroom discourse and use what they learn to facilitate higher quality interactions that build disciplinary knowledge and skills.

Be sure to check out all our Pepper course offerings.

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Mastering Math Language: Teaching English Language Learners

Pepper has just released 2 new ELL courses that make up a 2-course series on Mastering Language for College and Career Readiness, focusing on Elementary Mathematics. 

The first course in the series, Mastering Math Language: Reading and Speaking, is designed to help teachers teach students to read and speak the language of mathematics. In this course, participants will gather and analyze language samples that will show what students learn and what support they need in the elementary math classroom.

While part one of the series focused on reading and speaking the language of mathematics, the second course, Mastering Math Language: Conversations and Writing, builds on those concepts and places an emphasis on constructive conversations and writing in math. In this course, teachers will gain tools that will support formative assessment and instructional planning. Learners must complete the first course in the series before enrolling in this course.

These courses will enable teachers to collaborate with other educators and build professional relationships that result in an online community focused on improving students’ abilities to use rich academic language to learn and show learning of mathematical skills and concepts.

While the courses are intended specifically for those who teach English learners and students with disabilities, the content of the courses is equally applicable to teaching all students who are challenged by the academic uses of language in math instruction.

Click here to watch a video overview of the Mastering Math Language Courses.

These courses were developed by the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University.

Be sure to check out all our Pepper course offerings.

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Teaching English Language Learners

“The face of the country is changing dramatically,” says Aída Walqui, director of WestEd’s Teacher Professional Development Program. According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, for example, the percentage of Latinos in the U.S. will increase by more than 300 percent in the next 15 years. Our education system must be prepared to meet the needs of these students and families. Traditionally, many have believed that a main difficulty for English learners is that they must learn the language before they can master the content being taught. According to WestEd’s recent report, “English Language Learners Need New Pedagogy to Meet the Latest Standards”, that mode of thinking is outdated. ELL students should be learning language and content at the same time. Language lessons should be connected to the subject matter the student is receiving in the classroom. However, doing this can be challenging for teachers. Teachers need support in order to better serve the growing ELL population. Teachers will need to be able to embed language lessons into their content delivery to assist students learning the English language.

Pepper is releasing a series of 5 ELL courses focusing on teaching English Language Learners. These courses were developed by the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University. Our next blog will highlight them - check back later this week to learn more.

Be sure to check out all our Pepper course offerings.

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Common Core--Spanish Translation!

For educators who work in Spanish-English bilingual classrooms, the notion of translating the Common Core State Standards can mean something much more concrete than finding ways to build rubrics, or develop crosswalks, or create links from one set of resources to another. It can mean finding ways to make actual translations of the standards. And anyone who works across multiple languages knows that translation can very often be a challenging exercise--even moreso when contending with phrases and concepts within the CCSS that demand precision, accuracy, and specificity.

This initiative, a collaboration from the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the California Department of Education (CDE) and the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), offers a free version of the Math and ELA Common Core State Standards, in Spanish translation.

CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE! There are book recommendations and other resources available as well, so be sure to look around.

Common Core and English Language Learners--A GREAT Blog to Follow!

Ensuring a smooth transition to Common Core State Standards is especially important for English Language Learners (ELL), who have unique learning needs.

Take a look at the COLORIN COLORADO BLOG, which aims to provide commentary, resources, and support for CCSS implementation with English Language Learners.

There are many great hands-on resources on offer here--one of the most popular posts provides a rubric or crosswalk to help educators determine whether Common Core-aligned curriculum being developed for English Language Learners actually meets the needs of those students. Here is the link to the RUBRIC, which is also available HERE AS A PDF file.

The Changing Landscape of ESL Instruction--FREE WestEd Webinar on June 18th!

How will the transition to Common Core State Standards impact students in English Language Learner / English as a Second Language settings? What will the new standards mean for educators who work with these students? How can educators use this transition to Common Core as an opportunity for making deep and lasting transformations in their pedagogy in order to meet the needs of their students in new and significant ways?

SIGN UP HERE for this free webinar presented by WestEd and the TESOL International Association. You will get the chance to

• Develop awareness of the deep changes required by the implementation of new standards
• Understand the questions that could guide your reflection as you transform your pedagogy
• Understand why prevalent pedagogies do not serve English learners well in the new standards era
• Begin to envision richer, productive pedagogies with English learners

The webinar will be held on Wednesday, June 18 from 10:30-noon EST. You'll need to register at the link above. CHECK OUT THE WESTED SITE to get more info, and if you can't attend at that time, the webinar will be archived!

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