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.

Blended Learning: The Teacher as Learner

Blended Learning combines traditional face-to-face classroom instruction with online learning. The mix of technology and traditional provides a great approach that appeals to many different types of learners.

The significant increase of online and blended learning across educational environments requires providing high-quality professional development to prepare teachers and administrators so they may be prepared to meet the needs of their students. “We live in a moment of unprecedented change, and our conceptions of schooling and education are being challenged in fundamental ways.” (Educating Modern Learners) So, what does all this change mean for teachers and students? Students have access to technology at an earlier age than ever before and tend to see it as a fundamental tool to their everyday lives. Teachers are being encouraged to use technology as a tool for teaching and for their own learning. Educators need to understand new approaches and digital tools that allow for teaching in a blended environment. School leaders need to guide and direct these new initiatives to enable their teachers to be successful and for their students to learn.

Forbes recently published an article titled, The Teacher as the Learner: Professional Development for Online and Blended Learning. Author Barbara Kurshan states, “Some educators erroneously believe that blended learning is merely traditional, face-to-face learning that incorporates digital resources.  Similarly, many educators mistakenly assume that online learning should mirror classroom learning.  These misconceptions do not allow teachers to leverage the benefits of technology for more effective, engaged learning. Since teachers will continue to be expected to develop technology-based approaches for instructional delivery and assessment, the prevalence of these misconceptions makes it essential to offer professional development for teachers to learn how to teach in virtual environments.”

Pepper provides online learning environments for teachers that allow them to gain exposure to digital learning in ways that will help them teach their students - both online and face-to-face. Additionally, Pepper does offer blended learning opportunities. One such opportunity is taking place for Connecticut educators. This cohort of teachers will meet over 4 weeks for Designing Powerful Instructional Units: ELA & Literacy. The face-to-face portion will be facilitated with an additional 3-4 hours/week of online work.  This is a practical module that will allow participants to design - or refine - a curriculum unit that they can use in their classroom or share online.

Kurshan continues to share that professional learning networks, such as your Pepper Learning Community, have become a popular means of educator collaboration. As learners interact with fellow educators from around the country exposure to digital literacies can inform teaching and learning in powerful ways. Digital technologies and online tools have the potential to create powerful learning experiences for all types of learners - both professional teachers and students.