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recent report, “English Language Learners Need New Pedagogy to Meet the Latest Standards”, that mode of thinking is outdated.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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Teacher Collaboration: Working Together for Success

Many people believe that Teacher Collaboration is a key element to teacher effectiveness and success in the classroom. According to Education News, a study shows that teachers get better at what they do when they work with other teachers. Collaboration does not usually occur naturally, it must be cultivated. Work environment and school climate can impact teacher quality. An article from The Teaching Channel entitled “The Power of Teacher Collaboration” believes that collaboration begins with finding time to connect with colleagues, share thoughts, and provide support. Author, Lily James provides 3 tips for successful collaboration:

1. Build Relationships
2. Find Time to Collaborate
3. Share Responsibility

Pepper is a learning community of collaboration and sharing. Teachers are encouraged to network and interact with nationwide peers, learn and share from experiences, and promote and support successes and ideas.  Pepper Professional Development Courses provide opportunities for teacher collaboration through peer discussions and sharing course portfolios. You can also search and filter for others in the Pepper community using the “People” tab. Be sure to check out all our Pepper course offerings.

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New Writing Course: Argument Writing for High School

Argument Writing for High School was released on August 3, 2015, along with 3 other new Writing Courses from Pepper.

This course focuses on teaching high school students to write persuasive arguments. Participants will learn to deconstruct, analyze, research, and write an argument essay that meets standards and expectations for high school (grades 9–12).

Teachers will also be taken through all stages of the writing process, from learning the elements of an argument writing essay to analyzing sample texts, choosing fruitful topics, completing writing activities, considering their audience, gathering research, revising and editing their work. All of these stages are designed to help participants formulate their own strategies for teaching argument essay writing. A template is provided that walks users through exploring a potential topic for writing and helps them evaluate if this is a topic they want to pursue. Click image to enlarge view:

The course requires 6 hours of work online with an additional 4 hours offline. You can get more information and a full course outline by clicking here.

These courses were authored by content experts from Accelerated Literacy Learning.

Check out this course and our other offerings in Math, English/Language Arts, and Special Ed, by visiting Pepper!

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