Today we take a long overdue visit with Jayna who is a long time and exceptional English Learners teacher. She hails from the twin cities and has taught students of 39 different languages and cultural background. She has taught in immersion programs in many countries as well. She joins us to discuss what we could do for our EL students now in the pandemic but also every day in any year.

Equity Issues Across the Board

Luke and I have discussed this before, but the pandemic has exacerbated the shortcomings of education. Its not our fault, but its true. The pandemic has highlighted a few things. The first hurdle is the communication piece with families especially those who do not have an English speaking adult at home. Scrambling to translate the district website is a good start. However the student loses the practice with the academic language since the practice can not be daily in the classroom.

Technological Literacy

The families of English learners can often be new to our education system and certainly new (like all of us) to the virtual world we might be teaching in. We are more easily able to address the needs of those with more common language through something like a language line. However it has not been possible to push in to these households during this time to help them with the tech like setting up a hot spot or navigating tools. Now we are in person and are pushing to teach the students about setting up these tools so we are prepared if we go back to virtual.

What needs to stick?

After the pandemic we cannot just abandon some of these things we've seen. Teachers have had an opportunity to present the curriculum at their level and pace. With EL students there can be pressure in front of peers. In the virtual world they could pause and reflect and then respond. Flipgrid is an example of a way this have been expanded. Learning became more visual which is a common connection among other languages. Things like subtitles in YouTube can be super helpful. Kids can even turn on the translating feature in a GoogleMeet. Seesaw offers some really impressive assistance. The family app automatically translates messages from teacher into native languages.

What is good for some students is good for all students.Episode 40

Use Their Native Language

They are literate in their native language and sometimes this is forgotten. Provide them with background books to front load content. RazzKids offers some great options. Subtitles could be used in their language too.

Provide Audio Direction

Audio directions became the norm in virtual learning. This needs to stay. This allows the learners to review what was said on their own time and pace. Some different software can translate the audio. Screencasts can be great for parents to provide that same opportunity.

Another app that has been incredible is TalkingPoints. It does not have to be downloaded by the family. It will send a text message in the language that you have selected. They can reply from their cell phone in their native language and it will translate for the teacher.

New Kid New Experience

Create a warm and welcoming environment. Learn their name and learn it correctly. If possible ask a parent to record their name so it can be practiced. Learn some background about their country or culture to connect with them. So important is to consider their cultural norms. Invite the EL teacher in to prep the class. Give the student the curriculum at their language level.

Focus on the "Can Do" and Not the Can't Do

English Learners come with many can't dos because of the language barrier. Work to promote bilingualism. They are emerging English learners. You can do this by offering things link sentence starters or even share something they know in their native language.

Book Recommendation

Someone NewI'm New HereButterfly Yellow