#6 - Double Duty

            This week I was really excited to find an article about second language learners and MATH!  I’ve really enjoyed learning about technology to support second language learners in this class, but a lot of times I’m left wondering…what about activities and strategies specifically for math class?  McMahon (2019) describes the challenges faced by two elementary schools in California when it comes to the achievement gap for English learners in math. 

            Both schools decided to pilot, Levered, and adaptive math program.  Levered was created by Mitch Slater, a teacher, math intervention specialist, and administrator with over 20 years of experience.  The program aligns common core standards with ELL teaching approaches, includes features that support differentiation, and also incorporates pencil and paper activities for blended learning.  Both schools demonstrated outstanding improvement in math on state testing after using Levered.  Both principals reported that the stats reflect hundreds of individual student success stories! 

Monica Ruiz, one of the principals in the pilot, says that ELL students are constantly pulling “double weight” in their academic classes, learning content at the same time that they are working on learning English.  I can relate to this so much with teaching math to L2s.  Math curriculum rarely aligns even when a student moves from one school to another in the same state or even county.  It’s fair to say it never lines up for students who move to another country!  So…we throw students in a math class that is probably too hard even in their native language and add on top of that the gap in language, and what we get is a really difficult situation for the student and teacher. 

            So, how does Levered work?  I’m glad you asked!  Both principals in the pilot programs reported four ways that Levered helped their students.

#1 – This first one is the most important as far as I’m concerned.  Levered has several built in supports that target learning content on grade level without watering it done for English learners.  Speaking of this, I learned a new acronym this week – SDAIE (specially designed academic instruction in English).  Anyway, Levered allows students to click on examples, have text read to them, view built in glossary features, and view built in videos on a topic at any time.  Ruiz credits these built in supports with improving test scores dramatically for L2s in her school. 

#2 – Levered makes differentiation automatic for learners of all levels.  Students work through the program at their own speed.  Teachers can monitor student progress and are notified by the program when a student is struggling.  Teachers can then meet with small groups of students based on data on language skills, math skills or both.  At both schools, 100% of teachers using Levered reported an increase in confidence in students learning math. 

#3 – The blended approach of technology and paper and pencil actually helped Levered fit in with the school’s social-emotional learning (SEL) goals.  Teachers found that Levered allowed them to find more time to work with students individually and in small groups which helped to build relationships.  It helped students feel comfortable in math class and happy to be there. 

#4 – The combination of differentiation, adaptive learning, and teacher dashboard data creates a sense of equity for all levels of learners.  Ruiz believes Levered gives all students the opportunity to be successful in math.  She compares it to shoes – all students need to have a pair of shoes, but we can’t give them all a size 10.  All students need to learn the math lessons, but they need opportunities to learn math in different ways.   

Want to learn more?  Watch interviews from both principals from the pilot schools HERE.  What videos on the Levered website HERE.  And…they don’t have a “Blog” (sad I know), but they do have a News page HERE. 

References

McMahon, W. (2019, July 10). This Math Program Helped Students Blow State Test Scores Out of the Water - EdSurge News. Retrieved July 11, 2019, from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-07-10-this-math-program-helped-students-blow-state-test-scores-out-of-the-water

#5 – Are You Fortunate to Teach ESL Students?

          This week I stumbled upon a delightful article written by an ESL teacher, Danny Brassell, who unexpectedly became the bilingual coordinator in his school.  His attitude and approach are refreshing and makes several key points in his article.  His experience working with ESL students ranges from preschool aged children to teaching engineering students at the college level.  He shares his greatest secret that he discovered while working with ESL students of all ages.  If it’s good for ESL students, it’s good for all students.

            I can personally relate to this statement because my middle school’s mantra is, “If it’s best for kids, we do it.”  For the most part, I feel we try to live up to this standard, but unfortunately, I don’t feel this is the case for ESL students in my district.  I have always felt this way, but the further I get into this class, the more I know it’s true.  Mind you, my district is very small with a low percentage of ESL students, but as it slowly increases, I don’t feel that our resources and attention to the matter increase. 

Luckily, I have been trained in many strategies for working with students with learning disabilities.  I also feel that most of those strategies are good for all students which helps me relate to the article.  I hope to better apply this concept with my ESL students and the strategies I am learning in this course.  I love how the start of each school year is like New Year’s Eve – a chance for a fresh start and upgraded focus on my goals.  Mind you, I don’t love setting my alarm clock or sitting through the hours of convocation that first day!  But when the kids finally arrive on the real first day of school, that’s when the opportunity for change really begins.    

            Another secret Danny learned teaching ESL students of all ages is that the methods you can use with older students don’t necessarily work for younger students, but the strategies you use with younger students can almost always work with older students!  He discovered with younger students that having fun, being silly, and singing songs was key when helping ESL students to learn English.  He calls this his ESL Make-over.  He truly believes that teaching ESL students has made him a better teacher and that all teachers with ESL students should feel fortunate to learn with them!

            To implement an ESL Make-over, he offers three suggestions: AWARE, CARE and SHARE.  AWARE stands for, “Always Watch out for Administrators Evaluating.”  If what you’re doing with ESL students is working, then don’t be afraid to do it even if you have to break the mold of your district’s evaluation model.  Too many educators are limited by restraints and too many administrators aren’t trained properly in the area of ESL.  CARE stands for, “Comfortable Atmospheres and Relaxed Environments.”  Learning can’t truly happen unless students are comfortable with making mistakes, and the same most definitely applies to ESL students.  SHARE stands for, “Supply Hordes of Amazing Resources in their Environments.”  This one is pretty obvious, but the more books, iPad apps, manipulatives, etc. that you can provide for students to interact with, the more fun they will have, and the more they will love learning. 

            I know I am looking forward to my ESL Makeover coming this New Year’s (August 21^st that is)! 

References

Brassell, D. (2019, July 03). The ESL Makeover. Retrieved July 4, 2019, from https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/07/03/the-esl-makeover-2/

#4 – Mis ojos están abiertos (My eyes are opened)

            As I sit here and reflect on my blogging experience so far, I find it funny that I struggled at first to set proper Google alerts to get adequate pieces of information to blog about.  Now as I look at my overflowing inbox, I struggle to find time to read all of the information waiting for me.  I can’t bring myself to just delete a few without reading every headline, because I worry I might delete an interesting topic to reflect on.  This week I really hoped to find a topic completely new to me, and boy, I was not disappointed!

            In my very narrow experience of teaching students who are learning English as a second language, the focus is always on teaching them English (deep, huh?).  And that’s exactly what we do.  We emerge them in English only classes and gradually (at varying paces), they learn English, and slowly their need to be near other students who speak their primary language decreases, and we are glad for that.  But what if we have been completely wrong all this time?

            Colon (2019) speaks of the benefits of helping L2s retain and strengthen their home language.  ¿Qué es lo que dices?  Being multilingual affords students social, cognitive, and even health benefits.  In the long-term, come time for employment, multilingualism can have economic benefits.  Demand for workers who speak Spanish, Chinese and Arabic have nearly doubled in just five years from 2010 to 2015 (Colon, 2019).  This information has given me a totally new view of my L2s.  Typically, I view my L2 learners as behind or hindered by their home-language, and the sooner they don’t depend on it, the better.  In reality, many of these students should go on to take advantage of becoming multilingual. 

¡Mis ojos están abiertos!

            Several states like Utah and Delaware are setting the stage for dual language education (DLE).  They are recognizing the need for multilingual workers (Colon, 2019).  Many bilingual employees go on to make more many their peers in similar positions and have more opportunities for advancement.  So, why do we educate L2s in such a way that they learn English at the expense of their home-language?

            California has recognized the need for dual language (DL) programs as they have an extremely large population of L2s (Briceno, Munoz, & Rodriguez-Mojica, 2019).  In DL programs, it becomes necessary to find bilingual teachers which are nearly an “extinct species” due to the previous 20 years of pushing English only education.  Briceno et al. (2019) recognizes the issue as a vicious cycle where developing bilingual teachers is nearly impossible without bilingual education, so where do we start?  Experts believe that there are many Spanish speakers in the U.S. who could become bilingual teachers, so finding ways to get them there is our next greatest challenge in ending the vicious cycle. 

            My small school district in central Pennsylvania where I teach is FAR, FAR, FAR from being anything like California.  Our ESL program is weak in its current state without even comparing it to DL programs.  So, while I’m sure we won’t be focusing on hiring too many bilingual teachers anytime soon, I have seriously had my eyes opened on our approach and have permanently had my perspective altered for the better.   

References

Briceno, A., Munoz, E., & Rodriquez-Mojica, C. (2019, June 14). The Bilingual Teacher Shortage: A Vicious Cycle. Retrieved June 27, 2019, from https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/06/14/the-bilingual-teacher-shortage-a-vicious-cycle/

Colon, I. (2019, June 27). Research Examines the Economic Benefits of Bilingualism. Retrieved June 27, 2019, from https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/06/21/research-examines-the-economic-benefits-of-bilingualism/

#3 - Ready, Set, READ!

            This week I read an uplifting article about four preschools in Napa County, California giving English language learners a head-start in early literacy.  In the article, Courtney (2019) reports that the preschools are run by the Napa County Office of Education which offers free access to an early literacy app called Footsteps2Brilliance (F2B).  The main function of the app is an e-reader which is used by the teachers in the classrooms and the families at home.  Each preschool was recognized for reaching 1 million words read over the course of the school year!  The app helps level the playing field for English learners and other students from low-income families by giving them exposure to vocabulary and patterns of language that more affluent students are naturally exposed to.  The app can be used on most devices, including mobile devices, and includes eBooks, songs and learning games in both English and Spanish.  Sounds like an amazing program that makes my heart happy! 

           

            I wanted to learn more about F2B so I headed on over to their website.  Almost instinctually I checked the menu bar to see if they had a BLOG and was pleasantly surprised that they do!  I’m pretty sure I never would have done that before this class.  (I guess an old dog can learn new tricks!)  Before heading on over to the blog, I checked out the F2B page which highlights their use of research-based strategies for language learning combined with an approach that involves families.  Results are measurable and impressive!  A third-party study showed students who used the app for 1 month demonstrating a 7-month growth in vocabulary!  Way to go F2B!

             Finding myself excited to head on over to their BLOG J, I was even more excited to find the category tag on the side panel for “Early Learning Technology”.  I felt like I hit the Million Dollar Jackpot…Okay, maybe I’m going overboard, but I was pretty excited!  The first blog post I checked out was about the Summer Slide which is a concern for pretty much any grade level teacher of any subject!  F2B offers three approaches for using the app to turn the Summer Slide into the Summer Climb!  They have solutions for summer school, at-home reading challenges, and community-wide reading goals.  Personally, my third child (a boy) has been a slow-starter to early literacy and the summer slide is a personal concern of mine as a mother on top of a professional concern as a teacher.  My son loves the Epic! app which is also an e-reader for kids. 

           

            The second blog post I checked out was about the connection between reading and writing.  An updated version of F2B offers enhanced writing opportunities through Create-A-Book and My Journal features.  Not only do these activities foster early writing skills, they also help students develop word processing skills.  An interactive word bank supports emergent writers.  The updated version also offers dozens of new games, including ones developing early literacy skills in rhyming and classification.  Another win for F2B if you ask me!  Slide…or maybe climb…on over and have a look!

References

Calling all Writers! Version 7 Is Finally Here! (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2019, from https://www.footsteps2brilliance.com/version7/

Courtney, K. (2019, June 19). Napa County preschool program celebrates 1 million words read. Retrieved June 20, 2019, from https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-county-preschool-program-celebrates-one-million-words-read/article_8d268840-05dc-5b2b-91f1-6987daf0370b.html

Transform the Summer Slide into the Summer Climb. (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2019, from https://www.footsteps2brilliance.com/transform-the-summer-slide-into-the-summer-climb/