Good morning, everyone, and welcome (back) to the weekly ESL email list! My goal with these emails is to give you concrete, actionable ideas that you can easily put into place in your classroom to help support your English learners. I also sometimes include facts like the importance of names, how languages are acquired, information about our ELs, etc.
Just a reminder: we do have a UT ESL website, so if once a week just isn't enough, you can always catch up on previous years' emails there!
This week, I wanted to give a list of easy steps to take if you have an English learner in class, regardless of whether they are beginners or advanced.
1. Take a deep breath! In my experience, our ELs are generally very well behaved, motivated, school-focused, and SMART! They very quickly pick up not only English, but also your content, classroom routines, and English slang words. Definitely work to accommodate them, but don't kill yourself spending hours and hours every night for one student. They will likely surprise you with how much they are able to do.
2. Figure out their English proficiency level. The best way to do this is to look at their ACCESS scores in Skyward (2019 scores should be added any day, with screener scores for new students coming by the end of the month) and then compare them to the Can-Do Descriptors. I attached them here for your reference. You can also look at a student's schedule to determine what ESL class they're in (ESL 1 is generally a 1 proficiency level, ESL 2 is a 2 level, etc.).
Can-Do listening and speaking.JPG
Can-Do reading and writing.JPG
3. Build a relationship with that student however you can. Chat in English if possible; use Google Translate if needed and available; ask them how to say "Hi my name is" in their language; give them a high five or fist bump; SMILE!
4. Make accommodations. Some basic accommodations that work for most students and don't take too much time to prepare are as follows:
5. Contact me! I have all freshmen and sophomores in EL Study Skills, and I, Maria, or Jill can sit down and help students with an assignment if we know they have it. Morgan and I also give study days periodically in ESL class, so we can help them then as well. I can also give ideas for accommodations, give details on students' levels or educational backgrounds, help explain assignments or procedures, and reassure you that you really are doing a great job.
I hope this helps you have a "plan of attack" when it comes to English learners in your class! I may be biased, but I think we have a really great group of new ELs this year.