First Post
I wanted to start a blog where teachers could go to ask questions and to share strategies that worked for them and other valuable sources to read and other information that led to success. The teachers in the district where I am, have very little space to be creative. We must find ways to engage our ELL population within the confines of the slides we are mandated to teach from in every single subject. There is no entry point for our ELL students in subjects like science and reading. Our science curriculum is extremely boring with very little experimentation. It is endless reading and filling in workbook pages. Most of my ELL students do not know what we are reading. Although we do discuss the vocabulary words in Spanish as well as English, it is a far cry from understanding everything being read. For the final quarter, I have broken from our science curriculum and purchased and modified a unit on Energy with permission from administration. I have begun this unit and already have seen results. I told my students that they could research energy in their country of origin or a specific type of renewable energy. They are also encouraged to display the knowledge that they had learned in whatever manner they desired. Day one of research, my student from Colombia jumped out of her seat to explain that Colombia uses 75% renewable sources for energy. Now we are getting somewhere!
I wanted to start a blog where teachers could go to ask questions and to share strategies that worked for them and other valuable sources to read and other information that led to success. The teachers in the district where I am, have very little space to be creative. We must find ways to engage our ELL population within the confines of the slides we are mandated to teach from in every single subject. There is no entry point for our ELL students in subjects like science and reading. Our science curriculum is extremely boring with very little experimentation. It is endless reading and filling in workbook pages. Most of my ELL students do not know what we are reading. Although we do discuss the vocabulary words in Spanish as well as English, it is a far cry from understanding everything being read. For the final quarter, I have broken from our science curriculum and purchased and modified a unit on Energy with permission from administration. I have begun this unit and already have seen results. I told my students that they could research energy in their country of origin or a specific type of renewable energy. They are also encouraged to display the knowledge that they had learned in whatever manner they desired. Day one of research, my student from Colombia jumped out of her seat to explain that Colombia uses 75% renewable sources for energy. Now we are getting somewhere!