Special Interest Groups

Bilingual Elementary

The Bilingual Elementary Report: ACCESS 2.0

By Sandra Nahmias

It seems like only yesterday that we, as teachers of English Learners (ELs), were administering ACCESS 2.0 for the first time, when, in fact, as I write this, it has been over a year. Time truly does fly.
In my previous article in the winter edition of Voices, I wrote about our organization’s Northern Regional Conference which took place this past fall and ended with advice for our readers to begin preparing their students for ACCESS 2.0 as soon as possible.  I, myself, began preparing my students in February for the technology-related training they would need in order to navigate through the online version of ACCESS 2.0 since, as first and second graders, they are not familiar with the laptops, headsets, mice, or microphones that are required for the listening, reading, and speaking portions. On the other hand, instructional preparation does not start and stop with a date on the calendar. Rather it is ongoing, for, as we all know, ACCESS 2.0 is a rigorous assessment, and the folks at WIDA let us know that their standards-setting initiative would make it even more so this year.

I’d like to share with you my observations as to how the administration of ACCESS 2.0 is going this time in my school. There are four teachers who service ELs in my school, the magnet elementary school for those ELs whose first language is Spanish. As of March 1, 2017, we have over eighty ELs in kindergarten through grade five in our building, give or take one or two. Unlike previous years, when we would experience ELs entering our program primarily during the winter, our ELs entered at the start of this school year in September, and continued coming throughout the fall and winter. Speaking for just my grade levels of first and second, many of these ELs came without literacy in their dominant language of Spanish; this makes their acquisition of English reading skills a challenge, especially in light of the high expectations of ACCESS 2.0. However, we rise up to the challenge for we are teachers of ELs! The four teachers ironed out a testing schedule according to the how much time is allowed for the listening, speaking, reading, and writing portions of the assessment. We grouped our students by grade level into small groups of no more than five students for the listening, reading, and writing portions, and of two students for the speaking portion. With the support of our building principal, we determined where we would test the students and then we waited for March 1, continuing to practice with our students on laptops and instructing as usual.

As of this writing, we have completed one week of testing with just a few glitches in terms of technology. What amazes me as I watch the students take the assessment on the computer is their resiliency and persevering attitudes.  After all, these first and second graders to whom I am administering the assessment are so young, and we ask so much of them as they sit in front of a computer screen with headsets on, listening to unfamiliar voices, clicking on the mouse pad when required to do so, following sets of instructions, processing and producing complex words and sentences; the list of challenges goes on and on. As I watch my students, I express to myself the hope that I prepared them, and I applaud them.

I’m sure you have similar tales to share about your experiences and invite you to do so at the Bilingual Elementary Special Interest Group Workshops on May 31 and June 1. Let me end by urging all of you to attend as many other workshops as you can during our organization’s Spring Conference on May 31, June 1, and June 2, 2017, for its workshop presenters will shed light on what we may expect with the advent of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the role ACCESS 2.0 will play in it. We will keep you abreast of methodologies and strategies to take back to your classrooms to prepare your students from Day One of the new school year for Round Three of ACCESS 2.0.

Sandra Nahmias, Bilingual Elementary 1 – 8 Education Special Interest Group Representative
201-412-5905   nahmfam@comcast.net
Bilingual/ESL Teacher, Grades 1 and 2, School Two, Linden, New Jersey and
WIDA Certified Trainer

 


Bilingual Secondary

Stakeholders Collaborating to Increase High School Graduation

By Larry Bello

This year’s NJTESOL/ NJBE Spring Conference theme, Engage and Empower ELLs for Excellence, will provide important tools that you will be able to take back to your schools to advocate for our ELLs and their parents. On Friday, June 2, I will be co-presenting with two guidance counselors from Perth Amboy High School who engage and empower our ELLs so they can successfully graduate on time. In this workshop, Stakeholders Collaborating to Increase High School Graduation, we will share how parents and educators in the high school are informing, empowering, and engaging our high schoolers to be successful in their education. Our students are facing major obstacles and challenges with the new high school graduation requirements that are making it difficult to graduate on time. This session will open a dialogue of what we are doing as stakeholders to make sure make sure that they graduate. Bring your questions and comments and join us Friday, June 2, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick.

Larry Bello is the Bilingual Secondary SIG Representative.

 


Bilingual /ESL Middle School

Living in Dystopia

By Michelle Land

A popular genre for middle school students is dystopian fiction.  A dystopia is a community or society that is undesirable or frightening; it is the opposite of utopia. A dystopian society is usually characterized by poverty and oppression.  That being said, dystopian literature is a genre of fiction that also explores social and political alternatives, something that is appealing to our middle school students – but why? 

Young adults often go through a period of frustration when they question their society and what it stands for.  They also question their role in society, and often rail against the injustices that they observe or experience.  As they become more aware of the world around them, they may start to connect with the heroes of the dystopia.  "It's the way the characters are oppressed and have to fight to get their voices heard – that's how you can feel as a teenager, silenced and unable to really express yourself."

Having a different mother tongue from the mainstream does not exclude one from the difficulties of being a teenager, in fact, it could exacerbate it.  The new country that English learners find themselves in is very often an alternate reality for them.  The different language, government types, school experiences, social etiquette, are all like a different planet.  As a result, dystopian fiction could be even more appealing to English learners. 

One of the first dystopian novels that my students became excited about was The Hunger Games.  Even though some of them did not have enough reading proficiency to comprehend the novels, the movie (and its movie sequels) were easily comprehended and enjoyed. 

After The Hunger Games took the world (and classrooms) by storm, more books in this genre became popular and were brought to the screen.  Some examples that come to mind are The Giver, The Maze Runner, and Divergent. So how can we capitalize on this interest to help our English learners develop their English language proficiency? 

If it is possible to have leveled reading groups in your classroom, it is a wonderful opportunity for students to read in an environment that is not overwhelming.  If reading groups are not a reality for your classrom, it is possible to provide lower lexile students with lower lexiles with modified versions of a classroom book.  Even a summary of a classroom book at an appropriate reading level would allow these students to participate in discussions and activities.  

This year, I have been fortunate to work with a literature coach who has brought some wonderful and appropriate strategies to my classroom, such as “visualization,” “questioning,” and “predicting.”  Students are eager to demonstrate their comprehension as they become enmeshed in the alternate reality.  These strategies provide them with the opportunity while making the story easier to comprehend.  A concluding activity could be watching certain important scenes from the movie adaptation of a dystopian novel.  Very often, students are surprised (and sometimes disappointed) with how a film has portrayed what they have read.  This is a useful tool for classroom discussions and also supports comprehension of the novel. 

Improving EL reading comprehension is one of the “hot topics” that will be addressed at the NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference this year.  Join us for meaningful and educational workshops, panels, and keynote speakers.  See you there.

https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/nov/18/hunger-games-dystopian-fiction-appeal-to-teenagers-alex-campbell

Michelle Land, Bilingual/ESL Middle School 6-8 SIG Representative

 


ESL Secondary

Hot Topics: ESL Secondary Special Interest Group Meeting at the Conference

By Marcella Garavaglia

2017 Spring Conference


ESL Secondary Special Interest Group Meeting, Hot Topics include but are not limited to:

Scholarship Opportunities

Your donations help support the awards below. (Details are available on the website.)

Winners will be notified in the first week of May and honored at the NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference Awards Reception, June 1, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, New Brunswick at 6:00 PM.

Marcella Garavaglia is the NJTESOL/NJBE ESL Secondary Representative. She teaches ESL at Colts Neck High School for the Freehold Regional High School District.
mgaravaglia@njtesol-njbe.org

 


Higher Education

Higher Education Spring Conference Overview

By Howard Pomann

The Higher Education Special Interest Group looks forward to this year’s conference and again sharing the final day of the conference with Adult Education, Secondary Education, and ESL Administration.  Last year, participants benefited greatly from the successful integration of presentations from these areas.  With this format, participants had a broader choice of presentations, keynotes, and publisher exhibits which were focused on higher education related methodologies and materials. We look forward to another excellent collection of useful activities.

At this year’s conference, the Higher Education strand has a strong focus on developing academic writing, along with vocabulary development, experiential learning, accelerated learning, English for Special Purposes, and second language acquisition.

With the pressure to accelerate students’ progress through ELL programs, there is a great need to re-assess our approaches to developing academic writing.  Writing presentations will include presentations and workshops focusing on research and methodologies for providing corrective feedback, improving student editing skills, incorporating lexical tools, creating portfolios utilizing Google Tools, translanguaging, and integrating reading/writing connections. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own effective writing strategies for the diverse academic needs of our immigrant, generation 1.5, and international visa student populations.

At the Higher Education SIG meeting, we will discuss national and state-wide efforts to gain foreign language Humanities credit for advanced level EAP instruction.  Strategies to accomplish this goal for colleges in New Jersey will be outlined. (The issues related to accomplishing this goal are outlined in the Higher Ed SIG Winter Voices article.) Additionally, we plan to open up discussion on the impact of the latest immigration changes on our students. Some college presidents in New Jersey have made statements that their colleges will support the students’ rights to privacy in relation to their immigration status.  Many students in our classes have expressed fear that they may get deported, leaving their children and families behind. We hope to share strategies for class discussion, as well as information about community support/legal groups that students can contact.  Please note that there is a presentation “Helping Students Cope with Political Angst,” which will also address this issue.

I look forward to seeing you at the conference.  Please feel free to contact me with any issues or questions you may have.

Howard Pomann is the Higher Education SIG Representative, pomann@ucc.edu

 


 

Parent and Community Action

Know Your Students and Something Else, Too

By Angeline Sturgis

Iwas recently asked why I am so interested in the families of the students I teach. After all, this is just an 8am-3pm job, isn’t it? And in my role as a teacher of English language learners, why add in the aspects normally considered the domain of social workers? I thought about all the years I had been a kindergarten and first grade teacher. Hadn’t I been in close contact with my students’ families then, too? Hadn’t I visited their homes and become familiar with the make-up of their immediate families?

The answer is both “yes” and “well, definitely not.” When I began teaching many years ago, I remember being told over and over to “know your students.” I took it to mean “know their personalities,”  “know their educational needs,” “know their strengths and weaknesses,” and other bits of observable details that would help me get the job done well. So, in that effort to gather data, I would indirectly find out about home life including information on parents, siblings, and amount of preschool experience the child had had. In this regard, “Yes, I did interact with families.”

Now that I am in my fourteenth year as an English as a Second Language teacher, I have an altogether different take on my relationship with my students’ families. When I was a teacher of English-speaking children, I more or less investigated the family situation as a component of the child’s social background. I got valuable information that allowed me to design a learning plan or understand better a child’s emotional needs. In my current role, I find myself embracing the families so I can honor their desire to provide a better life for their children. I admit that I am eager to accept invitations to their homes and celebrations so I can witness the zeal and gratitude with which they adapt to their new situations. I push myself to learn about every community resource available to them for the scary moments they may encounter in this unpredictable political landscape. So is it the same interest I had as a classroom teacher all those years ago?  That’s the “definitely not” response I mentioned at the beginning of this article.

Emphasizing the role of the family in a child’s educational experience is neither new nor alternative, but in the case of the immigrant child, it is always necessary in order to obtain the full picture. Two recent documentaries worth seeing, and both available online, deal with Latino families, their children’s education, and indirectly, where we as educators can take a stand as advocates; “Una Vida, Dos Paises” unavidathefilm.com/#watch-the-film is a heartbreaking account of students born in the United States who are deported, along with their parents, and have trouble assimilating, often not even knowing the language of their parents’ home country. “Beyond Borders” is a new film, shown on PBS and also available in a shortened version online, https://vimeo.com/181639061 addressing the complexities of undocumented students’ struggles to achieve higher education. There is no discussion of these students’ education without including their families, their particular situations, their dreams, their realities. These are the same discussions familiar to ESL teachers who “know their students” and their families, too.

I have often thought my students were the bravest, most grateful, resilient  people I have ever encountered. I attribute this to the fact that they have a double genetic predisposition for courage and determination since both their parents gave up everything from their lives in another country to take a chance on ours. I love hearing the family stories: unacceptable conditions of their former life, and details of a new one now experienced. Of course, I feel it is my essential responsibility to guide these children to the absolute top of their potential educationally, but it is also essential that I support the parents and other family members by crediting their vision, acknowledging their efforts and decisions to take a chance and reach for the American Dream.

The professors’ advice to “know your students” will always be wise words. If you are a teacher of ELLs you can add to that wisdom by remembering “know your students, their families, and the backstory that brings them into your classroom every day, and invariably, into your heart.”

Please come to the NJTESOL Spring Conference and join in my discussion on Parent and Community involvement, sharing your experiences with the families and children you work with. We will collaborate in an open discussion creating ideas to strengthen the home-school connection and highlight community resources available to immigrants making New Jersey their home. I will also be offering a session on “Telling the Family Story,” sharing the books I helped my families write and illustrate. I look forward to meeting you at the end of May.

Angeline Sturgis, ESL K-3, Lawrence Township, NJ   asturgis@ltps.org



Special Education

Changing Behaviors and Managing a Classroom through Mindfulness

By Sonya Bertini

After what seems like a lifetime of teaching - 36 years and counting - one would think I’d be sailing on calm seas at this point in my career. Well, I’m not. This is the year that has made me feel like a rookie again. I am a bilingual special education teacher at a large high school in the southern part of the state. Because I am the only bilingual special education teacher at the high school, I teach every subject the students need to graduate as well as teaching all grades. I teach two subjects, Algebra 1 and Geometry, for example, simultaneously and in two languages. Surprisingly, that’s not the hard part. This year I have 16 boys and 1 girl in the class. That is the hard part. Suddenly, and somewhat unexpectedly, for this veteran teacher, classroom management has become an overriding issue. Sixteen boys is a lot of boys. Their constant chatting, fidgeting, calling-out, and neediness is challenging me every day. Just a few days ago during last period, I sat down at my desk in exhaustion, looked at them after attempting to correct a behavior for the umpteenth time and said to myself, “I give up!”

Thankfully, I was given the opportunity to try something that is being promoted as a method to reduce behavior problems and aggression among students while improving their ability to pay attention. What is this magic? Mindfulness. Scientific research suggests that mindfulness-based interventions may be helpful in the treatment of several behavior and attention disorders. A friend and colleague introduced me to Ivette Guillermo-McGahee, the director of Allies in Caring, a not-for-profit agency providing a variety of therapeutic services to the South Jersey community. Ivette spoke to my administrator and me about the program she runs in schools called The Mindfulness Based Reduction (MBSR) program. This program was originally developed by Jon Kabat-Zin. It was created on the foundation of the ancient practice of mindfulness, which encourages being fully present in our lives with greater peace and ease. The program teaches meditation and gentle exercises to cultivate awareness and reduce stress. Research indicates that people who participate in an MBSR course report an increased capacity to relax, increased self-esteem, greater energy and enthusiasm for life, improved ability to cope more effectively with stressful situations, reduced pain levels and/or improved ability to cope with pain that may not go away.

OK. So how is this relevant for my students?  My particular group of students have suffered the trauma of leaving their countries and starting life in a new one without knowing the language; they have experienced the oft-times crushing effects of poverty. Some of them have suffered the loss of a parent or loved one; many of them live in single parent homes and all of them face the challenges posed by having a learning disability. These factors contribute to stress and an inability to focus which frequently result in disruptive or inappropriate behaviors. Traditional disciplinary measures are not working well, not just for me and other Special Education teachers but for most high school teachers. Write-ups that lead to detention and out-of-school suspensions punish the student but do nothing to change the behavior. To change the behavior we must get to the root of the problem and provide students with strategies they can use.

This past week I held an information meeting in the evening where Ivette (who is bilingual) and two other therapists introduced the parents to the program. The students will receive about 3 hours of mindfulness training for 8 weeks. We started this past Tuesday. The students were encouraged to tell their life stories, not all did, but most did choose to share. This was extremely insightful. They have also done several activities meant to have them think out of the box, take a risk, and focus. This is still very new so I can’t report on its effectiveness at this point. I promise to do so in the future. I am really excited by the possibilities, participating in the program along with the students. So, if nothing else, the strategies that I learn may reduce my level of stress in the classroom. Now that would be worthwhile.

Sonya Bertini, Special Education (SPED) Special Interest Group Representative, Vineland Public Schools stb582000@yahoo.com


Teacher Education

Pursuing Professional Development Grants for Teacher Education: A conversation with Dr. Yiqiang Wu, Program Director of the Success for English Language Learners Project

By Bryan Meadows

What can teacher-educators do to help alleviate the shortage of bilingual/bicultural teachers in New Jersey?

One avenue is to pursue external grant funding. Such grants can provide valuable financial support to teacher education programs, making it possible for programs to offer certification coursework at low cost to enrolling students. Depending on the grant, there might be additional financial resources available to sustain outreach initiatives in the educator community.  

In this installment, I wish to highlight The College of New Jersey’s Success for English Language Learners Project, funded by a $2.6 million US Department of Education National Professional Development Grant. Proposals for federal-level grants face stiff competition. Generally speaking, only 10% of proposals are selected for funding. In highlighting the project, I hope to encourage the membership to search out and to apply for similar grant opportunities in the interest of getting more teachers certified for bilingual/bicultural education in our state.

Dr. Yiqiang Wu, Associate Professor and Principal Investigator of the Success for English Language Learners Project at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), shared his time with me for a phone interview on February 6th. In our interview, he generously shared information about the federally-funded grant and also provided words of advice for teacher-educator colleagues who might be considering similar grant opportunities. Below is a summary of our conversation.

Established in 2016, The Success for English Language Learners Project was built on the success of a previous $2 million federally funded grant project entitled Creating a Team of Highly Qualified Professionals. The current grant provides $2.6 million over a five-year period and involves several initiatives. A primary initiative is to partner with local school districts to provide on-site ESL/bilingual certification courses to district teachers. Participating teachers, who represent between six to eight partner districts, attend graduate classes with approximately 65% of their tuition and books/fees subsidized by the grant. The project has organized the participating teachers into two separate cohorts, and each cohort requires two years of coursework to complete the certification sequence. A second initiative is for on-campus graduate courses in ESL/bilingual education at a discounted tuition rate for teachers. A third initiative is to fund district on-site workshops for all school personnel (e.g., administrators, nurses, school counselors, among others). The workshops provide tools for bridging the school/community divide in the interest of supporting ELL academic and personal success. A further initiative is to provide for an annual series of TESOL Academy Workshops. Open to the general public, the workshops are held on the TCNJ campus each June over a three-day period. Each workshop features nationally-known voices in the field and registration is at minimal cost to attendees.

Dr. Wu offers some advice to teacher-educator colleagues who may be in position to apply for similar grant opportunities:

  1. Check the Federal Register frequently. Take note that there aren't as many grants targeting ESL/bilingual compared to other categories. Visit www.federalregister.gov and search for "Education Department Grants and Funding." Here is a sample link: https://www.federalregister.gov/education-department-grants-funding.

  2. Be prepared to move quickly on a grant opportunity. It tends to be that applications are announced in December with a submission date of late January. That is less than an 8-week turnaround. Beyond just the proposal narrative itself, the approval of multiple academic units will likely be required (e.g., Dean/Provost office, University Grants office, Budget office, Human Resources, among others). Signed partnerships with individual school districts may also be required, depending on the project design. In writing the application, highlight the support of the various academic units and school districts as valuable infrastructure resources. Dr. Wu explains: “The more elements of your project that are already in operation, as opposed to invented from the ground up, the stronger your application will be.”

  3. Start small first and build into larger funding opportunities. The grant process at the national level moves quickly so it is essential that all parties involved are familiar with the process and the kinds of paperwork that must be submitted. If one starts with smaller grants at the regional/state level, all participants will be better prepared for later grants at a larger scale. A further benefit is that smaller grants are recognized by awards committees as valid stepping stones to larger opportunities. For those completely new to the grant writing process, seed grants available at your university or institution are perfect for getting started.  

In closing, Dr. Wu voiced encouragement to NJTESOL/NJBE members to pursue federally-funded grants. He noted that the demand is out there from the school districts and there is no limit to the number of federal grants awarded to any individual state.

On behalf of the Teacher Education SIG, I would like to express our congratulations to Dr. Wu and the rest of the project team for their accomplishment in receiving the US Department of Education grant. Thank you for your valued contributions to bilingual education in our state.

For more detail about the Success for English Language Learners Project, contact Dr. Timothy Hall, Program Coordinator, at hallt@tcnj.edu. Additional related websites are listed below:

Success for English Language Learners Program page:
http://teslprofdev.pages.tcnj.edu/

TESOL Summer Academy (2017) page:
http://teslprofdev.pages.tcnj.edu/2017/02/07/2017-esl-bilingual-summer-academy/ 

Bryan Meadows, Ph.D., Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teacher Education Special Interest Group.
meadowsb@fdu.edu