Special Interest Groups
Adult Education
The Importance of the Adult Learner
By Megan Butler
As an educator of adult and college age students for the past 8 years, I am ecstatic to be stepping into a role to help implement creative and new ideas for the most effective experiences for our adult learners. My name is Megan Butler and I am an ESL (English as a Second Language) and an Integrated Education Teacher for New Brunswick Schools. My previous experience includes teaching English as a Second Language for Fairleigh Dickinson University and Brookdale Community College. Throughout my experiences, I have been blessed to be able to teach many different cultures across many different age groups. The adult population is such a unique group of students since they are coming as students of an age where it is so easy to stay put and give up on learning. The classes usually take place after a long day of hard work and yet we have full classes night after night. We as educators need to match that determination and create the most effective curriculum and opportunities possible to accelerate these students’ lives and bring them to the level of respected, employed citizens. I have also recently collaborated with the Department of Labor to implement a program to specifically strengthen skills for which employers are looking. This program is going to be included state-wide and expected to increase employment. Part of being a citizen includes contributing to society and helping others. All of that starts with language, knowledge, and confidence, which are built in the classroom.
I am planning to use this opportunity as an Executive Board member to voice my ideas and share feedback directly from my classroom, to build solid working citizens throughout the country. I have noticed students signing up for classes and failing to complete them for numerous reasons. I would like to brainstorm ideas about how we can tailor our classes to fit the needs of these students. Do we need more activities or are we missing key foundations or areas of training? I hope to build solid ideas to improve professional development among adult basic educators state-wide. With the help of my enthusiastic colleagues, I have confidence we will move forward with these new programs and ideas. A teacher has the power to change mindsets and build confidence and interest. Sometimes, adults are the ones who need it the most.
Megan Butler, Adult Education Special Interest Group (SIG) Representative, New Brunswick Public Schools, megan_butler@nbpsnj.net
ESL Middle School
Save the Date!
By Michelle Land
In our world of modern conveniences, we have yet another way to help us plan our calendars and activities. The “Save the Date” cards that we get, far in advance of an event, are a great way to make sure that we don’t miss out on wonderful celebrations and opportunities. Consider this article to be your “Save the Date” for upcoming professional development in our area.
Districts set aside money for their staff to participate in PD (professional development) opportunities. Some opportunities can be as close as the district that you work in, while others may be across the world. The key is to plan ahead and request permission as soon as possible. The early bird, in this case, will get the PD.
If you are interested in getting reimbursement for the professional development you are planning on attending, it is important to begin first by requesting permission to attend. Each district’s requirements are different but some things are always the same. Plan for every expense that you will have: mileage, parking, registration costs, etc. You may need to supply mileage information, using MapQuest, for mileage reimbursement. Most districts will only reimburse hotel and meal expenses at the federal per diem rates. You can access them here: https://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120.
As for professional development, there is a multitude of opportunities from which to choose. The NJDOE (New Jersey Department of Education) offers very relevant professional development protocols. The Bilingual Department of the NJDOE is constantly providing new PD to address the needs of our constantly changing world of educating ELs (English Learners). Many of the sessions are available as webinars so that you can participate from the convenience of your home or classroom. At the typing of this article, the 2017/2018 professional development calendar was not posted, but should be available at this link in the future. http://nj.gov/education/bilingual/pd/calendar.htm
October 16th-19th are the days of the WIDA 2017 Annual Conference in Tampa, Florida. The theme is apropos for the time: “United in Purpose, Unique in Practice”. Participants will have the opportunity to go to an assortment of keynote speakers and “Spotlight Sessions” — over 100 workshops. Keynote speakers represent a variety of critical needs for districts, such as education transformation, NGSS-aligned instructional materials, and socio-cultural theory and practices to prepare general education teachers of ELs. The topics of the Spotlight Sessions are appropriate for recent developments in English language learning, such as “Engaging & Empowering Families of Language Learners”, as well as “Co-Assessment as, for, and of Learning: The Power of Collaboration”.
The 47th Annual Conference of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE 2018) will be on March 1st-3rd, 2018. Bilingual educators and other professionals will descend upon the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico in order to share and develop their expertise.
TESOL 2018 will be in Chicago, Illinois, during March 27th-30th, 2018. The theme is “Sustaining Dialogues Across the TESOL Community”. The organizers are promoting the opportunity to “engage in dialogue ….about language education policy as you enrich your knowledge, networks, and professional experience”. Very often, the ESL teacher is an island in a vast sea. This conference will help teachers of English to students of other languages reconnect with their tribe and provide support and inspiration.
NJTESOL/NJBE also has several opportunities for professional development throughout the course of the year. There are regional conferences, our state conference, and the local chapter meetings. You do not have to be from a region to attend a chapter meeting; all NJTESOL/NJBE members are welcome. Check our website (www.njtesol-njbe.org ) for the topics and dates.
All of these opportunities for professional development (and more!) are just waiting for you to apply. Don’t miss out on the chance to share and grow with your friends and peers.
Michelle Land is the NJTESOL/NJBE Bilingual/ESL Middle School 6-8 SIG Representative. She teaches ESL at Randolph Township Schools. michelleland88@gmail.com
Using Current Events in the Classroom
By Hana Prashker
As I go back to school, I think about all the events that have occurred in these last few weeks. High school students tend to hear about current events but often have questions and varied perspectives about them. Sometimes, a student will make a statement that they understand as fact but may actually be more of an opinion or a misconception. I am fortunate to be able to take these situations and turn them into lessons or units of study with access to computers for my students.
Do I need to create units from scratch for these topics? Usually, not. The Internet has given us many school-appropriate websites (some even free) to find texts, videos, lessons, and units of study about the over-arching issues, such as tolerance or natural disasters. The lessons on these sites can be easily differentiated for multiple English language proficiency levels (ELPs) in an ELL (English Language Learner) classroom and for content-area classrooms with a combination of ELLs and non-ELLs.
Sites where I begin my searches include:
- Facing History - https://www.facinghistory.org/
- Newsela - https://newsela.com
- CommonLit - https://www.commonlit.org/
- TPS Network - https://tpsteachersnetwork.org/
- National Geographic - https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/teaching-resources/
- World of 7 Billion - https://www.worldof7billion.org/teacher-resources/
Most of these websites have free live webinars in which you can participate. The webinars are usually archived so you can watch them later.
Objectives for these lessons can include understanding the difference between fact and opinion, the use of evidence as support, and close reading of informational texts. Because the content has come from the students themselves, they are more likely to participate and put more effort into the process and products that they develop individually, in pairs/small groups, and in whole class discussions.
An example of this type of lesson was the lesson on the Executive Order of the Immigration Ban by President Trump in January, 2017. Here is the organization of the lesson:
- Students came into class talking about the Executive Order of the Immigration Ban on Muslims by President Trump. Students shared what they knew about the Executive Order. Only some of their information was correct.
- As they shared, I created a Google Doc based on what they were telling me.
- I went to Newsela to find an article that students could read individually at their English proficiency level or in Spanish. Other students went to other news sites (New York Times, U.S.A. Today, The Record) to find an article to read, depending on their language proficiency. They shared with a partner what they learned (at least 2 pieces of information).
- As a class, we compared information from the articles to the text on the Google Doc. Some information was correct; other pieces of information, we needed to change.
- As an exit task, students answered the question: “Do you agree or disagree with the Immigration Ban on Muslims?” Their homework was to think about their opinions and the reason for their opinions. I told the students that they would be writing about this the next day in class.
- During the next class, students wrote a paragraph or essay on whether they agreed or disagreed with the ban. Students with lower level proficiencies had a paragraph using sentence frames:
I (dis)agree with President Trump’s executive order on immigration. I (dis)agree because __________________ . The following quote from __________________ demonstrates my opinion: “......” This means that __________. Another statement from ________________ declares, “....”. This statement explains that ________________. The final quote is “...” (Author name, year) illustrates my opinion by _______________. These ideas demonstrate my (dis)agreement with President Trump’s executive order on immigration.
7. Each student shared the Google Doc with another student and me for feedback.
8. We wrapped up the lesson with each student orally expressing their opinion after they practiced with a partner.
In this lesson, all students learn to express their opinions, support their opinions with facts and quotes, and practice citing their sources. Having the opportunity to talk with a partner, to view the Google Doc with vocabulary and information, and to complete the paragraph frame allows all students to participate in this current events lesson.
Please feel free to contact me at hprashker@njtesol-njbe.org with questions or concerns for Secondary ELLs.
Hana Prashker is the NJTESOL/NJBE ESL Secondary Representative. She teaches ESL at Dumont High School, Bergen County.
Getting Ready for School
By Diana Sefchik
How do we all get ready for school – students and teachers? It is an exciting yet anxiety-ridden time for all of us. What can we do to get ready and stay ready, all semester, all year?
The best advice that a friend a long time ago said to me was, “No matter what, be prepared.” Always do your lesson plans – ignore the cooking or laundry or television shows – do your lesson plans. I have followed that advice for 40 years. In this time of turmoil in education and for our students, we must be more than prepared. We must be willing to go into a classroom and expect all the challenges that our students will place in front of us. Be prepared to have “rough” discussions about uncomfortable topics such as immigration changes and laws. Be prepared to turn every discussion into a chance to work on academics and culture and vocabulary. Use these discussions as an opportunity to educate our students in politics and government.
Be prepared with the best and the most updated material. The newspaper is full of relevant topics for our students, topics that will support reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities.
We are advocates for our students but we need to work with our students to be their own advocates, especially on the post high school and graduate levels. I was checking out in Wal-Mart and a former student from my high school was the cashier. He was a recent graduate and as in normal teacher conversation, I asked him what he would be doing in September. He told me that he would be attending a county college but that he was scared; I asked him about what. He really could not express his feelings. Our job is to prepare the students not to be scared and to face the challenges ahead. We must be prepared with our work to help our students face those challenges. Let us give the students realistic work to do, maybe occasionally asking the students to “unplug” and truly absorb and reflect what is going on around them. Encourage students to continue their education on all levels. Remind them that the future is theirs and not to be scared to move forward. They are strong and have important and new ideas to share. Let us help them along in their journeys by being prepared to walk with them.
It is exciting to go into a class in September and see the students who are eager to start the school year with shiny notebooks and pens and pencils. Keep up the momentum through the year or semester. We get exhausted and caught up with the minutiae of education. Put all the entanglements aside and continue to be prepared to teach every class, every day, and every student. We all know that the work is more than worth our efforts.
Diana Sefchik, Higher Education SIG Representative, Raritan Valley Community College
Mahmoud's Backpack*
By Angeline Sturgis
The kindergarten teacher came to me mid-September with a worried look. “It’s about Mahmoud,” she said. “I think he is learning disabled. He just stares at his hands and fiddles with things and mumbles to himself. Even though he has a January birthday, he doesn’t know any numbers or letters, and, frankly, when you ask him a question, he gives you a nonsensical answer. He doesn’t even know if he has brothers and sisters or if his father lives with them. Can you imagine? Do you think it is just that he needs ESL?” The leap from A to B here was astounding, but we English as a Second Language teachers have heard it all before.
I knew Mahmoud, of course. Ours is not a big school and I catch all the kindergarten registrations as they hit the secretary’s desk from May through the first weeks of school, hoping for a healthy incoming population with lots of first languages and new families to meet. I was hoping a little boy with a name like Mahmoud Khan would be on my list, but, according to the home survey, he only spoke English and would not require ESL. I sought him out to have a chat on one of the first days of school and found that was indeed the case, and yes, he did have older siblings who spoke English with him, though he knew they could speak another language with uncles and aunts.
I told my friend the kindergarten teacher that Mahmoud hadn’t been to preschool at all, and maybe it was just a huge transition for him. While I felt a real connection to him, I really couldn’t have a monolingual English-speaking child in my kindergarten ESL group. She understood and we agreed to keep an eye on him.
One week later the teacher was back. “His backpack hasn’t been opened at home once since school started. There are important papers in there! I’ve sent notes to his mother every other day asking if I could speak to her. What is going on with this family? He just stares at me when I ask him why his mother hasn’t returned certain things.” I took Mahmoud aside and asked him a few questions, which he answered easily and directly. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Hi, Mahmoud. That’s a cool backpack, but it’s getting full! Did you know some of those papers can stay at your house? You can show them to Mommy every afternoon, one by one and she can help you decide which ones to keep and which ones need to be signed and sent back.
M: No, she can’t.
Me: Tell me why?
M: Because she doesn’t know what they say.
Me: Oh, cool! Can your mother speak another language?
M: Yes, Afghanistan language.
Me: Then you can, too!
M: No, my sisters and brother tell me what she says.
My heart sank. Could this really be? This child spoke only English. I was sure of that, and his mother could only speak what I assumed was Pashto. I had learned all I could from the five year-old himself. The teacher had no luck with a home-school connection, so I decided to do one of my favorite things—a home visit. My principal loves that I do this and leaves the details up to me. The next day, I told Mahmoud that I would come see him at his house not long after the bus dropped him off. He was delighted. I asked if his mother would be there, and he assured me saying, “She is ALWAYS there. She doesn’t go anywhere.”
I didn’t even have to ring the doorbell at the Kahn’s house. Mahmoud ran out to take me by the hand and lead me into their house, showing me where to drop my shoes, and depositing me directly into his mother’s embrace. Mrs. Kahn was beaming, dressed in a beautiful light green outfit that matched her sparkling eyes. She spoke “survival English,” a very small but useful vocabulary, and would occasionally break into Pashto and quickly apologize.
I got right down to business, taking Mahmoud’s backpack and showing Mrs. Kahn the yellow folder that all our students take back and forth to school. I showed her how the things on the left said “Return to school” and the things on the right said “Keep at home.” She looked at me and smiled sweetly. At that moment the front door opened and four boisterous girls came in, Mahmoud’s middle- and high-school sisters. For the next forty-five minutes, I unwound the noise and conversation, asked questions, observed dynamics, and finally had many of the answers I needed.
If I hadn’t visited this household for an hour would I have ever known that Mrs. Kahn was illiterate? That she had never been allowed to go to school because she was a girl? The result: she couldn’t read the papers sent home. Would I have known that Mahmoud’s father had been recruited for a job as a translator for the US military and had been in Afghanistan for the last 18 months since Mahmoud was three and a half? The result: Mahmoud wasn’t sure where his father was. Would I have seen with my own eyes that Mahmoud had no toys, and used all the little household items he treasured as his playthings? The result: Mahmoud often “fiddled” with little things in his hands as he smiled and amused himself with imaginative commentary. Would I have known why Mahmoud’s English was so developmentally delayed if I hadn’t seen the practically non-verbal interaction he had with his mother? The result: Mahmoud had entered his first year of school with not one language, not two, but half a language-poor English.
I tested Mahmoud the next day, and satisfied that his score easily qualified him for ESL classes, he quickly and happily joined our kindergarten ESL group. I continued my home visits first to see what could be done to help Mrs. Kahn and her desire to learn to read English, and second to try to corral the older siblings, which also included three teenage brothers, into helping Mahmoud learn his letters and sounds, and checking his backpack each night.
If you have had puzzling situations like Mahmoud and his backpack, take the time, if you can, to consider a home visit. You’ll know what to do and say, though you never learned it in college. You’ll be the grateful guest, not the inquisitive intruder. You will spare a student months of questioning and being forced to speak for his parents you’ve never met. Be that teacher that steps inside, that teacher that becomes the first pair of open arms to “welcome the stranger.”
*The student’s name has been changed to protect his identity.
Angeline Sturgis, ESL K-3, Eldridge Park School, Lawrence Township, asturgis@ltps.org
Parents/Guardians and Community Guidelines and Resources
Thanks go to Marcella Garavaglia, Karen Nemeth, and Angeline Sturgis for compiling these resources.
On the NJTESOL-NJBE website:
Use the following framework to build a Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC): http://www.njtesol-njbe.org/listquestions/ParentAdvisoryCommittee.htm
See slides 5 and 6 at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0NmTKD9sx_4SzM5TGdFVjM0Y0E/view?usp=sharing
National Resources:
https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/engaging-parents-english-learners/
Two toolkits from the United States Department of Education (USDOE):
Building a Bright Future for All – Success in Early Learning and Elementary Schools for Immigrant Families (2017)
https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/early-learning-teacher-and-parent-resource-guide.pdf
Toolkit to Ensure Meaningful Communication with Limited English Proficient Parents (2016)
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/english-learner-toolkit/chap10.pdf
Special Education
News from the TESOL International Advocacy and Policy Summit 2017
By Sonya Bertini
From June 18th to June 20th, fellow Executive Board member Angeline Sturgis and I attended the TESOL Advocacy and Policy Summit in Washington, DC. The purpose of the conference was two-fold. We received in-depth information on national policy and budget issues presently having an impact on English Language Learners. TESOL International Association is greatly disappointed by the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to numerous federal programs in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 federal budget. If implemented, these significant reductions would undermine many key programs that serve students, teachers, and English learners throughout the United States and around the world. Angeline and I were taught and given the opportunity to practice skills in order to advocate for the ELL population. On the last day of the conference, we met with our state legislators in both the Senate and Congress - Angeline and I had set up appointments with them prior to our arrival in DC - so that we could present our concerns to them or to their staffers.
Angeline and I spoke to a staffer from Senator Cory Booker’s office and to Senator Robert Menendez, himself, about our profound concern that the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) not be fully funded. I also spoke to a staffer at Congressman LoBiondo’s office. In particular we addressed the following:
- Fully fund Title III of the ESSA at the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 authorized funding level of $769 million. Title III provides supplemental funding for the instruction of English learners, with guidance from the Office of English Language Acquisition.
- Fully fund Title II-A of ESSA at the FY 2018 authorized funding level of $649.2 million. Title II-A provides states with funding for professional development for educators and school leaders.
- Fully fund Title 1 of ESSA at the FY 2018 authorized funding level of $15 billion. Title 1 provides funding to underserved schools across the country, and supplements local and state initiatives for our country’s most vulnerable students, many of whom are newcomers and English learners.
- Passage of the Bar Removal of Individuals Who Dream of Growing our Economy (BRIDGE) Act, bipartisan legislation that would allow people who have received, or are eligible to receive, relief from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, authorization to continue living in the U.S.
All those with whom we met guaranteed their support and assured us that they understood the importance of fully funding programs that directly impact ELLs. Angeline and I left the summit feeling optimistic and hopeful that we had effectively communicated our concerns. It is with both frustration and sorrow that I read today of the current administration’s plans to possibly terminate DACA and thereby shatter the dreams of over 800,000 young immigrants in the U.S.
We must remain vigilant, we must advocate for our students at every opportunity we have, we must remain informed. Above all, we must remember that voting for a particular candidate has its consequences.
Sonya Bertini Special Education SIG Vineland Public School District, Vineland NJ sbertini@njtesol/njbe.org
Teacher Education
Engagement with Mainstream Teachers
By Bryan Meadows
Although my primary work assignment is the development of K-12 ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers, in recent years, I have come to appreciate the important outreach that we can do with non-ESL mainstream teachers. What I have found in my teacher education practice is that outreach workshops for audiences of pre-service and in-service teachers is one way I can provide basic pedagogical tools and resources to educators who are not necessarily specialized in ESL instruction. Here I will share three suggestions based on the outreach activities I have completed so far.
One suggestion is to facilitate a sensitizing activity that allows teachers to experience what it is like to be in an academic classroom setting and to not be able follow the language of instruction. I believe the effect is greater when the teacher audience is confronted with a language that is completely unfamiliar to them but even familiar languages can lead the teacher- audience to valuable new insights. The debriefing session following the sensitizing activity is crucial. Here is where mainstream teachers can identify the components of the activity that aided their following the lesson and which components did not. What tends to come up during debriefing is how much the teacher audience relied on their preferred language of English as a resource during the instructional simulation.
A second suggestion is to provide a basic introduction to the WIDA proficiency levels. This serves two practical purposes: A.) it allows for a discussion of second language development. And B.), in looking at the rubrics, teacher audiences can discern language development (i.e., single words, phrases, sentences, etc.). As the teachers become familiar with how a WIDA level 2 in reading is different from a WIDA level 4, they are in a much better position to differentiate classroom materials and assignments. Depending on time, it’s also a good idea to review a sample WIDA score report with the teacher audience so they can understand how the composite score is calculated and how language development is rarely uniform across the language modes. Some students may be strong in reading/writing but lack development in speaking/listening. Those are fine details that mainstream teachers can benefit from.
Once teachers have a basic familiarity with the WIDA proficiency levels, the third suggestion is to practice applying differentiation techniques to the classroom assignments and materials they are currently using. Here is where they work with department or grade-level colleagues to modify materials and/or assignments according to linguistic complexity and assumed background knowledge. It’s often helpful to provide the teacher audience with specific target WIDA levels to differentiate for (e.g., modify the linguistic complexity of a math word problem to be consistent with WIDA level 2). In presenting back to the group, teachers must justify linguistic modifications according to WIDA proficiency level descriptors.
There are numerous resource materials on the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) website that are of value to our work with pre-service/in-service non-ESL teachers. The FABRIC document (http://www.state.nj.us/education/bilingual/pd/fabric/fabric.pdf) provides an instructional framework for ELL (English Language Learner) academic development in mainstream classrooms. The guidelines and discussion are of value to all teachers, ESL and non-ESL alike. Another resource is the NJDOE model curriculum .
(http://www.state.nj.us/education/modelcurriculum/ ). The ELA (English Language Arts) and Mathematics guides feature scaffolded learning/language objectives. This is a terrific model for mainstream teachers who are new to advancing learning objectives while keeping in mind student language proficiency. Additional resources are available in the “professional development” and “resources” tabs on the Bureau of Bilingual/ESL Education page (http://www.state.nj.us/education/bilingual/resources/).
Here, I’ve highlighted a few suggestions for NJTESOL/NJBE members who have the opportunity to work with non-ESL teacher audiences. I’m curious to hear more about the experiences members have had working with similar audiences. Please share your reflections and your own suggestions by email to bmeadows@njtesol-njbe.org.
Bryan Meadows, Ph.D., Seton Hall University, Teacher Education SIG Representative, bmeadows@njtesol-njbe.org