Unit 9

Thank you, PA Department of Education!

I feel like the EL population usually gets overlooked by school districts, so when I found this quote in multiple articles about PA shutting down schools, I was overjoyed:

Whatever decision is made, LEAs must ensure full access to learning for all students, with particular attention to free appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities and English as a second language (ESL) services for English Learners.--EerieNewsNow

This particular article then had an entire section about students with disabilities, but at least the state mentioned our students!

Philadelphia also cited the same information from the state, here: Philadelphia.

In light of the virus, seemingly taking over the world, most of the articles and sources that my alerts brought up were dealing with how we can cope.



via GIPHY

The resource that really stood out to me is here: Harnett County Schools in North Carolina created a list of apps and sites that students and their families might be able to use during this trying time. Check it out! Which one can you recommend to your students? Can you use one at home while you are quarantined? (Most of them are free. The ones that aren't are labeled.)

I think I will use Storyline Online with my nieces when I watch them later this week!

Unit 8 Post

I was originally going to write this post about how we (or I) can prepare my ELs to succeed with the potential to continue learning in the event of a closure. I even found this article that would potentially aid my endeavors. The author, Neil Campbell, even posits information about technology and equity, even though he only briefly mentions ELs. And then.......



To be totally honest, with the craziness that is going on in our schools, I have not had a whole lot of time to dedicate to my blog post, but I did find an article that I wanted to share with you. It has a lot of information that we are already probably are familiar with, but if you scroll all the way down, it discusses VR and the benefits of using technology.

Please stay safe and make healthy decisions!

Unit 7

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam.

via GIPHY

I feel like all I've done this week is wade through dead links or click on links that lead to...spam. I'm not going to lie, I also was quite preoccupied this week, as I was in Harrisburg at the MEP/ESL Conference. So, when I would go back to my hotel room, and now my home, the last thing that I wanted to do was open up my alerts to click on the aforementioned frustrations.

With that being said, I did find a couple of articles that related to what I was doing this week. I was networking with fellow ESL teachers in our state and attending professional development with, and sometimes lead by, those teachers. The first article is about a young woman who has taken her schooling to give back to her community. Not only does she contribute to the positive environment in her library, but she also teaches computer courses, and adult ESL classes, among other things.

Needing to feel inspired? Click me!

The other article that I enjoyed is entitled

Access to Quality PD Is an Equity Issue, Teachers Say

Since I spent so much time sitting in PDs for what feels like forever (I wish I could stand to type this), this article caught my eye, and since it wasn't a dead link, I was able to read it! I feel like most of the article was venting about not having access to the kind of PD that we as educators may want, but that most school districts attempt to give teachers the PD they need to make education more equitable for the students by giving sessions on how to teach ELs or on technology.

What was the last PD session that you had that was meaningful for you? What PD do you wish you had access to?