Teaching English Learners requires a few different skills from teachers. The EL students must learn content while they are learning English. Research shows that teachers meet EL needs by doing three things:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Supporting English Learners
A Proven Approach for English Learners
Dataworks provide teachers and administrators with a proven and systematic approach to professional development for teaching English Learners (ELs) that will produce a positive result for your students.
The Goal
Our goal is to provide teachers with a wide range of effective strategies to achieve this triple duty for English Learners. In fact, we have identified more than 50 strategies in our bestselling book for Teaching English Learners.
A Proven Approach to Better
Teaching & Learning for English Learners
We Wrote the Book!
Every teacher of English learners struggles with the very same issue. How do you build language skills at the same time that you’re teaching new content? That balancing act is about to get a whole lot easier. Explicit Direct Instruction for English Learners combines the best of educational theory, brain research, and data analysis to bring you a proven method for creating and delivering lessons for English learners.
Teacher Success = Student Success
A standardized instructional method repeatedly applied will have a positive impact on student learning. This is true with all students, but goes double for your English Learners.
The number one determination of student success is the quality of the teacher. And the quality of a teacher is measured by classroom instructional practice and lesson design. Inconsistent instructional practices and weak lesson design will negatively impact student learning.
Professional Development to Support English Learners features:
1) support for Designated classes
2) support for Integrated classes; and
3) supporting curriculum for English Learners with real-time examples.
Too often, teachers learn new strategies in a workshop, but then never get around to implementing them in the classroom. Without implementation support, teachers typically stop trying new techniques after the first few tries. It’s important to support teachers through this implementation dip. That’s why our PD gives teachers practice in the workshop and in the classroom.
Implimenting the Process
Step 1:
Workshop Practice
The first step is to keep teachers in active teacher mode. That means an effective Professional Development Workshop for EL Teachers should involve the teachers pairing off or working in small groups to actually practice the techniques. Teachers need to rehearse the new strategies with their colleagues. This starts to rewire the brain for efficient implementation. Practice makes permanent!
Step 2:
Classroom Practice
An effective Professional Development workshop is followed by a teaching demonstration in the classroom. The presenter should demonstrate the techniques so teachers can SEE proof that the techniques work with their EL students. Then, the teachers should be given time to practice in a classroom as well.
In terms of implementing new skills, the workshop is like taking a driving lesson in an empty parking lot, and the classroom practice is like driving in real traffic.
The goal is to develop automaticity – effortless use of the strategies. This is done through multiple repetitions, so the brain can remember and retrieve at will.
With these practices, you will see visible learning with English learners in the classroom. You will see students use English more effectively. You will see them learn the content and do well on tests. You, as an EL teacher, will find more satisfaction and success and make a real difference in the lives of these students.
For More Information
Please see the attached Special Report on Integrated or Designated ELD: 6 Things To Know About ELD Instruction. It was written by Dr. Silvia Ybarra (herself a former English Learner) and John Hollingsworth. It includes definitions, content or concepts covered for Integrated ELD & Designated ELD, EL instructional strategies, ELD proficiency levels, and common problems in current ELD teaching.
Not Ready to Make a Decision?
Some Additional Reading About English Learners
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