STAY GROUNDED

There certainly is a lot going on... our students feel it as much as anyone, perhaps more.  This week I've organized some Google Alerts on soft skills, mindfulness, connection, and belonging around helping our ELLs visualize success, be heard and have a little fun to lighten the load.

Just Breathe

Ferlazzo has pointed out that many of our EL students may be confused by recent political rhetoric and how it may affect them.  How can one learn if they are full of anxiety?  Research has proven time and again that the mind must be primed and calm for full cognition.  Here are some resources that may help your ELLs now and any time!

Let's begin by answering some of our students' questions.  Ferlazzo has put together some great resources that can quell the fears of birthright citizen students and provide much-needed information in a sea of confusion about their future.  In Here Are Answers To The Questions Many Teachers Will Be Asked: Am I Still Going To Be A Citizen? you'll find resources of all levels to help you help your students.    

I like to track visualization--it's good for everyone!  But, Ferlazzo has added to his recent post regarding how he uses it, particularly for his ESL classes.  Check out, Updates On Visualization Activities I'm Doing With My ELL Students.  It is some beautiful stuff.  Just read what his students have said such as this anonymous student quote from his Long Term ELL Support class, "I like doing the visualization activity because it helps me think and don’t worry about other things."

Lily Jones writes for Forbes in Destress The Classroom: Bringing Mindfulness To Students and Teachers, "When trying to manage the chaos, sometimes the most helpful thing is to just slow down. Instead of turning to quick fixes, many teachers are using mindfulness as a way for students to reset. Mindfulness restores a sense of calm in the classroom by helping students develop inner peace. But mindfulness does much more than just create a positive classroom culture. Some of the purported benefits of mindfulness include decreasing stress and anxiety, improving self-esteem and self-regulation, and increasing calm. Teachers across the country have been bringing mindfulness into their classrooms, hoping that their students see some of these benefits."

So while you're at it, check out this report, Evidence for the Impact of Mindfulness on Children and Young People by Katherine Weare, Emeritus Professor at Universities of Exeter and Southampton, for the full list of reasons to try mindfulness today with your ELLs.  

To get started with mindfulness practice now in your class try Calm, which is offering The Calm Schools Initiative wherein "any teacher with a K-12 classroom, anywhere in the world, can get free access to Calm’s paid subscription service."  And more from Calm for education: "Teachers will have unlimited access to our growing library of guided meditations and mindfulness exercises, including Calm Kids, our programs tailored for age groups from pre-K through high school. Over the coming year, we will be steadily adding to our Calm Kids library, equipping teachers with an ever-expanding supply of content crafted for the unique needs of their students." They say, "Our goal is to empower kids to thrive, not just survive."  Pretty cool!  And might be the trick right now for any ELL student feeling extra vulnerable!

You can also try Mindful Schools with lots of free or paid resources or even a certification program ($1000 discount if you apply by 11/15).  Or give MindUp a try.  I'm thinking that even if you can't go full-steam ahead, you will surely find something to help ease student anxieties asap.

Arianna Prothero in Why Principals Need to Make Student Mental Health a Priority-Education Week summarizes Dale Erquiaga, president and CEO of Community in Schools,
"Immigrant students are suffering more anxiety over the 'rhetoric around immigration and ICE raids'..."

If you happen to be reading this and are in a leadership position, have a look at Amelia Harper's 10/29 Education Dive report, How can principals bring more attention, resources to student mental health?  From the report's Dive Insight, "Students struggle to learn effectively if they are dealing with mental health issues that distract their focus."  Feeling out of place, as not belonging, scared, frustrated or depressed, these are defined as mental health issues.

Young people are reporting more mental health issues than ever before.  We must pay attention to all those in our care, and be vigilant for the most vulnerable of our students such as our ELLs.  Look out for next week's post for more ways to keep our ELL students truly engaged and involved which is of course just another way of staying grounded (and learning)!

Speaking of grounding and breathing...try a community garden!  Grants are on the rise, and it is a fantastic way to build community.  The English learners at my school are the most involved students in the garden!  And how many cultural and curricular connections to make, besides the obvious benefits of friends, flowers, veggies, and fresh air!  Check out this:  Alaska district bolsters community engagement through school gardens. Amelia Harper reports that "Projects that benefit the community at large offer many benefits to schools.  Students learn valuable skills through such programs in the context of a wider world experience.  They also learn core values such as responsibility, citizenship and the value of community involvement.  Such projects often also help build up a student transcript that can be beneficial for the college admission process or scholarship applications."  The more connections we can make, and the more confidence we build, the better all our students will feel, ELLs and native speakers together. 

Just Listen

In our studies, we've discussed how truly important it is for ELLs to get authentic speaking and listening practice.  And in keeping with the theme of mindfulness, Brian Lamb, co-founder of Synth and Swivl, brings up the point, how well are we hearing each other?  In Truly Listening to Each Other is Hard. It's Time to Improve This with Technology, he recounts his personal journey through school, and though he is a native English speaker, imagine how much more complicated the English learner's journey to be heard may be.  He writes, "My own personal journey through the limits of human listening continued into school, where it was obvious to me that classrooms also weren’t built for listening. Either by the teacher or between the students. They were built for control and transmission of information — factory style. Not feeling heard directly impacted my own engagement in learning. I was an uninspiring student as a result." And engagement is what we are talking about--engagement in the classroom and engagement with each other! Creating Synth podcasts seem like a no-brainer to get ELLs involved, collaborating with peers, and heard.

"Wellness" by Sylvia Duckworth is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Speaking of Synth, read Lamb's pointers, Five Ways for Teachers to Use Synth.  Here Lamb describes how to "Improve connection in and outside of school through better listening."  With what we've learned about podcasting technology and ELLs, his points are well-taken.  His post outlines using the tech for PD, sharing successes, building community, creating a class podcast, and the poignant, "truly listening to your student."  He writes, how a class podcast can be shared "with parents and administrators so that the voices you are cultivating are empowered with listeners that care and can act." I think my favorite new idea, though, is when he states "Listening is one of the hardest things to make time for in a busy class. With Synth, you can make reflections routine. Do regular formative assessment that you can listen to with the convenience of a podcast. Plus, you’ll be building student’s speaking skills…even the shy ones. It’s an essential 21st century skill!" 

In Seven Ways to Use Synth with K12 Students, Lamb refers to the importance of metacognition, community building, and critical language practice.  Not only can podcasting foster essential connection and belonging, but allows students to reflect on their own practice.  And specifically for ELLs, the language practice opportunities on Synth abound.  Lamb explains, "Being able to hear proper demonstrations, repeat them and hearing yourself helps rapidly develop any new language skills. Teachers can model skills for students to playback repeatedly. Students can respond back in easy to listen to threads to demonstrate their mastery for teachers. Plus students can practice repeatedly on draft Synths in their library free from judgment till they get it right!" What a great connection to our English for academic presentation unit!

And how's this for collaborative possibilities with Synth:

#Appsmashing: Each individual Synth can be linked to other materials, apps and experiences. Up to 10 at a time! Introduce new units, describe exercises and provide instructions for the use of other apps like Edpuzzle, Padlet, Quizlet, Seesaw and Nearpod."

You might want to listen to their new Perseverance series too--maybe even add your own.  Since the whole platform is designed to be "PG-13 or better" you can definitely have your students listen to encourage those all-important soft skills for all your students or provide a just-in-time lesson for a struggling ELL.

There are just too many benefits to discuss for ESL with Synth.  Presentations...formal or informal assessments...feedback...parental involvement...student voice...the 6 C's.  Students can interview each other, staff, or outside community members.  Teachers can set up groups.  It's portable and anytime, anywhere learning.  I think it is a must try!  Check out the platform and Lamb's blogs (and no this isn't a paid advertisement. Lol.)

Just Chill (And now for something entirely different...😊)

Fun and laughter go a long way. Let's not forget that laughter can be the best medicine!

via GIPHY

You may have seen East Leyden High School teacher Ainee Fatima's viral video around October 17 where she used funny memes to respond to her students' work.  Sean McNealy gives a full report on October 31 in Journal & Topics.  He quotes Fatima as saying, “I thought, ‘You know, we use memes and gifs so much in our texting and social media to react to things,’ so why not react to test answers with memes?” And he explains how Fatima sees it as not only fun but maybe practical for ELLs, "Fatima said she has a student who is an English language learner who is helped by meme usage in the classroom. She said that memes are a good visual tool for some students who might not understand written feedback." Fatima had chosen particularly funny and ironic memes that were relevant but more importantly allowed the student to get the message with a smile. Seems a good way to provide the feedback students need and ensure they stay open to it.

Ferlazzo always has amazing video lists, but I just love his newest, posted today, The Best Fun Videos For English Language Learners in 2018--Part Two! Watch the videos--they did wonders for my state of mind (and so they do for his kids)! (See if you don't laugh at the "good boy doesn't let a fight break out" clip!) Of course, he does have pedagogy in mind, but like the memes, fun, and laughter help us open up to the learning. He writes in his post, "I use short, funny video clips a lot when I’m teaching ELLs, and you can read in detail about how I use them in The Best Popular Movies/TV Shows For ESL/EFL (& How To Use Them). In short, there are many ways to use them that promote speaking, listening, writing and reading (including having students describe – in writing and verbally – a chronological description of what they saw)."