Part 4: 12 Ways to Support English Learners

As an educator, I agree with the underlying theme of respecting and honoring students, as emphasized in Strategies 9-12 discussed by Gonzalez. The quote she shares, "They may appear to produce half as much as others, but they're actually doing twice the work," deeply resonates with me. It serves as a powerful reminder that some students encounter additional hurdles or possess distinct learning styles that demand extra effort from them. It is our responsibility to acknowledge and appreciate their hard work and growth, even if it may not be shown . Nurturing an inclusive classroom environment where every student feels esteemed and recognized for their unique contributions is paramount. By adopting this perspective and providing support on their individual educational journeys, we can cultivate their self-assurance, resilience, and ultimately empower them to realize their fullest potential.

As a teacher, I  try to use multiple strategies in my classroom, which I hope has positive outcomes. For instance, I prioritize building positive relationships with students (Strategy 2), creating a supportive and motivating environment. I also provide clear and specific feedback (Strategy 4), enabling students to understand their growth areas and enhance their learning. Strategy 10, emphasizing a growth mindset, resonates with me, and I plan to integrate activities fostering effort, perseverance, and learning from mistakes. 

Gonzalez cites, “They’re doing twice the job of everybody else in the class, even though the result looks like half as much.”  I have a student right now who came a few weeks ago from Sri Lanka and spoke only a few words of English. Fortunately, she is an avid learner who wants to learn so much! She will not allow me to allow her to do any less than anyone- but without this go-getter attitude, I am not confident she would get as much attention and support. I am blessed to have an aide who sits with her a few times throughout the day to help. The ENL teacher sees her twice during the day.
I have relied heavily on Google Translate. I love having the ability to scan text and have it read to her in her home language. She does not read Tamil but can understand it spoken.
I also try to support her with picture cards. She is extremely smart in her native language- so I know the language is the barrier- I monopolize during math when she is able to contribute to the class or groups and build her confidence. 
I think am consciously using some of the 12 strategies. 
Making it Visual is my top go-to strategy. Even ordering lunch was daunting at first- and now she is able to google the lunch selection and order her own lunch!
Working closely with the ENL teacher has been invaluable! Planning and sharing the work to support and scaffold for the students who are learning english has made a huge impact on the success and confidence the ENL learners experience. 
While I want the students to perform and learn, my top priority is to cherish the learner and make them feel comfortable.
I need to improve my study of culturally unique vocabulary. I think I try to explain each concept but pre-teaching and being aware of the vocab is something I need to be better at.
Sentence stems or frames are used as a regular strategy in the class with all students not just ENL students. 
The most amazing experience this year was our multicultural week- where students were able to dress in the clothing of their culture and share stories, music, and food. I learned so much about the culture of each student! 
DEI has been very eye-opening for my teaching practice for every student but especially my ENL students.

I often found it very challenging in my ELA classroom when trying to work alongside our ELL students. I never really thought specifically about the idea of doing “twice the work” to get out half the product.  In a system that forces everyone to fall into a 0-100 grading scale, how will a student who struggles with basic communication ever be looked at as successful in that rigid system when success for them looks so very different from their classmates? At least we now have many more resources on the technology front that allows for translation so that we can lean on the language they do know to see what they can tell us about their understanding and learning in class.
I think the biggest strategy that I rely on is making everything I can visual.  Doing tech coaching in classrooms allows for that as I mostly demonstrate or create an example of what students need to do.  This obviously benefits all students.

These students have so much more baggage to carry when entering a classroom that looks different from what they are used to, or where they originate from in their native country, or even their own household! The classroom should be a common ground of everyone to have the opportunity to learn, but these students struggle because they can feel like they are not a part of the class community due to their culture and background. They work so hard to fit in and wanting to be like their peers, though sometimes even with the teachers, the effort put forth by others in wanting to embrace their background and culture can be minimal. I really connected with the "learning about your students background". I cherish my family history, my background, and where I come from. I should only be giving that same result and effort into my students and their heritage. This begins with their name. Asking them to help you, showing them that you are trying, and are learning about them through this process is sometimes enough for the students to know they are being accepted. 

I think multilingual students are some of the most hardworking kids there are.  They are using every tool in their box to help them, and then trying to show what they know even if it is difficult for them.  

I use a lot of pre teaching in my small groups, and sentence frames in the classroom. I am consistently collaborating and working with classroom teachers regularly to support the MLL students. When students are able to participate in the classroom I know I have done my best to support MLLs. 

I can’t even imagine how these students feel. To be placed in a school where sometimes no one understands them. In my school I have not worked with an ELL student. But when and if that opportunity comes up I know these strategies will be very important. I do not have the knowledge of different cultural backgrounds that I wish I had. I most definitely take into consideration different religions practices and know how important it is to help make others understand we are all different and educating ourselves is the first step to bringing us closer. Being part of the situation in the future I will work on making others not take themselves so serious. I tend to help lighten things up with humor. But also know where the fine line is between humor and humility. That is where the knowledge of their background from strategy 9 comes into play. I know I can do a good job with this although it makes me sad to think that they might not get all that I am trying to teach them. Luckily in my specialty visual learning comes in handy and is not always about the words. 

Many of our ENL students are doing double the work.  They see the assignment in English, translate it to their language, answer it in their language and then translate it back to English!  So, that's often double (or triple) the time!  I see that a lot and one of our primary goals is to make it less complex for them.  As they learn more English, the urge to translate EVERYTHING should go away.

Many of the tips that Jennifer Gonzalez mentions are fantastic for our ENL students.  I think the mention of the "Silent Period" is significant.  Aside from this year, we haven't had a vast number of non-English speaking ENL students.  Sometimes the "silent period" lasts 6 hours or it can last a year!  So, I think it's great to show educators that it's completely normal for a new ENL student to be silent and take the day-to-day activities in as they happen.  We are at a disadvantage because New York says the HS ENL students need a certain amount of classes/credits to graduate.  So, in my thinking, we don't have a lot of time to waste!!!  But, the reality is - these students are driven, they can learn fast and they are such an awesome addition to our building!!!!!

1. What do you Think??  REFLECT: Strategies 9-12 (14:39 - 20:30) have a common thread around respecting and honoring a student.  Gonzalez cites, “They’re doing twice the job of everybody else in the class, even though the result looks like half as much.”  What do you think?

Going through this list it made me reflect on times where I had difficulty understanding an ELL student and how, in the moment, on my toes, I tried to problem solve how to be clearer. If I am an adult and I am self conscious and scrambling to communicate in my area of expertise, OF COURSE our ELL students are doing twice the work. What I am feeling in the moment may be what they are feeling all the time, at least for a period in their experience here. I am not sure if I agree with half the results, but perhaps that is because my content area is heavy on visual products and not reading or writing. I tend to see a pretty even output of quality artwork between our ELLs and English speakers. It's a universal language that everyone has access to.

1. Now What??  From the 12 strategies Gonzalez offers, which do you already use consciously? What are the results?  Are there any strategies that you connect with and plan to use?  How will you know if you are successful?  Please explain.

I already consciously use...Strategy 1:  Making it Visual is something we automatically do as Art teachers. All examples and demos are visual as well as verbal. Walking around the room with my own sketchbook to draw or share techniques for individuals as needed helps everyone, but also makes directions clear to my ELL students. Strategy 8: Preteach. One thing I love about Schoology and our district being one to one is that I can have entire units avaible to students ahead of time along with additional resources. When I begin a unit I always share the unit folder with the class and share what is in it that they can explore or revisit at their own pace.Strategy 9:  Learn About Cultural Backgrounds is so huge as well. I taught in the Lehigh Valley of PA for 5 years where the population is about 40% Latino. It was exciting to learn about the cultural variety (and sometimes drama between) my students with Dominican, versus Puerto Rican, versus Guatemalan backgrounds. It showed that each individual was important and worth understanding instead of lumping people into one language sharing package.
I plan to use...
Strategy 7. By using Sentence Frames on written reflections or during critiques in art. Talking about Art can be a formal process and it would help everyone to model a clear format to do it. I will know it is successful if my students written responses to art express a clear opinion with a specific reason to back it up. Just setting up a space to to hold those two parts on a worksheet would support that practice. Also modeling that everyone share their thoughts in this format and having the whole class practice it when we discuss Art aloud would be helpful.

Reflect: YES! ELLs are continuously doing at least double the work of everyone else in the room but it might only look like half as much. We simply cannot expect ELLs to produce the same level of work as a native speaker that has been in the country/US schools for their entire life. Modification and differentiation is essential to an ELLs education, especially those that have recently arrived in the U.S. or are at the entering/emerging proficiency level. 
Now What: Make it visual is a strategy that I use consistently. The amount of times I am looking up photos or just providing graphic organizers to modify for my kids has been unlimited. However, this makes a huge difference in the educational success of our ELLs. Also, these modifications are good for all students in the classroom and ensure that everyone has equal access to the curriculum. Also as an ENL teacher, I truly appreciate #3 - Communicate with the ESL teacher. We are a wealth of knowledge, and if we don't know how to help, we probably know a resource or can refer you to help! I also believe Sentence Frames are such a huge support for our kids. It gives the the necessary push to get to producing their own language and structure. If we are successful in using these strategies we will see an increase in ELL engagement, production of work, and overall confidence in the classroom!