Do I Add More Supports, or Change My Teaching?
This is an essential question to ask when a student struggles. It’s an essential question to engage educators in asking when they analyze data together to improve teaching for equity and EL excellence.
Observation Begins with Active Engagement
To get good observation data, we have to shift from traditional methods (like lectures and silent testing) to challenging, open-ended, collaborative tasks that actively engage students in processing and applying the new learning. If our learning is sit-and-get, there is nothing to observe but student behaviors of either compliance or disruption.
Four Verbs to Hone Your Observation Superpowers
Observing students is one of the most important teaching skills. It is also one of the most under-prioritized in professional learning initiatives and district-wide change. Using observation data for equity requires more than watching students — we need to learn to see beyond our own biases and use new data to challenge our own assumptions.
A Tale of Two Teacher Collaborations
Every day—in classrooms, in staff rooms, in online communities—teachers come together to collaborate. We love to connect, build community, share ideas, and help each other better serve our kids. But is it always effective? Compare these approaches.
Collaborate for EL Excellence – Part II
This is part II of a coffee chat with Andrea Honigsfeld, Maria G. Dove and Tonya Ward Singer on how to collaborate for EL achievement.
Collaborate for EL Excellence
Bestselling authors Andrea Honigsfeld, Maria G. Dove and Tonya Ward Singer discuss their most urgent calls to action to raise EL achievement in K-12 schools.
Ways to Differentiate Teaching for ELs
This is one of the most essential questions in EL education: “How can you best differentiate teaching for ELs who are in “mainstream classrooms?”
Listen to our radio interview. Read our written recommendations on Education Week.
10 Ways to Value ELs’ Language Assets
You don’t even need to know other languages to lead the change. With a few small shifts, every teacher can transform the classroom learning environment to value students’ multiple languages. Try these ten actions.
Engage Every Teacher in Raising EL Achievement
The caliber of core teaching has the greatest influence on whether or not our English Learners (ELs) thrive. Consider the following: Three in four U.S. classrooms have at least one student who is an English learner. Even in schools with EL specialists, ELs spend the majority of their instructional day with core classroom teachers. We know this, yet too often forget it when designing EL programs and solutions. Instead, many…
Courageous Learning with Comics
Problem I don’t draw. Seriously, this is what I’ve told myself for most of my life. Yes, this was the humbling realization I had when reading Carol Dweck’s book Mindset years ago, as in other parts of my life I feel like a walking example of someone with a growth mindset. I thrive on challenges, on learning from failure, and all that. I take risks daily to push myself beyond what…
