Are you interested in really amazing free resources?? You’ve come to the right place. Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski join me on this show to discuss their new book, ESL/EL Teacher’s Survival Guide, 2nd Edition. And there are a ton of free resources and learning opportunities available around it.
You can listen to the audio on your favorite podcast app or right here:
Listen to “BAP107 ESL/ELL Survival Guide ft. Ferlazzo and Sypnieski” on Spreaker.
You can watch the YouTube version of this interview here:
Or you can just browse through the notes to get a gist of what we discussed. My learning reflections from the conversation are at the end of this post.
Larry & Katie’s bios are extensive. They do much more than this, but here are the bios from the back of this new book:
Larry Ferlazzo teaches English Language Learners and English-proficiency students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California. He is the author or editor of 12 books on education and writes a weekly teacher advice column for Education Week. (Top Tip: Subscribe to his blog here.)
Katie Hull Sypnieski teaches English Language Learners and English proficiency students at Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School in Sacramento California. She is a Teacher Consultant with the Area 3 Writing Project at the University of California, Davis, and is a co-author of the ELL Teachers Toolbox and Navigating the Common Core with English Language Learners
As you’ll hear in the interview, there are several contributors that wrote new content in this new edition. Larry and Katie dedicate a few pages of the book to our bios but you can click on these links to follow them and learn more about them right now:
In the interview, we get a chance to hear about how different this edition is from the first ESL/ELL Survival Guide that was published 10 years ago. It still includes how to get started, teaching beginners, teaching intermediate multilingual learners, curriculum, daily instruction for MLs, and more.
The new version has a lot of new content around things like:
ELs with Learning Differences, Adult ELLs, Long Term ELs, ELs in Mainstream Classes, Social Studies for ELs, Math for ELs, Science for ELs, Culturally Sustaining Practices, Home Language of ELLs, Using Learning Games, Assessing ELLs, Reflective Teaching/Professional Development, Additional Opportunities, Common Challenges and more.
How you can plug in right now
I wanted to publish this interview ASAP because thanks to Dr. Katie Toppel, we are about to start a month-long #MLLchat_BkClub book study on this resource and you can plug in right away! Now sure how? Larry published an “Everything You Wanted to Know about The Month-Long Online Book Chat about our New Book But Were Afraid to Ask” post.
My strong recommendation is whatever you do, follow the buzz around the hashtag: #ESLgs
There are many folks sharing about this book, so you can catch a lot of the learning just by following that hashtag. 
You might also get a lot of the learning from the excerpts that Larry & Katie published in a slow chat recently.
OH! And check out these free downloadable student handouts and free chapter downloads from the book!
The first book was a true survival guide for me and I am so excited to be part of this new version. Along with several other contributors, I had the honor of writing one of the new chapters in this new version! I’m so happy to share some thoughts on being reflective about our teaching and how powerful that can be for our own professional growth.
Many thanks to Larry & Katie for spending time talking through it all with me.
My reflections from this show:
I often recommend that people follow Larry and Katie because they are still in the classroom and they are very generous in what they share for our collective growth. There is no question that they are at the top of their game with classroom instruction, research, and best practices.
Larry and Katie had agreed to the interview a few months before we actually sat down to record. As the days grew closer, tensions in Sacramento were mounting for educators. The teachers in Sacramento City Unified School District were at odds with the district over a crisis and other issues. You can read more about that here.
I was concerned for both of these Sacramento teachers and not sure how this interview would go given all they were dealing with. But as it turns out, we had a great conversation full of reflection and sharing and even several moments of laughter. The interview begins with what they are both doing now (day-to-day routines) and our acknowledgment of the incredibly difficult times educators are facing.
By the end of the interview, we are all reflecting on HOW an educator is supposed to be able to move forward in these challenging times. They both offer advice about giving yourself grace and looking forward with hope.
I find this so important. Now, more than ever. We are at a time when so many teachers are leaving the profession. New teachers, new teacher-leaders need a guide like this.
And they need the HOPE that Larry & Katie spoke about. WHY are they still motivated to stay in the classroom?? Despite all the challenges they are facing this year? I reflected on what Larry (and several researchers) tell us about motivation. And then I could see the direct connections to how we are all connected and learning this year:
- Relevance: Our conversation in this interview, our collaborations on Twitter/Facebook are relevant because we all teach the MLLs and we are passionate about it. If you are still reading, it is relevant for you too!
- Relatedness: Katie mentioned that she is surrounded by other educators and they help each other. This relatedness piece is about relationships. Our PLN is about relationships.
- Competence: THIS BOOK, the free downloads, the free book study all of it is helping us build a sense of competence. They talked about how they themselves use the book for their own learning and growth.
- Autonomy: Larry and Katie are champions of self-directed learning. All that they share for free and their constant interaction with our PLN offers all of us SO MUCH choice in how we learn. They are obviously capitalizing on choice in their own learning as well.
I find these parallels so important. What we want for our students who are going through hard times, is the same thing that keeps US going through hard times. That was a good take-away for me.
Thanks for tuning in!
My very best,
Carol