BAP 120 Newcomer Numbers Rising? Reboot Your ESL Classroom

Rising number of Newcomers? Happened to me too. Mid-year/Winter break was a great time to hit the reset button. This was always the time of year that behavoir and sheer number of students coming in regularly made me do a hard stop to reset things. But what worked for me can be implemented any time of year. You can listen to the show on the podcast app of your choice or right here:

Listen to “BAP120 ESL Classroom Reboot” on Spreaker.

If you are not at a holiday break, a great time is after a long weekend, or even a regular weekend.  Just come back to school ready to reset expectations, reinforce the reasons we do certain activities or maybe try new things.  I thought you might like to see my top tips for getting a class back on track. Some of it is about behavior expectations but some of it is just GOOD newcomer classroom activities that keep everyone engaged. I did this same show back in 2019 but I’ve added some stuff here as well.

For example, recent data from the UNHCR shows a drastic increase in the number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide.

I also promised to share the free resources from the Boosting Achievement book.  You can find it here.   (note that it is called a ‘book study’ but you can do it without the book!)

Below is recycled from the 2019 show but it all holds true today.

  1. Routines. Have them and spend time training your students on the routines.  What should they do when they come in?  Where do they turn in homework? What should they do if we finish their work early? Spend some time explicitly teaching routines and then stick by them.
  2. Co-create Classroom Norms  It doesn’t have to be a social contract but get imput from your students. Revisit why the norms are important and allow students to help you create them so they feel ownership in the learning environment.  Here is a show that goes deeper into the steps and rationale for creating a social contract.
  3. Language Experience Approach as often as possible.  Co-creating text with your students will automatically increase engagement because you are honoring their ideas and allowing them to speak and contribute to the text you are scribing. You can write about a recent experience but you can also summarize a video or spark interest and preview grade level vocabulary or content that will be taught in their content classes.  Check out this blog post and video for a lot more on how to do LEA with your students.
  4. Use questioning strategies that boost achievement and set ALL students up for success.  All of your students will be engaged if you use QSSSA.  If you need to know more about this technique, check out this padlet by Christopher Hagy.  He used it to offer his teachers choice in their PD.   That strategy is critical for the ESL classroom.  Just practice it a lot and get your students comfortable talking a out engaging topics so you can establish the routine.   I also mentioned W.I.T.  That structure is to question with more rigor.  It is a great way to differentiate. You’ll find a WIT graphic on that padlet as well.

5. Teach Students What to Say Instead of “I Don’t Know”  Explain to your students that it is totally OKAY not to know the answer to a question.  But from now on, we won’t be saying “I don’t know” anymore.  From this point forward, they can use one of these questions to be able to find more information.  By teaching students what to say instead of I don’t know, you’re empowering all students to be successful and also giving kids a life skill they can use immediately in other areas of their lives.  It is incredibly important for newcomers to have phrases like these so they are not stressed out when they start being ready to participate and be called on.  They are also the type of questions /phrases that help as these students become the language brokers for their families (at the doctor’s office, at the grocery store, etc..)

https://x.com/DrCarolSalva/status/925171885008179203?s=20

BONUS:

Use Kahoot!   A lot!  Don’t just review with this awesome platform. You can do so much more! Here is a page with many ways to use the platform.  ESL teachers can use some of the Kahoot Studio quizzes to pre-teach vocabulary for content teachers.  You can let your students create Kahoot quizzes and more.  Did you know that there is now a single-player app?  Any of your Kahoot quizzes can be played by a student 3 questions at a time so they can review concepts on their own. If you’re the Newcomer teacher, you’ll love this video on Kahoot for Non-English Speakers:

You can even review those classroom norms by creating a Kahoot out of them!

The Boosting Achievement Classroom Management Reboot chat happened back in 2018 and here is a collection of input from so many people on what to do if behavior is getting out of hand mid year:

Something I ended the show with back in 2019 was a quote from Emily Francis. I had recently heard her say that tf your students FEEL valued and important they WILL  be successful.  I agree 100%.  Their timeline may be different as they grow in bilingualism or gain literacy.

But eventually,  if they don’t give up, and if they believe it’s possible, they will experience success.  Thank you for supporting that.

Hey, Newcomer Teacher: YOU ARE DOING GREAT WORK!! You are amazing and you ARE making a difference. I know things get so stressful when your caseload increases. Please remember that we know how to serve them. Kindness, patience, and holding them in high regard has the biggest effect on their long-term success.

So get yourself a reboot too. Please take care of yourself.

{{HUGS}}

Carol

PS:  Did you know that our Newcomer division is getting results when districts work with us to implement systemic change?  Please email me at Carol@SeidlitzEducation.com if you’d like to know more.

 

 

 

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