Jordan Lim's Blog: 🎈Welcome Back to School!🎈

Hello Teachers!
Happy August!

Are you ready to head back to school? I am!

Thinking about how many teachers will find English Language Learners (ELLs) on classroom rosters this year, I thought I would share some ideas used to establish a warm, and supportive learning environment for second language learners.

As teachers we know that creating a safe and secure classroom environment includes such things as:

•Arrange the classroom in a way to maximize interaction with clear walkways and designated work areas

•Post student work

•Display classroom rules and procedures

•Model kindness, patience and respect

•Smile often, laughing with our students and giving explicit positive reinforcement

You can ensure a sheltered and supportive classroom for your English language learners by including labels for your room and classroom objects that include words and pictures. This helps build vocabulary and helps limited or non-speakers know where things go and what they are called.

Don’t forget to put up your word walls!

A vocabulary word wall is an organized group of large print words posted on a bulletin board or wall in your classroom. Word walls draw attention to the words you are teaching and are used in whole class or small group activities.

Word walls provide a systematic visual vocabulary organizer that aides children in seeing and remembering connections between words and the characteristics that help them form categories and schemas to remember how to use them.

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Integrate Ells’ first language and culture into your classroom when possible. Incorporate all students into the classroom by putting up posters, books, songs and pictures of different cultures.

Remember to develop and maintain predictable procedures, schedules and routines. I model and practice these often during the first weeks of school and adhere to them throughout the year. Posting a schedule, content and language objectives, rules, lunch menus and bus schedules gives a sense of security to students. Try to always include pictures and simple wording.

Establish a sense of belonging by seating ELLs in the middle of the room toward the front facing the teacher. Make regular eye contact. Some teachers think they should not put second language students on the spot and don’t interact with them. I feel this allows an ELL to slip to the edges of a classroom, never participating, speaking or learning. Offer support by asking ELLs to repeat a simple statement from another student. That keeps the student engaged while lowering the affective filter!

Further that sense of belonging by designing classroom jobs appropriate for ELL students. There are many classroom jobs that a limited speaker can do such as: Handing out papers, posting lunch numbers, etc.

Have fun this year!
Happy Teaching!

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