- June 2010 –
Submitted by Rita MacDoanld and Kirsten Kollgaard
ESL/ Special Ed Resource Guide Completed
The ESL-Special Education working group is delighted to announce the publication of the long-awaited state guidelines for distinguishing normal language learning differences from learning disabilities. The multi-disciplinary group of special educators, ESL teachers, Saint Michael’s College faculty and district and state administrators named in the document, guided by consultants from the Equity Alliance at Brown University and the Northeast Regional Resource Center, worked for over two years to develop a shared understanding of the issues and of best practices in ESL instruction and assessment and to then develop guidelines consistent with best practice in the U.S. The document can be retrieved at http://education.vermont.gov/new/pdfdoc/pgm_esl/educ_ell_sped_resource_guide.pdf
CLIMBS Course Planned for Spring 2011
Burlington School District just completed a 15-week CLIMBS course for teams of ESL and general education teachers. CLIMBS is a WIDA-created course, and Beth Evans (NNETESOL past president and webmaster) and Kathy McLean taught the course as WIDA-certified trainers. They plan to offer the course again next spring. Spots in the course are first open to Burlington School District educators and then remaining spots are opened to educators in other districts. This year’s course description is available at http://education.vermont.gov/new/pdfdoc/dept/calendar/educ_cal_climbs_brochure.pdf
ELL Collaboration Workshop Well Attended
Don Bouchard, a trained WIDA consultant, recently led a workshop entitled “Two are Better than One: Collaborative Instruction for English Language Learners” for teams of ELL and mainstream teachers from around Vermont. The workshop was held in two locations, Montpelier and Colchester, to maximize teacher participation and both dates were completely booked. The workshop addressed several aspects of teacher collaboration including why it is beneficial for teachers and students, what it should look like, and the obstacles to accomplishing it. The set up allowed the teams that attended to discuss their views of collaboration together, while also working with teams from other schools to get different perspectives on the art of collaboration.
Sustainability Academy in Burlington Supports ELLs and their Families
ELL teacher Mary Kay O’Brien wrote to share what has been going on with the ELLs at the Sustainability Academy at Barnes in Burlington. This spring she worked with two groups of 1st grade ELL students to write two projects on penguins (an extension of a math unit in the classroom) and soccer. They created films with music and titles that were presented at the “Celebration of Learning” assembly at the school and they were very well received. In addition to reading instruction, ELL students have been working on RAZ KIDS, a subset of A-Z Learning. Mary writes, “our students have been very excited about these books with narration and comprehension questions. As they read and pass books, they get points to buy things for their RAZ Rocket. (It’s kind of like Webkinz.) If you want to try it out, A-Z learning will give you a day or more free pass to see what it is all about.” The Sustainability Academy at Barnes has also sponsored many events with ELL families and students in mind. For instance, they have had some “Nepali Teas” where parents can come and relax with the principal and ELL teachers and talk about their concerns. One thing that parents were concerned about was that their children would lose their native language. It was decided that the ELL teachers would work with the Nepali home school liaison to prepare some practice books with pictures for students in English and Nepali with many spaces to practice the writing in Nepali. The Nepali community also put on a dinner for the school community with music and fun and it was very well attended. The Sustainability Academy plans to continue developing similar activities for the other ethnic communities at their school.
St Johnsbury Academy and Lyndon State Present Multicultural Festival
This spring the St. Johnsbury Academy ESL Program and Lyndon State College hosted their third annual multi-cultural festival for families: KIDZ WORLD III. The event is held annually on the 2nd Saturday of March. The international students at the Academy, both current and former ESL students, organize the entire two hour event. This year thirteen countries were represented. Students create booths to share the cultures of their home countries. Among other items most of the booths include facts, crafts, artifacts, traditional costumes and music. Students also teach the games from their home countries to the local children. This year over 100 families attended the event. Prior to the event the Academy students visited three local elementary schools to preview the games and crafts that would be a part of the festival. The Academy ESL Program also took their presentations to IROC, the Indoor Recreation Center of Orleans County, in late April. The IROC presentation was an invitational community event focused on teaching North Country school district students about Asian cultures.
Burlington ELL Teacher Recognized by UVM
Lynda Siegel, a long time ELL teacher in the Burlington School District, received this year’s UVM Distinguished Educator Award. Every year UVM chooses an educator to honor for their outstanding contribution to the field and this year they chose Siegel, who teaches in the STEP program (Studying towards English Proficiency) which is a multi-age classroom for newly arrived refugee children. This one year multi-age English immersion experience prepares them for re-integration into the regular classroom. Those who nominated her described Lynda as “a dedicated, creative and dynamic classroom teacher.” Congratulations, Lynda!
- February 2010 –
Submitted by Rita MacDonald and Kirsten Kollgaard
School districts hard at work on professional development
Burlington School District is running a 15-week CLIMBS course for teams of ESL and gen ed teachers. CLIMBS is a WIDA-created course, and Beth Evans (NNETESOL past president and webmaster) and Kathy McLean are teaching the course as WIDA-certified trainers. Burlington School District is running a 10-week online introductory course (TRAVELLs) for teachers and staff with limited experience working with ELLs, taught by ESL Teachers Kathy McLean and Amanda Gustafson. South Burlington School District is in its second year of professional development with Project CREATE at Saint Michael’s College on integrated content-language instruction at the High School level. Two content-area teams (Biology and U.S. History) work with SMC faculty members Rita MacDonald (Applied Linguistics, NNETESOL state representative) and James Nagle (Education) to embed content-relevant language instruction into their general ed classrooms. Each course is co-taught by the content specialist and an ESL teacher, Heidi Western (Biology) and Rebecca Baker (History).
Winooski School District continues its year-long commitment to training all general ed teachers in ESL strategies through embedded training and mentoring. Faculty from Saint Michael’s College Applied Linguistics and Education Departments work with all teachers in the elementary, middle and high schools to develop lessons that are differentiated for ELLs and weave language instruction into content instruction. ESL teachers Nancy Devost, Kirsten Kollgaard, Jean Plass, Andrea Wheeland and Inge White assist their general ed colleagues in analyzing the language demands of content lessons and planning language instruction.
News from the IHE Front
Project CREATE at Saint Michael’s College just completed a successful second year of grant-funded school-based projects, aimed at developing integrated content-language instruction in three partner school districts. Eleven teams comprised of members of SMC faculty and teachers from Burlington, South Burlington and Winooski presented their work at the CREATE winter Conference in December. A list of projects and related materials can be found on the CREATE website at http://academics.smcvt.edu/CREATE/Default.htm Project CREATE at Saint Michael’s College hosted a day-long workshop with Dr. Mary Schleppegrell (University of Michigan) focused on the application of systemic functional linguistics to the analysis of academic English in the content areas. The morning was spent with SMC faculty in Applied Linguistics and Education, discussing the challenge of educating pre-service gen ed teachers for increased linguistic awareness. The afternoon was spent with teachers from three partner school districts, demonstrating the use of SFL strategies as a means of analyzing and learning content through analyzing language. Participants were enthusiastic about SFL as a means of developing a shared language between ESL and gen ed, to enhance the collaboration between our two disciplines. Year Three of CREATE-funded school-based projects will focus on the application of SFL in content classrooms.
University of Vermont (The Committee for Diversity Initiatives of the College of Education and Social Services) in collaboration with the Agency of Human Services’ Refugee Office, Burlington School District’s Diversity & Equity Office, and the State Department of Education, is hosting a mini-conference on English language learners and refugee immigrants in Vermont. February 17, 3:30 in the UVM Davis Center. The conference, entitled “Identity and Intercultural Awareness: Responding to the Stories of English Language Learners, will include a local keynote speaker, Denise Lamoureux, (State Refugee Coordinator for the Vermont Agency of Human Services), a panel of young adult refugee immigrants who will share their stories and discussion groups facilitated by community service providers.
Volunteer Opportunities Supporting our Refugee Communities
Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program is celebrating its 30th anniversary on “World Refugee Day” by hosting an event for all its staff, volunteers and refugee clients. It will be held at the Unitarian Church at the top of Church Street in Burlington on Sunday, June 20th. There will be a potluck and performances by different ethnic groups and the local band, “The Fiddleheads.” VRRP is looking for volunteers who are interested in helping with the infrastructure for this event to make this 30th anniversary a special one! If you are interested please email volunteer@uscrivt.org or call (802)338-4633 for more information.
Barre Schools Support Their ELL Students
This fall the Barre ELL teachers have been busy supporting their ELLs with a variety of different activities. On November 4th five ELL students went to visit Champlain College with three of their teachers, Olga Benoit, Lisa Burton and Ya’an Zhang. The students met with an Admissions Counselor who described the college and discussed the variety of courses offered. The students enjoyed the trip and were inspired to begin making plans to make their college dream come true. Students and teachers also have been organizing “International Days” at Spaulding High School and BCEMS, with the most recent one held on November 19th. This year they chose to celebrate the cultures of Central and South America with Garifuna Settlement Day, which is celebrated in Belize, a small country in Central America. Activities included a Brazilian exchange student sharing a photo story of his life and ethnicity, and a dance performance by African performers Soriba Simbo Camara and Africa Djolie. Many students were surprised to see African culture celebrated in connection with Central American countries, but this question was straightened out when teacher Olga Benoit explained that in Belize the roots of African culture are so strong that Garifuna Settlement Day is celebrated with big parades with African dance and drumming. The celebration at the school was a great way to bring people together, to give them a better understanding of the world around them, and to have them open their eyes to new culture and experiences. The young people of Spaulding and BCEMS seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and they hope that next year’s international day be just as, if not more, exciting.