Case
ESOL Not Helping Very Much

The ESOL teacher at a school is very nice, but she does not differentiate the lessons for her students very well. How can a teacher suggest new activities and ways for her to better reach the children with vocabulary and content?

Posted on: 03/13/15 | Views: 910
Solution #1
I think the most appropriate way to handle the situation would be to have a teacher leader, county specialist, administrator, or another ESOL teacher observe her. Depending on the teacher, it might be difficult to hear ways for an ESOL teacher to help their students when it comes from another teacher (especially one that is not an ESOL teacher). For a classroom teacher that knows the ESOL teacher differentiation isn't effective then, that teacher should attempt to find other ways to differentiate that will help the student until the other teacher finds some new tricks in their bag.

I would exactly do this

If your ESOL class is diverse with different levels of English fluency it might be too difficult for her to teach at all their needed levels.

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Solution #2
I would ask the teacher to come to a collaborative planning meeting and put some of your ideas out there for the ESOL teacher to hear. I would approach the situation with all students in mind and mention to the ESOl teacher that you think these activities or techniques would especially benefit ESOL students in particular.

I would exactly do this

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Solution #3
When making any suggestions, the best thing to do is to come with examples of those suggestions. Show the teacher how the lessons can be differentiated for the different levels of ESOL students, what approaches to use, what each level of language proficiency looks like, and how to connect to the different students individually.
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