Samantha's ESL-Personalized Learning Environment

ELL Specialist: These are “My Tech Essentials” written by Toshiko Maurizio is one my favorite articles of all those I have received though my Google alerts. I love how relevant this article is to our course on Computer Assisted Language Learning. Throughout the article the author describes the an ESL program specialists go to devices when implementing technology in the classroom setting. The ESL specialist serves as an "administrator of multilingual programs" in Beaverton, OR in which "5,000 English language learners  (ELLs) speaking more than 95 different languages" are enrolled (Maurizio, 2017). Having such a large amount of students throughout the district who are learning English as a second language, this administrator encourages his teachers to implement technology as a way to enhance ELL students overall learning. The ESL specialist states, "as a Future Ready district, we use technology to engage students in every lesson, while providing resources to bri

As technology continues to advance, so should the educational experiences we provide our students. As with teaching in any area, being an ESL teacher has its struggles. As English language learners need to be provided with learning experiences featuring accommodations and creativity. This is due to the manner in which ELL's are able to learn a new language best. Providing ELL's with many opportunities to learn from visual and audio resources. Podcasts are a great teaching tool in the sense that it provides students with an audio clip in which to listen and gain understanding of a specific topic being addressed. As society becomes more and more aware of the needs of our English language learners, we can also find more resources such as Podcasts geared towards both ELL's and their teachers. As a result I searched for available Podcasts such as these, to review in order to identify quality Podcasts for ESL teachers to implement in their classrooms and direct instruction. As I

This week’s article is entitled “Embracing Bilingualism in the Classroom: What Role Will You Play?” written by Daniella Suarez. The author gives a vivid description of her own experience as a child receiving English as a second language. During which she was fluent in both English and in Spanish and was doing well academically. However, due to the lack of knowledge educators and our educational system have today, Daniella felt as though she was treated unfairly. She then goes on to describe the history of bilingualism as well as the process of learning the English language in today’s school systems. Daniella clearly expresses her concern for our educational system to clearly identify the difference between student’s who are in need of ESOL services from those who would benefit from a Bilingual educational experience. Shifting to promote thought in those who are educators in terms of the roles they play in demonstrating acceptance of their bilingual students. Highlighting various areas

I came across a great article this week based on a school named Knollwood Elementary which had the opportunity to host an ESL Summer camp. According to Savannah Morgan, the author of “Knollwood Elementary School hosts ESL Summer Camp” the program was a successful one in which students seemed to be enjoying themselves a great deal (Morgan, 2017). The ESL Summer Camp was designed for English language learners to continue to work on their English language acquisition. They focused on reviewing language skills learned throughout the school year as well as extending on those skills to further develop their second language acquisition. During the student’s time at the camp, they were given opportunities to work on their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills which are the four components measured in terms of English language proficiency. Although the Summer Camp was held in an educational setting, due to being held during the summer months, the teachers were able to plan fun and eng