The past few months have been a bit of a whirlwind. We started online learning after Spring Break, and we came back in person only last week for the last two weeks of school. Being back in person with stricter Covid restrictions was a bit of a tricky transition for teachers and students, but overall I’m happy to be back and the kids are grateful to be out of the house. The parents also needed reprieve as many of them were supporting their kids doing online work while simultaneously working themselves.

I’ll be moving out of the homeroom classroom role next year and transitioning back into a support position. Our new administration is keen to start up the EL program again. They know that this will be an easy transition as I already have extensive experience in this role and I have designed structures that we could use right away. Overall, I’m excited to support students and teachers in a field I’m passionate about.

This blog post is part reflection on the lenses I’m operating from, but also a way for me to articulate my goals moving into the beginning of next school year. Here are a few of my plans that I have already sorted out:

Jumping back into Co-Teaching

I gained nearly a year’s experience Co-Teaching about three years ago, and I’m excited to dive right back into it again. I’m already experienced deploying different Co-Teaching models, and I have loads of resources ready to Co-Plan with my colleagues. Speaking of which, my longevity at my school has helped me build substantial trust with other teachers. I know I can start Co-Teaching with at least 2-3 teachers from the start of the year. This will be helpful so we can model how the Co-Teaching cycle is done for admin and other teachers. 

My longevity has also given me insight on most of the kids in the elementary school. Having previously been a support staff member and having taught first grade for the past two years, I know most of the kids in grades 2-5 by name. I’m also experienced working in most of their classrooms at some point, so there already are a few kids I have on my radar that I know will need language support. Transitioning out of the classroom will be a huge boon since I will have more practical knowledge of the implementation of language strategies through our existing curriculum. Some of my favorite strategies have focused on oral language and writing; two skills that are often overlooked in prescribed curriculum. 

My experience with the curriculum is another boon. We use the curriculum Wit & Wisdom, which is quite complex and requires significant differentiation for our students to have access to it. This will be the perfect opportunity for me to coach teachers in how to differentiate curriculum materials in their classrooms during Co-Planning while modeling how to utilize these strategies during Co-Teaching. 

Language Assessment

One thing I’ve noticed in schools is a lack of a consistent language assessment for incoming and existing students. Many schools use WIDA, but the data is either just a formality or a missed opportunity to guide instructional practices. I’m excited to report that we’ve adopted a solid assessment protocol from a friend at another international school that will guide us in not only addressing the language needs of all of our students, but also provide a means to exit our support structure. I don’t want to share it out just yet, but I can explain that it’s a sliding scale format. From first grade, entry to the school based off of WIDA scores is lower (1.5-2) and exit around the 4 range. However, as students get older, the entry/exit requirement becomes higher. By 11th and 12th grade, we won’t accept any student lower than a 5. At this point, language support becomes peripheral as students are enrolled in AP courses and graduation imminent. For existing students who have never been assessed, I will go off of teacher recommendations, grades, MAP scores, and other anecdotal observations to assess with WIDA and go from there.

We’ll see how this pans out next year moving forward – but I’m confident it will help guide us in supporting our students. One thing that I must keep in mind in regards to assessments is that they should not be seen as a be all, end all means of designating which students need support and which do not. All of the student must be considered before making such designations, as assessments only provide us a piece of the big picture.

Teaching From New Lenses

I’ve dedicated nearly all of my professional development in the past two years to equitable, anti-racist practices and how they intersect with English teaching. Last year, I implemented much of what I learned into my classroom context. I designed activities/discussions surrounding race, gender, sexuality, immigration, and privilege for my 6yo students to engage in. I worked hard challenging stereotypes that came up within my own classroom as well as moving the school towards becoming a more equitable space that represents everyone within our community, with a specific emphasis on including diverse books in our school library. We will also be bringing in a DEIJ consultant next year to help us incorporate equitable policies and practices, which I’m super stoked for.

As I transition to an EL/Coaching role next year, I will gain practice in incorporating these lenses as I work with other teachers. I won’t have my own classroom (at least for now) so much of what I will be teaching will be in collaboration with my colleagues. This will be a new challenge for me as this is something that I haven’t done before, and I will need to be working where teachers are at using a more facilitative coaching role as opposed to a directive coaching role. This is a perfect opportunity to make change from within the school culture instead of focusing solely on my own classroom.

That being said, I do know several teachers who I can work with from the get go that will be open to incorporating more equitable practices in their classrooms. Those teachers will be the launching point I can use to work with others as the year progresses.

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Moving forward, I believe I have the tools to begin an effective English language program; it’s a matter of how I utilize those tools in both a teaching and coaching role. One big question mark that I’m still cautious of is COVID. Thailand is still working on getting its citizens vaccinated. As of writing this, I myself have yet to receive the vaccine. With the new Delta variant spreading, it’s safe to assume that schools will continue to close periodically throughout the year. Something I’ll have to figure out is how I can properly assess students virtually. I know it can be done, and we’ve done this with entry exams at my school, but it’s still another level of organization that I must be ready for.

What programs or methods do you use at your school? Chime in in the comments – I’d love to hear from y’all 🙂