English Learners: In the bustling library at Kennedy High School in Richmond, CA, Carlos, a determined senior, recently embarked on an inspiring journey. He was preparing a presentation for the upcoming Latinx Heritage Month Celebration, eager to present options for cultural games that his peers could vote on. He came to me to help him […]
English Language Learners
Honor Mother Languages in Your Classroom
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a young girl, newly immigrated from Guatemala, I wondered whether my new teachers and classmates saw the real me -an individual with diverse thoughts, ideas, language, and culture. I felt alone and scared as I tried to overcome […]
5 Things You Can Do This Month to Support Your Latino Students
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Last week marked the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 – October 15. While Hispanic Heritage Month may not get as much attention or targeted marketing as other national month-long observances, it is a […]
A Conversation With My Deaf Quadrilingual Student
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! In the summer of 2018 I learned that I would be meeting my first deaf[i] student in my American Sign Language (ASL) Class. After a decade of teaching ASL the majority of my students were hearing students. Only a […]
English in America: Is English Really our “Official” Language in Schools?
English, the “Official” American Language Although the United States does not have an official language, everyone knows that English is the language of the land. Despite our history of multilingual immigrants who later became Americans, English has always been the “American language.” Our school system has reinforced this idea and has caused many challenges for […]
Six Reasons Why Tests Suck
I’ve probably given hundreds of tests during my career, but the truth is, if I had the choice, I would never give my ELA students tests of any kind. This is one of those things that has sort of snuck up on me over the years. For example, I used to give a test on […]
5 Ways to Use Emojis in the Classroom
I realized almost immediately that I wasn’t getting through to my Kindergartners… again. I asked a class full of 5-year-olds to identify feeling words, and I got the same generic responses – happy, sad, mad. Year after year, I struggle with how to teach my primary students, especially my English Language Learners, to use precise […]
2015: A Year in Which an ELL Teacher Goes from “Failure” to “Success”
By Guest Writer Jennifer Healey This New Year’s Eve, I deserved an extra glass of champagne. I toasted myself for my success as an educator. After years of “failure,” in 2015 I was deemed a “successful” teacher by the illustrious Oregon Department of Education. It all went by so fast! It seems like only yesterday I […]