What is the most effective, science-proven method for teaching children to read? Join us as we welcome extraordinary author and educator, Malia Hollowell, who addresses the dire need for a new way of teaching reading. Learn from her book, The Science of Reading in Action: Brain-Friendly Strategies Every Teacher Needs to Know, and gain insights into making reading easier for both teachers and students. In this conversation, Malia shares how to harness the power of spoken language and seamlessly c...
Jun 30, 2023•35 min•Ep. 81
Are you feeling overwhelmed and on the brink of burnout? We understand the challenges you face, and that's why we've brought in the amazing Jamie Sears, author and educator, to address the pressing issue of preventing teacher burnout in this episode of the Equipping ELLs podcast. Jamie Sears creates curriculum and delivers professional development for elementary educators through The Not So Wimpy Teacher Company . She has also authored the book How to Love Teaching Again: Work Smarter, Beat Burn...
Jun 23, 2023•41 min
Are you struggling to understand and connect with your ELLs in the content classroom? In this episode, Beth sits down with educator, entrepreneur and author Sarah Ottow. Sarah is the founder of Confianza , whose goal is to support cultural understanding, communication, and collaboration through professional learning programs that include tailored coaching, practical guidance, and world-class content. In today's episode, Sarah shares about her book The Language Lens for Content Classrooms: A Guid...
Jun 16, 2023•30 min
As teachers, we understand the importance of connecting with our students and fostering meaningful relationships. We also recognize the challenges that come with it. We welcome to the show special guest, author Emily Francis. Emily Francis is a nationally recognized ESL teacher, serving students in 9th-12th grade with various English proficiency levels. She is a native Spanish-speaker who is originally from Guatemala and came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor. Her experience as an ELL inspir...
Jun 09, 2023•39 min
As Summer approaches for both students and educators, it's time to reflect on our journey of equipping ELLs for success. Join us as we celebrate the valuable topics covered in the past months and focus on the small steps that make a big difference. We'll guide you through the "Three, Two, One" method of reflection—acknowledging growth, addressing frustrations, and setting a single action step for the summer break. Let's empower ourselves to become better educators for our ELLs and taking small s...
Jun 02, 2023•25 min
Writing is one of the biggest challenges for ELLs and teachers of ELLs. Too often, writing is viewed as a product , when it should be viewed as a process . A foundational step in the process is understanding and mastering syntax, or sentence structure . We welcome back to the show Sara Marye, from The Stellar Teacher Co. as we delve into the fundamental role of sentence writing in shaping students' future writing abilities. Sara shares 5 practical strategies for integrating sentence-level writin...
May 26, 2023•38 min
We all know that teachers are constantly seeking new ways to enhance their students' reading skills. That's why in today's episode, we have special guest, Susan Patterson ( My MLL Mentor ) who shares her expertise on reading support for ELLs . With proven reading strategies to add to your teacher toolkit, this conversation will equip you with valuable insights and practical tips to boost your students' reading proficiency! Related Resources: Join the Equipping ELLs membership Text Engineeri...
May 19, 2023•30 min
Do you find the following statistics alarming? A recent study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that only 27% of U.S. eighth-graders were proficient in writing. In the same year, a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics found that only 24% of high school seniors were proficient in writing. Writing can be difficult and often frustrating, even in a person's native language. Writing is often one of the biggest challenges for our ELL students. In our final epis...
May 12, 2023•26 min•Ep. 74
Do you want to know why our episodes centered on reading seem to get the most downloads? Because teaching reading to ELLs is HARD ! We've been taking a deeper dive into each of the 4 domains of language. In this episode, we break down the reading domain. Being hooked on phonics may not be the best approach with your ELLs. We hope you'll listen in to research-based support on how to best implement the reading domain into your classroom and how these 4 domains of language work together in the lang...
May 05, 2023•36 min
Over the course of 4 weeks, we are breaking down the 4 language domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing . In today's episode, we'll discuss the 4 stages of development in the speaking domain. You'll learn practical strategies to get your students speaking . We'll share tips for your lesson planning so that you purposefully carve out time for speaking. And you'll leave with a list of student listening expectations for each language stage. Remember: If you like the show, leave us a revi...
Apr 28, 2023•35 min
It is important to be aware of each of the different areas of the brain that are activated as your students learn English. We need to help our students view their brains as a muscle they are strengthening ! Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down the 4 language domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing . In my opinion, the listening domain is the most important domain to focus on in the language learning journey. However, it's the most commonly overlooked of the 4 domains! In ...
Apr 21, 2023•33 min
At Equipping ELLs, we pride ourselves on giving practical strategies to our listeners in every episode. Along with this, we want to make sure our listeners have the foundational understanding for why these strategies work and how our students learn. In this episode, we go deeper into understanding language theory . The key terms for today are language acquisition and comprehensible input . If you're a teacher of ELLs, you won't want to skip this one. Related Resources: Join the Equipping ELLs ...
Apr 14, 2023•30 min
Does the term longterm language learner apply to any of the students in your classroom? What can we do to keep our ELLs moving forward? I am my own humble inspiration for today's episode, simply because I am a longterm Spanish language learner. Having studied Spanish for 10 years, and now having lived in a Spanish-speaking country for 10 more, why am I not fluent?! Listen in for 5 things you can do to keep your ELLs moving forward! Related Resources: Join the Equipping ELLs membership Shop TpT r...
Apr 07, 2023•23 min
Differentiate instruction. Every teacher has heard these familiar words given a million times. We strive to accomplish this goal both for the success of our diverse learners and also for the evaluation that follows a dreaded classroom observation. In this episode, you'll learn numerous strategies you can use to make differentiation easy! And you'll leave with a fantastic freebie that you'll want to download, print, and put to use in your classroom immediately! Related Resources: Downloadable Dif...
Mar 31, 2023•27 min
Modifying is part of the day-to-day for any teacher of ELLs. Sometimes it comes as second-nature. Other times, we wrack our brains: “How do I make this particular content unit accessible to my ELLs?” or “How do I meet the needs of the majority, while still giving adequate attention to the newcomer?” The fact is, you probably don’t have the time to plan OR teach a separate lesson to each of your students. In this guest episode, I interview two ELL teachers, working within the same school district...
Mar 24, 2023•30 min•Ep. 67
Are you currently co-teaching, preparing for co-teaching, or maybe just hoping some day your school will adopt this effective model for reaching ELLs? In this episode, Beth interviews guest, Leslie Tomanovich. Leslie is an ENL (English as a New Language) teacher in New York. After years of teaching with the pull-out method, the state of New York changed their ENL laws and required instruction for ENL students to be co-taught. Leslie shares about her experience transitioning to co-teaching. She a...
Mar 17, 2023•38 min
You've learned the pros and cons of a variety of program models, but which is the most effective for reaching your ELLs? While one school may have students in a full immersion program, other schools are using the pull-out approach. It is important to know the different methods available when teaching ELLs, and you may have more power than you realize when it comes to choosing an instructional model for your English language learners. In this episode, I will break down 5 common instructional prog...
Mar 10, 2023•25 min
Are you a paraprofessional, wondering how best to support your ELLs? Or are you a classroom teacher that knows you are underutilizing the paraprofessionals in your building? We are right in the middle of a series called Small Steps to Success for ELLs! Throughout this series, we are encouraging every person in our schools, from the front office to the cafeteria, to take vital steps to help support our English language learners. We know when each person does this, you will see positive change! To...
Mar 03, 2023•22 min•Ep. 64
If you’re a homeroom teacher, the thought of figuring out how to support ELL students in your classroom may be completely overwhelming. I know this because I’ve been there. When I was a homeroom teacher, I didn’t support my English language learners very well. As we are working on taking small steps to make a big impact on our ELL students, I want to share four shifts that homeroom teachers can make to ensure our ELLs are being set up to thrive in our classrooms. Most homeroom teachers want to h...
Feb 24, 2023•28 min•Ep. 63
There are so many important positions in every school but sometimes it can be challenging to understand just what each person does and does not do. As ESL teachers, we may have come across some misconceptions that other staff members have about us and our role. We all want to work together as best as possible so that we can help our ELL students be successful. In order to do that, we may need to help other staff members understand what it is that we do and how we help our students. It is so impo...
Feb 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 62
We know how important it is for us to make our new ELLs feel welcome and comfortable but how can we help their families feel supported? There can be so much confusion for families as they are adjusting to living in a new country, learning a new school system, and understanding different offerings and options that are available. Our guest, Janna Adams, is sharing ways that we can help our ELL families overcome some of these hindrances. In today’s episode, we are chatting with Janna about some thi...
Feb 10, 2023•32 min•Ep. 61
Understanding where our students come from and who they are is so important to ensuring we are providing them with an environment where they feel welcome and respected. This may mean dismantling some assumptions we have about different countries and really trying to understand the countries they are coming from and the specific areas they are coming from. Margarita Pearce is joining us today to share her unique perspective and provide some insight and tips for ESL teachers. In this episode, Marg...
Feb 03, 2023•40 min•Ep. 60
As ESL teachers, we are especially aware of how important it is for our ELL students to feel welcome, respected, and safe. Because of this, creating a culturally competent school environment is so important. Our guest today, Jocelynn Hubbard, is sharing how all teachers, admin, and staff play a huge role in creating this culturally competent environment for our students. Creating a culturally responsive environment takes effort from all staff members to not only learn new things, but to unlearn ...
Jan 27, 2023•34 min•Ep. 59
Have you been asked to provide training to the staff on supporting ELLs but have no idea what you could present on? I see people asking all the time what they can do to provide training or PD to their school staff on supporting ELLs. If you’ve been there, I’ve got you! I am sharing 12 ideas for PD training you can feel confident sharing with teachers. You may be thinking that you are still trying to figure out how to best support your ELLs so there is no way you could train others. Remember, YOU...
Jan 20, 2023•27 min•Ep. 58
Do you ever feel like you are solely responsible for supporting your English language learners? That responsibility is NOT just yours. We are continuing our Small Steps to Success series by looking at what role administrators play in supporting ELLs. Today we are joined by Maria Montroni-Currais who is sharing her insights on how administrators can impact English language learners. In this episode, we are looking at how ELL teachers and administrators can work collaboratively to support their EL...
Jan 13, 2023•35 min•Ep. 57
Have you ever stopped to really think about what success looks like for your ELL students? Are you only gauging the success of your students based on if they are proficient in English or not? Defining what success looks like for your students is critical to ensuring your students experience successes and feel confident throughout their English language journey, not just when they are proficient or test out of language support services. Learning a new language is tiring and can be super frustrati...
Jan 06, 2023•25 min•Ep. 56
Coming back from winter break is the perfect time to restart and refresh things in order to make the most of the second half of the year. I know this year, and the past few years, have been incredibly stressful and exhausting and the thought of doing a refresh may be overwhelming. I totally get that! I want to help you finish the year strong so I am sharing five easy things for you to restart to make the most of the second half of the school year. At this point in the school year, you’re likely ...
Dec 30, 2022•22 min•Ep. 55
We all want to support our ELLs as best as possible but some of the things we are doing could actually be inhibiting their growth. As teachers, we are doing our best to figure out what our students need in order to be successful. Unfortunately, some of our efforts could be an unnecessary waste of time. If you’re confused about what ELLs actually need and what they don’t, you’re not alone! We want to be sure that what we are doing is helping our students and stop doing anything that isn’t helping...
Dec 23, 2022•22 min•Ep. 54
Are you trying everything you can think of and your ELLs still aren’t making progress? When I talk to teachers whose students aren’t making growth, there is one common thread across the board. Doubt. The good news is that doubt is a reflection of our mindset so if we can fix our mindset, we can help out ELLs make more growth. If you’ve ever doubted that you are doing what’s best for your ELL students or if you flip flop your plans every week because you aren’t sure if what you’re doing is workin...
Dec 16, 2022•19 min•Ep. 53
Does the thought of being observed by your admin make you panic a little bit? I think it’s safe to say most teachers don’t love observations. They cause extra stress and nervousness no matter how amazing of a teacher you are. If you’re dreading an upcoming observation, don’t worry! I am sharing five tips to help your observation lesson run smoothly so you can showcase just how lucky your students are to have you! Preparing for an observation doesn’t have to be stressful. In an observation, you a...
Dec 09, 2022•22 min•Ep. 52
