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4.  Spotlight Respect For All Cultures: Reaffirm the message about being supportive of one another, kind, understanding and patient. Encourage everyone to openly talk about their personal cultures, traditions and languages. Have parties celebrating the different cultures in the class, sharing music, historical family photos, dances, games, food and traditions.  Hold discussions about the history of America, immigration, and the value of diversity and differences. Encourage students to share their own stories of immigration, passed down from generation to generation.

5.  Community: If the parents and/or guardians do not speak English, request an interpreter if possible for all school communication, including parties, conferences and special events. Invite parents to all school community functions to encourage and foster a sense of belonging. If possible, introduce other students and/or families who speak the same language as the ESL student. Sharing cultural commonalities will provide strong bonds for students, parents and teachers.

6.  Assess Students Informally: Assess ESL students on an informal basis when they first arrive to class, and ongoing during the school year. It is imperative to primarily check for understanding in regard to basic and social needs. Pay attention from the sideline to see if they know numbers, letters and/or short English phrases. Continuously check for comprehension and growth informally, make notes and never be afraid to raise the bar and challenge a bit.

7.  Don’t Discourage Native Language Use:  With all good intentions, this is a common mistake teachers can make. ESL students who have a stronger foundation of their native language will have a shorter route to acquiring English. Don’t discourage native language use, as this will result in negative feelings about the student’s language and culture, and may cause delay in English language acquisition. Provide free time for the ESL student to read and write in their native language

8.  Use Manipulatives, Visuals, Games, Music and Hands-On Activities in the Classroom: According to William Glaser, we learn 80% of what we experience, and 95% of what we teach others. ESL students do exceptionally well when this theory is followed. Involve them in projects that will encourage them to talk as much as possible with their classmates.   Some ideas for projects are the following:  cooking (following easy directions), art (drawing, painting, sculpture), musical activities (music provides an amazing platform for learning), and acting (for example, charades).

9.  Provide Various Opportunities For Talking and Consider Seat Placement: It is very important to consider seat placement in the classroom for the ESL student. All too often, ESL students are seated in the back of the classroom, which leads to a great lack of contribution, listening, and  participation. Try and seat the ESL student close to the front, especially with other students who are inviting and enjoy conversation. Provide the most opportunities as possible for talking and listening to others in the class via group work. You will be surprised how much shorter the silent period will end. 

10. Communicate with the ESL teacher: Maintain communication with the ESL teacher as much as possible. The sooner both teachers are working together, the quicker the student will learn English. Be open to the ESL teacher’s suggestions, let him/her share in the modification of classwork, and invite the ESL teacher into your classroom. 

She’s legendary for remembering the names of current and former students, recalling family members and interests. She writes notes to board members, students, and colleagues thanking them, praising them, recognizing their accomplishments.

we have extraordinary talent

connect project-based learning to the community

Ten Practical Implications for Teaching to Develop Agency

Young people from every background deserve teaching that enhances their agency.

Awareness that success in life requires agency is not new. However, we have tended as a society to treat its development as mostly a family and community responsibility, not a focus for policymakers, curriculum developers, or teacher preparation programs.

Empirical findings in the report are mostly consistent with what conventional wisdom would predict

The Tripod 7Cs Components

five categories of noncognitive factors related to academic performance:

Students’ perspectives concerning the teaching they experience can be valid and reliable indicators of instructional quality

teaching predicts a variety of agency related-factors that help prepare a student for success in school and life. These include the emotions, behaviors, and motivations that the student enacts in the classroom, in addition to the development of conscientiousness, future orientation, and growth mindset.

For happiness, learning, and high aspirations, we need high performance on multiple teaching components.

agency helps human beings fit into the environment, solve problems, develop and communicate our identities, and plan for the future. Therefore, it is fundamentally important that parents and teachers help to inspire, enable, and focus agency by the opportunities, instruction, and guidance they provide.