April Induction: Differentiation for ELLs

Well it is certainly a good thing this month's presentation wasn't given at the beginning of the year! We only have two months of school left and I still feel like a five ton weight has just been dropped on my shoulders! As always, I will do my mortal best to reach ALL students, ELLs included, but when we talk about day to day instruction, I just don't see it happening at this point.

One "ah ha" moment for me today were some of the strategies directed toward my LEPs... It's absolutely true that I sometimes assume they know more than they do (particularly when it comes to grammar and vocabulary). Some strategies I definitely plan to use with these students is reinforcing background knowledge, chunking, and most importantly, internal summary. I really need to focus on this each day for the benefit of all my students, as giving time to review and reflect WITHIN the lesson is something I often neglect to do.

After the training I continue to find myself bewildered as to how to help my two NEPs. Because their native language is Fulani, they don't have the benefit of relying on other Spanish students who make up the 98% of ELLs. Add the cultural component to the mix and I'm at a complete loss! Yes, I can help build background knowledge and vocabulary. Yes, I can aid their learning with visuals and hands-on activities. But when I'm told NOT to, under any circumstances, modify the curriculum, and my curriculum involves complex grammatical structures, proper essay format, writing with voice, word choice, and organization, and these kids can't even put together a simple complete sentence, well........

How much time am I expected to devote to two out of 120 students? The theories and techniques discussed at professional development are all fine and dandy, but where is the support in my classroom? Where is the "real world" application? Where are the professionals who are supposed to help me plan and develop curriculum? Where am I allowed to draw the line?

Last month's induction about differentiating instruction was extremely helpful for me, as this is probably the area where I struggle the most. At times, developing new/different/modified versions of the same lesson or assessment can be overwhelming... I have a difficult enough time developing just ONE version!

Drawing on student interests is something I always try to do, but even this seems to sometimes fall flat. I was really inspired by the article discussing new formats and modes of expressing student learning. This trimester my biggest goal has been to offer my students more choice in their products. My 8th graders are currently engaged in autobiography projects, beginning with memoir. Allowing them to choose their topics and express themselves has been soooooo rewarding so far! I've never seen them so invested in their learning. My 7th graders are actually EXCITED about writing essays, because I encouraged them to choose topics, issues, problems that are of concern or interest to them. My next step is to continue to be creative with my planning, and hopefully, set aside enough time in advance to create an actual "real world" application for my students.