Teacher Discussion Forums

It seems as I learn more about ESL and bilingual programs the toughest thing to do is measure the success of the program. Different studies sometimes yield different results of the same program. I am trying to develop the most universal way to grade the success of a bilingual or ESL program to be im...

I definitely agree that the communication between the teachers is the most important aspect involved with this. I would think that if run efficiently the two teacher model has to be better than one teacher because you can give those not understanding the material more individual instruction than if ...

Do you think that we can increase the quality of our education for EL's by offering more professional development for teachers of all subjects in ESL? I think that if we offered more trainings possibly by the ESL teacher in the district offered to teachers at night or on weekends a few times a year ...

I do agree that if most documents are printed in English it's not worth the lawsuit risk. At the same time I guess I was thinking about the cultral effects of this bill as well. I just think that it will provide extra motivation for non native speakers not in school to learn English. This also would...

Recently I have been doing a project on the National Language Act of 2009. Although some may think that this act is against bilingual education, I think that by implementing English as the national language of the federal government it will force our schools into making concrete structures for it's ...

That's awesome!!! I think that at my school where we have a lunch/ student prep block they could use a program like this. The 35 minutes that the the student is in prep they could meet with their peer ESL tutor and spend that time with them. Could you post the programs guidelines and setup so that I...

I'm studying Bilingual Education in a class and I find myself switching sides between BE and English Only in the classroom daily. Can some people give me good arguments and reasons for either Bilingual Education or English Only stating why one is better than the other? Thanks so much.

Ana, that's so awesome the great lengths you go to help your students in your school. Unfortunately there aren't people who do this in every school. I work in a high school and see kids singled out constantly and many times it may be an ELL. I think that if our schools really pushed kindness to othe...

Does anyone have a peer ESL program implemented in their school? If so how does it work and how well does the program work? If not what are some opinions experienced ESL teacher might have on a volunteer program where students are given a short training and tips on how to teach ESL? The EL's would b...

I would also agree that they are helpful and that the movie selection is very important. I would stay away from movies with jokes because the humor may confuse some EL's and is difficult to understand especially if you haven't mastered the language yet. I would stick to educational movies maybe teac...

I think that these shows are great ways to introduce children to speaking two languages. I don't think that children will gain much besides knowing some words, but the value goes way beyond that. My fiance's nieces watch these shows and one day on a long drive I decided to teach them some Spanish wo...

I am taking a college course and learning all about bilingual education. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with their EL's feeling looked down upon by other students? If so what steps do you take to improve this and how often do you think it happens?