Teacher Discussion Forums

In my class reading of [u]Negotiating Language Policies in Schools[/u], I came across this quote: "What makes this case study so important to consider is that it highlights how the negotiation of language policy has to be considered within a particular staffing model," It seems to me the policy nego...

I've encountered this as well. I have a student who sometimes goes into a funk and won't do his work because "I'm Turkish." I have another student who thinks its appalling that people would keep dogs and cats as pets, and in their house no less! Where he comes from, they live ferally and are not con...

I'm also teaching in a New Jersey suburb, but in a very economically depressed area (its been this way for quite some time.) My students speak Spanish, Creole, Vietnamese, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and there's a large group of Turkish speakers (they are all from the same adult sibling group and most of t...

In my TESOL class reading of "Negotiating Language Policies in Schools" chapter 7 compares and contrasts the experiences of an ESL teacher with a teacher working with ELLs in a "facilitator" mode. The teacher in the case study struggled with classroom-level policy at two different schools, with vary...

i have a few high school students who have repeatedly failed their drivers ed written test. i got some toy cars and drew a few roads and intersections on posterboard for a mock-up of turns, yeilds and so on. that seems to have helped, but i'd be grateful for any other ideas you might like to share.

for my adult students, i have presented and practiced a real-life situation with them for a few times before i have them venture out and try it on their own. for instance, i had a script for asking for a certain item in the grocery store, and we practiced it and role-played in class until they were ...

great advice and guidance from everyone, thank you. recently, we brought in a few older siblings and cousins (who have always said this kid is a total motormouth at home) to speak with him and encourage him to participate either in his native lang. or in eng. that has helped somewhat, but he still i...

I have a few students from male-dominated families from cultures that don't put much (if any) value on girls' education. so often these particular students lag behind since the don't get the support at home. they are responsible for a great deal of the housework as well as childcare for younger fami...

In my class reading of "Forbidden Language," chapter 5 references Massachusetts' Question 2: "In order to minimize the use of native languages, the law encourages schools to place children of different languages but similar English fluency together." I'd like to ask the veterans out there about thei...

A great source of stuff for the walls is the visitors bureau or chamber of commerce in touristy areas of English-speaking countries. Maps of London, posters of iconic US landmarks (Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Florida Keys) can all be easily be obtained from the tourism department of those...

A great source of stuff for the walls is the visitors bureau or chamber of commerce in touristy areas of English-speaking countries. Maps of London, posters of iconic US landmarks (Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Florida Keys) can all be easily be obtained from the tourism department of those...

I have found that the games gets everyone energized and puts everyone in a better mood. Kids are naturally competetive and while they are focused on besting their classmates, they are actually getting some good practice in. My younger students love to play "go fish" or "war" or "slap-jack" with a ba...

I have a student in Pre-K who refuses to talk or interact with their classmates or the staff, and refuses to do most of the classwork. The parents' English is very limited, but the older siblings are very proficient in English, and are good students. We have had the older siblings and cousins come i...