Affirmations are a great way for anyone to combat negative self talk and our English learners are no exception. The teenagers I work with often struggle with thoughts that their English is not good enough and are hesitant to participate in conversations because of their low confidence. This is why the topic of today’s episode is affirmations to use with our English learners. 

Young people feel pressure to do well in school and fall into the trap of comparing themselves to others. I like to remind my students that it takes time to learn a language and it is okay not to have it all figured out yet, that it takes time to adjust to a new culture, and that what others are doing is none of your business. There is a formula of thinking that I teach them to use - be, do, have. This can be used to formulate questions: What do I need to be and what do I need to do to have what I want?

I also share 10 of my favorite affirmations to use with my students and how to get the most out of them. I have found that not all affirmations work in all situations and the way they are used can really make a big difference.

What you will hear about using affirmations with your English Learners

• Ways to support your students with combating negative self talk
• A formula of thinking you can use to change your thinking
• 10 of my favorite affirmations to share with my English Learners
• Tips for using affirmations effectively

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in: 

• Episode 11 - Radical Self-Care for Teachers in Times of Crisis 
• Affirmations for students
• Affirmations for children

As summer comes to an end, I thought it would be nice to hear an English learners' perspective on what it is like to be a new student in high school. In today's episode, I interview a former student of mine, Maja Pastuszka, about her experience coming to the United States from Poland and what it was like for her to be a new student and English learner simultaneously.

She explains some of the challenges she had to overcome while learning English, the things her teachers did to support her, and some things teachers did that were not so supportive. Maja also gives us insight on some of the cultural differences between attending high school in Poland and in the United States from her English learner's perspective. She explains several aspects of the new culture that she had to adjust to and how even minor cultural differences can be difficult to navigate. 

What you will hear from an English Learner’s Perspective

• What it feels like to be an English Learner and a new high school student in the United States
• Cultural differences that English Learners have to navigate
• Some challenges of feeling confident speaking from the perspective of an English Learner
• Things teachers did that were supportive and not so supportive

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in

• Confident ESL Teacher Summit registration

When you are teaching English Learners, making connections with students and families is one of the most important things you can do. When you are teaching English Learners, they need to know that they are seen and valued, that they are in the right place, and that there are people they can trust. In this episode, I share activities I use at the beginning and throughout the year to make sure my students know these things. I share beginning of the year activities I use to get to know students and let them get to know me and each other. I also share the best ways to reach and communicate with families of English Learners.

What you will hear about the most important thing to teach English Language Learners

• The basic things English Learners need when they enter school
• Activities to help students get to know you and each other
• Strategies for checking in with students each day and what to do with that information
• Ideas for communicating with parents and families who don’t speak English

Resources

• Register for The Confident ESL Teacher Summit! 

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

I have gotten so many questions about curriculum guides and the resources included in them and I have decided to address those issues in this episode. The resources I found online when I searched for ESL Curriculum Guides lacked the specificity that I wanted. So, I created a newcomer curriculum guide myself. This is a done-for-you newcomer curriculum guide that you can purchase and download with the click of a button below. I also share the process I took to create it in case you would like to create a newcomer curriculum guide yourself. I know some teachers like to do things like this themselves because it helps them internalize their curriculum and tailor materials to their students.

What you will hear in this episode: 

• What a curriculum guide is and what it includes
• How a curriculum guide differs from a scope and sequence
• The ways  a curriculum guide provides both accountability and flexibility throughout the year
• The steps you can take to build your own curriculum guide
• Where you can find a template or a done-for-you curriculum guide to use

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• Grades 6-12 Curriculum Guide
• K-5 ESL Curriculum guide
• Curriculum guide template 

You may also be interested in

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

In this episode I share 5 things you need to do to get ready for a successful school year. Summer is a time to rest and not think about anything school related. In fact, one of today’s tips is all about rest and relaxation. It is important for a number of reasons! But, there are a few things EL teachers can do over the summer that will make their lives so much easier come fall. Listen to today’s episode to hear my tips for preparing yourself for the school year during the summer months, without sacrificing too much break time.

You will hear more about how these tips can help EL teachers prepare for a successful school year:

• Rest and relax.
• Do professional development on your own time and terms.
• Prepare a scope and sequence for your EL students.
• Review goals for specific language domains.
• Create templates.

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in

• Episode 25 - 5 Fantastic Virtual Events for EL Teachers

• Episode 26 - 5 Professional Development Books for EL Teachers

I love books, especially historical fiction, but in this episode I focus on a different type of book, professional development books for EL teachers. There are plenty of great books out there for EL teachers. I have read many of them and have several more on my list to read next. I am excited to share some of them with you in this episode. During the school year, it can be hard to find the time or headspace to read a good professional development book, which is why summer break is a great time to read a book or two to inspire you for the upcoming school year.

Professional development books you will hear about (some of the links below are affiliate links, which only means that I might get a few pennies if you purchase the book using that link. No additional cost to you at all:)

• A short handbook for new EL teachers and for those who have EL students in their classrooms
• A book that includes practical tips on how to differentiate instruction for multi level classrooms and great activities that can be implemented right away 
• A book that helps teachers move beyond their current practices with EL students. It provides simplified “can do” descriptors that list what students can do at different proficiencies and suggested scaffolds
• A book about celebrating student strengths using the  translanguaging approach when teaching English Learners.
• A book to help you improve your ability to develop your colleagues in the best practices you learn and practice.

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

The books mentioned in today’s episode:

• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher’s Handbook
• 7 Steps to a Language rich interactive classroom 
• Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners
• Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers and Writers

• The PD Book: 7 Habits that Transform Professional Development

I enjoy taking a break and recharging my batteries over the summer, but I also love to take some time to work on lesson ideas that I don’t have as much time to think about during the school year and take advantage of some professional development. 
In this episode, I share my suggestions for quality virtual professional development opportunities that you can participate in this summer. If you are anything like me, I know they will inspire you, boost your confidence, and help you get ready for the upcoming school year. Whether you are looking to plan out the beginning of the school year, hear from experts in the field of ESL education, or take a deep dive into strategies like the SIOP model, there is something for you in this episode.

Virtual Events you will learn about in today’s episode:

• An overview of my Virtual Summit and what you can look forward to each day
• A virtual lesson planning masterclass to help you map out you first month with ESL students
• A large summit featuring amazing speakers with a wealth of knowledge
• One of my favorite webinar series for finding literature for your EL students
• A virtual conference where you can learn  everything you need to know about the SIOP model

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• The Confident ESL Teacher Summit 
• Map Out Your First Month with ESL Beginners Masterclass 
• The Multilingual Learner Summit
• Saddleback Educational Publishing:
  • Webinar series
  • Youtube 
  • Resources 
• The SIOP Virtual Conference

In this episode, I share 6 elements of an effective EL lesson plan that I have learned in my years as a teacher. Planning for English Learners is not the same as planning for other contents because many EL teachers do not have a set curriculum and will need to plan for different proficiency levels and different sized groups of students. I go into the essential components of an EL lesson plans - an objective, background building, presentation, practice, assessment, and extension. 

I discuss the preparation to do ahead of tim, how to choose strategies that will work best for the objective you’re working toward and give examples of how to follow the research based, SIOP protocol to write both language and content objectives. You will walk away inspired to make the most of the planning time you have over the Summer or any time of year.

What you will learn about EL Lesson Planning

• How to lesson plan for your EL students
• What information to include in your EL lesson plans
• How to figure out the right goals to plan for
• Why Summer is the best time to get started on your lesson plans for next year
• What makes planning for EL students unique
• Components of an effective EL  lesson plan

Join The Waitlist for the ESL Lesson Planning Masterclass

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• Blog Post: 6 Elements of an Effective ESL Lesson Plan
• Lesson Planning Masterclass for ESL Teachers

In today’s episode, I am chatting with Molly Badrawy all about lesson planning for ELs and the realities of working in a low incidence district. Molly Badrawy is a full-time ESOL teacher in  New Hampshire, and a freelance consultant at FaCES, Fair Culture and English Services, providing customized cultural guidance and language instruction for and individual adult language learners and organizations, alike.  A national and international career that spans public, private, higher education as well as the business sector, Molly has presented her work at many conferences, serves on the NH English Language Advisory Committee, and facilitates the NH Low-incidence Community of Practice cohort, which is where we met!  She lives in Peterborough, NH with her husband, two daughters, two cats, and a dog and believes she has the best job in the world. It was wonderful to speak with Molly and to get to know her. 

What you will learn about lesson planning for ELs:

• Different ways to collaborate with content teachers while planning lessons
• What co-teaching can look like in different classrooms
• Tips for making the most of your limited time with small groups
• Ideas for creating lessons that are responsive to student needs based on observations
• How journaling about students can support lesson planning for ELs
• Strategies for reviewing content for your ELs in fun and engaging ways

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• WIDA Resource Library
• Episode 17 - A Peek Into My Middle School EL Classroom
• Episode 18 - Collaboration with Teachers, Families, and Students with Beth Mailley

Today’s episode is the answer to the question from one of my readers/listeners. What do I do with my newcomers the last three weeks of school? They are so frustrated and will speak no English this summer. How can I help them without frustration? 
I wanted to share some activities that will take the frustration away because they all involve creativity, flow and connection. The rules for the end of the year are really no different than those for the beginning of the year - there just might be less motivation and more exhaustion on both the teachers and the students’ parts. 

Here is what you will hear in this episode:

• I will share a few quick ideas that you can implement in community building, classroom environment and academics. 
• I will go more in depth into five activities that have worked well for my students over the years 

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

End of the Year Activity Packet for grades 6-12

End of the Year Memory Book (grades K-5)

Blog posts

5 End of the Year Activities for Your English Learners

End of the school year digital activities for ESL students

I have been a big believer in the importance of social emotional learning for a long time. But, teaching amidst the pandemic for the last few years has really emphasized how vital it is for all students, particularly for English learners. There are five competencies to social emotional learning - self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, decision making skills. Each of these is worthy of a dedicated episode. 
So, in today’s episode, I focus specifically on self management. I will share the challenges I see my middle and high school students face with regards to self management and the techniques I have developed to help them help themselves.

Here’s what you will learn about Self Management:

• How choice boards illuminated my students’ challenges with self management
• Details of the 5 part self management structure  I use in my classroom
• How and when to support students with goal setting 
• How teaching my students the difference between urgent and important got my students to put their phones down during class
• How opportunities for flexible seating, time blocking, and reflection/self-evaluation help students practice self management

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• CASEL - Fundamentals of Social Emotional Learning
• The Eisenhower matrix in the classroom
• Book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (affiliate link)
• Episode 4 - Choice Boards

So often we hear advice from educators who have been in the classroom, honing their craft for years. While their experience is valuable, I thought it would be refreshing to hear from an ESL teacher who is in the beginning stages of her career. Today, I chat with Kennedy Merriam, my student teacher this semester, who has been so open and creative during her time with me. She shares her own journey to finding ESL teaching and the reasons she is so passionate about this career. 

Kennedy is from Massachusetts and is currently a senior at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH. She will be graduating with a major in Spanish and a minor in ESOL education, with certification to teach ELL students in grades 9-12 in Massachusetts. She is passionate about the Spanish language, traveling, and writing music (she’s also a singer!). Extroverted, compassionate and a keen listener, Kennedy will always try to understand and support another person, and I have seen that in action so many times! She is eager to get even more experience working with newcomers so she can better serve them and can’t wait to continue her career working with English Learners and newcomers.

Here is what you will hear about ESL Teaching:

• What teachers of English Learners teach, besides the language
• Why ESL teaching is such a rewarding career
• A few things that may surprise you about teaching English Learners and new comers 
• Advice for new ESL teachers and student teachers
• Tips and strategies for all teachers with English Learners in their class
• Essential ideas for vocabulary instruction to support your ESL students and newcomers

Resources

Mentioned in the Episode:

• Follow Kennedy on Instagram
• Follow Kennedy on Facebook
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• Episode 2: What to Teach ESL Newcomers First
• Episode 13: Teaching Newcomers - A Peek into Karen Emerson’s Classroom
• Episode 14: Vocabulary for ESL Students

We all know that learning a new language requires vocabulary instruction, but what is the best approach? Which words should we teach? Which words are the most important? And how can we help students retain the academic vocabulary we teach them? I address these questions in today’s episode.

Language learning is not an overnight process, and vocabulary teaching is ongoing whether you work with exclusively newcomers or have long-term English learners. It is said that it takes learning a word seven times in different contexts for that word to become part of your vocabulary. 

There are simple ways teachers can intentionally incorporate content vocabulary before, during, and after an activity that will greatly improve their ESL students’ ability to understand the lesson and retain the vocabulary. I share a few of my favorite tools and activities as well as two well researched frameworks for introducing new words to your students that will take your vocabulary instruction to the next level. 

Here is what you will hear in this episode:

• 3 effective tools you can use to use to teach new vocabulary
• 2 research-based frameworks for vocabulary instruction that have been proven to increase the retention of academic vocabulary
• Ways to intentionally incorporate repetition and visual representations of new academic vocabulary into your classroom to support student learning
• Ideas for differentiating vocabulary instruction for students at different proficiency levels

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

Reminder - 10% of the proceeds from my sales in March 2022 will be donated to Unicef to benefit the people of Ukraine. 

• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops

You may also be interested in:

• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher’s Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• 3 Tips That Will Rock Your ESL Vocabulary Instruction
• Dr. Maria Calderon’s 7 Steps to Vocabulary Pre-teaching
• Marzano’s Six-Step Process for Teaching Vocabulary 
• Pixabay 
• A Speaking Game That Will Captivate Your ESL Students

The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 20% off when you join. 

In today’s episode, I am chatting with Karen Emerson, who is a friend and a fellow ELL teacher in the town that I live in. She works with the youngest English learners - grades K-1. I met Karen through one of our monthly state EL meetings, and we hit it off right away. I could sense her passion for working with English learners and her creativity in approaching teaching, especially newcomers! What and how to teach newcomers has been by far the most frequently asked question in my career. So when I was thinking of recording episodes about newcomer teaching, she was the first person that came to mind. I think as teachers, we always want to take a little peek into our colleague’s classroom. Sometimes we want to know where to start when we are feeling overwhelmed, sometimes we want to get inspired and sometimes we just want to know that we are on the right path. This episode is exactly about that - Karen shares her insights and ideas for teaching newcomer English learners and you can hear the wisdom and lighthearted humor in everything she does. I had so much fun talking with her, and I hope you can feel it too.

Here is what you will hear:

• How Karen became an ELL teacher - a story that is not exactly a typical one.
• Karen's approach to teaching newcomers any time of year:
  • how she helps them feel welcome
  • how she collaborates with classroom teachers
  • the WHAT and the HOW of teaching newcomers
• How she keeps in contact with newcomer families
• and so much more!

Below you will find useful resources.

• Charities you can donate to help Ukrainian people:
  • Blue-Yellow
  • Unicef 
  • St.Javelin clothing, stickers, etc. - all proceeds from purchases go to support vulnerable people in Ukraine.
• The ESL Newcomer Teaching Checklist
• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher's Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom 
• Simply Ieva Teachers Pay Teachers store
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap - membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 

In today’s episode, I am chatting with my friend Carissa Ford about teaching speaking to our English learners. Speaking is such a personal aspect of language learning, and that is just one of the challenges our multilingual students face. Carissa and I dive into the best practices in teaching speaking from tasks to activities and lessons to projects. You’ll hear about the differences of teaching speaking to newcomer English learners and to long term English learners as well as tips for mainstream classroom teachers. Carissa Ford is a former high school ESL teacher where she taught newcomers and long term English learners. She also spent four years in Mongolia training preservice teachers, hosting professional development workshops, and leading a language program. Carissa currently works as a curriculum writer creating digital content for multilingual learner programs.

This was such a fun interview, and I hope you can feel that as well while listening. 

Here is what you will hear in this episode:

• Carissa's story - how she decided to become an ELL teacher and what keeps her going
• reasons why speaking is such a challenging aspect of language learning for most students
• creative and easy-to-implement speaking activities 
• ideas on how mainstream teachers can seamlessly implement speaking into their daily lessons

Below you will find useful resources.

• Charities you can donate to help Ukrainian people:
  • Blue-Yellow
  • Unicef 
  • St.Javelin clothing, stickers, etc. - all proceeds from purchases go to support vulnerable people in Ukraine.
• 
  
• Blog post - 3 Fantastic Speaking Activities That Will Make Your ESL Class More Exciting
• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher's Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom 
• Simply Ieva Teachers Pay Teachers store
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap - membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 

In today’s episode,  I wanted to talk about the mental and emotional health of teachers and processing emotions in difficult times. We always seek information and want to better our knowledge of how to support our English learners - and all students. But I wanted to honor teachers as humans and not just as vessels of knowledge that are expected to show up and perform no matter what. The war in Ukraine has brought up some raw emotions for many people around the world. In this episode, I will share a little bit of the history of my country and how it relates to the war in the Ukraine, then I will explain why this is important to me, and lastly, I will share some tips that have helped me cope and I hope will help you too. I find that when I am centered, I can show up better for my family and my students. It is my hope that you will find this episode helpful and can come back to it whenever you need encouragement and simple ways to return to yourself.

Here is what you will hear in this episode:

• A little bit of history of Lithuania and how it relates to the current war in Ukraine
• why this is important to me and how stress in general affects our teaching
• definition of radical-self care 
• five ways you can help yourself come back to center

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• Charities you can donate to help Ukrainian people:
  • Blue-Yellow
  • Unicef 
  • St.Javelin clothing, stickers, etc. - all proceeds from purchases go to support vulnerable people in Ukraine.
• Article Radical Self-Care to Protect Your Overall Well-Being
• Blog post - 5 Ways You can Beat Teacher Burnout
• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher's Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom 
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap - membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 

In today’s episode, I want to chat with you about a special group of students - those who have limited or interrupted formal education, otherwise known as SLIFE. 
Chances are many of us have encountered a student from this group at least once. And with everything that is going on in the world right now, we are likely to see more and more need to help these children that have found themselves in difficult situations due to no fault of their own. 
So today, I will share with you everything I know about SLIFE students - who they are, what they need, how they learn, how we can teach them as well as give you five does and don’ts to utilize - or NOT - in the classroom. 

Here is what you will hear in this episode:

• Who SLIFE students are
• What they need
• Three steps to help them
• 5 dos and don'ts of teachers with SLIFE in the classroom. 

As always, below you will find related resources that will help support your ELs and save you planning time!

• MALP Education website
• Blog post - Teaching Slife Students: What You Need to Know
• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher's Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom 
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap - membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 

In today’s episode, I am chatting with my dear friend Susan Patterson about text engineering and how we all can help make content accessible to our English learners. 

Susan is a district Multilingual/ELD Teacher on Special Assignment in California, which is a fancy title for doing a little bit of everything! But mostly, she develops professional learning around best practices for multilingual students in her district and supports ELD coaches as they go through their own coaching cycles at their sites. She also has her own blog, ell-lady.com, and creates materials for high school ESL teachers in her membership, My MLL Mentor.

Here is what you will hear in this episode:

• We will talk about the necessary mindset shift that needs to take place for teachers when we see the need to adapt materials;
• Susan will talk about simple ways both EL and content area teachers can tweak a text without watering it down in just a few minutes
• We will share resources that both of us have found extremely helpful in bringing literary works to our EL students. 

Follow Susan at:

• website: https://www.ell-lady.com/blog
• G/FB: @my.mll.mentor   

As always, below you will find related resources that will help support your ELs and save you planning time!

• Article: Demystifying Complex Texts: What are "Complex" Texts and How Can We Ensure ELLs and MLs Can Access Them?
• Simply Ieva ESL website
• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher's Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom 
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap - membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 

Can you relate to any or all of the next statements? 

• I am tasked with teaching ESL/ELL newcomers, but my district doesn’t have a curriculum for that. 
• I teach middle and high schoolers - and that is an added layer to the lack of curriculum . 
• I teach mixed level classes - where do I find ready made lessons?

Being an ESL teacher usually involves a lot of moving parts. 

In order to ensure our students’ success, we must be well-versed in language acquisition theory and practice, collaborate with our colleagues, scaffold our teaching to make the content accessible and to work with mixed-proficiency levels. 

In addition, we create our own lessons, juggle lack of curriculum or grapple with one that we can clearly see doesn’t work for our English learners.

With all of this in mind, It can be hard to find a curriculum that meets all of the above mentioned demands. But I wanted to offer a different perspective. 

And in today's episode I will share with you a three-step roadmap that you can take to help your ELL students. 

Here is what you will hear:

• How I myself needed a structure, a framework, a roadmap of sorts and how I began to pay attention to my own questions and those that other teachers asked.  
• The three  questions that I hear over and over again regarding teaching English learners
• The simple realization that the answer to these questions is really THE Roadmap. 

As always, below you will find related resources that will help support your ELs and save you planning time!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap - membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers.  Click HERE for more information and o join. 
• Simply Ieva ESL website - post about what to teach newcomers first. 
• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher's Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom 

Connect with me:

Instagram - @simplyievaesl
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In today’s episode, I wanted to talk about the impact we make as ESL teachers. We know we are an important part of our English learners’ day, but what about reaching out to your colleagues and the community? 

I will share two ways you can start establishing your name both in your school and in the community. You’ll learn how one simple email has turned into a ripple effect across the district, and what you can do to help put your EL program on the map.

Here is what you will hear:

• First, I 'll talk about how a simple email about halal dietary restrictions has led us to begin writing our monthly Cultural Tidbits, as we call it. 
• Then, I will share about what we do to engage our EL community - parents and students alike. 
• And finally, I talk about some takeaways for one simple ingredient of making an impact in your school and community. 

As always, below you will find related resources that will help support your ELs and save you planning time!

• Simply Ieva ESL website
• Teaching Absolute Beginners: An ESL Teacher's Handbook
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom 
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap - membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join.