My children attend a public K–8 bilingual immersion school. They entered kindergarten as monolingual English speakers, and they were immediately immersed in classes where Spanish was the language of instruction. I remember worrying about how they would perform in a classroom where directions, activities, and lessons were delivered in a foreign language. As I thought about it, I realized that the English language learners in my high school classes faced a similar challenge.
To my delight, my children flourished in the bilingual environment. I asked myself why they were faring so well and whether there were lessons that I could apply to help my ELLs.
Whenever I volunteered in my children's elementary classrooms, I was struck by how frequently the teachers created time to individualize instruction, offering support, reviewing concepts, practicing skills, and assessing understanding. Students rotated through learning stations, giving their teachers a chance to work one-on-one or with small groups of students.
Unfortunately, such scenes are less frequent in the typical secondary classroom. Many middle and high school teachers feel immense pressure to move quickly through the curriculum. They often impart information by lecturing, presenting mini-lessons, or having students read a text, strategies that move all students through the material at the same pace, without much differentiation. As the teacher presents the information, ELLs and other students with diverse needs have only one opportunity to "get it."
Homework usually involves application and practice of the knowledge and skills that were presented in class. Here, too, many ELLs may struggle because their parents speak little English, work in the evenings, or lack the subject-area expertise to help their children with the practice tasks.
Moving Beyond One-Size-Fits-All
The growing number of English language learners in traditional classrooms calls for instruction and practice tailored to each student's language abilities and level of mastery. Just a few years ago, this was a tall order. Now, increased access to technology and evolving blended learning strategies offer teachers more effective ways to meet the individual needs of ELLs—and all students, for that matter.
Here are two ways to structure lessons that allow students to set the pace of their learning, receive more one-on-one support, and experience differentiated learning.
Flipped Instruction: Enable Students to Pace Their Learning
In the flipped classroom model, teachers shift the transfer of information online so that students are able to go at their own pace—pause a video, rewind it, look up unfamiliar words, and so on—to improve their understanding of the information. The phases of learning formerly assigned as homework—application and practice —are pulled into the classroom, where students have access to a subject-area expert (the teacher) and support from a community of peers as they work.
When I first heard about the flipped classroom, I wasn't sure what it could offer my students. Although the approach sounded interesting, I didn't lecture much in class. But when I asked myself, "What do you spend the most time in front of the class talking about?" the answer was vocabulary. Every week and a half, I introduced a new list of 15 vocabulary words. I'd spend 20 minutes per class explaining the words. At my school, a full-time teacher teaches six classes, so I was spending an astounding two hours of instructional time every other week presenting vocabulary. I also noticed that every time I introduced the vocabulary list, some kids complained, "Slow down, Ms. Tucker. I'm three words behind you," while other kids in the front of the room sat impatiently waiting for me to continue. No matter how I discussed the words, I couldn't pace my presentation perfectly for every student. So I decided to flip it.
I now record short vocabulary videos for students to watch online. My videos aren't fancy. I create Google Slide presentations and put the word, the part of speech, and the definition on one slide and an image that will help students remember the word on the next slide. Once I complete my multimedia Google Slide presentation, I use the free QuickTime program to record a screencast accompanied by my voice. Then I export my video directly to YouTube. (For an example, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEnfbRxuEhA.)
As students work, they can pause, rewind, or rewatch the videos. The ability to control the pace of learning is incredibly helpful for English language learners. And because I no longer spend time presenting the words in class, we have more time to play with vocabulary, and ELLs have more opportunities to practice the new words with peers before being assessed on them.
Station Rotation: Create Smaller Learning Communities
The station rotation model is another blended learning strategy that we can employ to avoid the one-size- fits-all classroom. Just as the name suggests, students rotate through stations, at least one of which is an online learning station. (If teachers have ample access to technology, they can design multiple stations with technology.)
This model offers a clear avenue for traditional schools and teachers to integrate online learning into the classroom to support learners at all levels. I can group students by language proficiency, reading level, or writing ability, and tailor activities at the learning stations to different levels to ensure that students are being challenged. For example, if students are reading and annotating an article, I might use online resources like Newsela or Smithsonian's Tween Tribune to allow them to read the same article at different Lexile levels. All students are exposed to the same information, but the vocabulary and sentence structure are more challenging or less challenging depending on the Lexile level.
In addition, one of the stations can be teacher-led to work individually with students at various language proficiency levels. When I'm leading a station, I often use that time to introduce or review a concept and work with students as they attempt to apply the information I've presented.
For example, I might explain how students can identify explicit and implicit information in the text. I model this process for students by reading a section in the text and pulling out the explicit information. Then I think out loud as I identify implicit information. After I explain and model, I ask students to try it. As they work, I move among the small groups helping students who need more support. The station rotation model has helped me combat two of my biggest pain points as a teacher—large class sizes and classes with a wide range of skill levels.
Technology Can Support Individualized Learning
The changing landscape of education and rapidly evolving technology are providing teachers with more ways to support students both inside and outside the classroom. Technology allows students to better control the time, place, and pace of their learning. When we combine technology with new and innovative approaches to teaching, English language learners as well as students at various skill levels are more likely to succeed.
