How to Serve your Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE)

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On September 13, 2017
  • 0 Comments
  • Advocacy, ELL, English as a Second Language, ESL, SIFE, SLIFE
Have you noticed any changes to your English learner (EL) population lately? As educators of ELs, we are aware that world events often have an impact on our newly arrived ELs’ backgrounds. In this point in time in which immigrants and ELs are often the topic of conversation among policymakers, it is important to consider the […]
Read More
 2

Starting the School Year Right for our English Learners: Part 2

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On September 11, 2017
  • 0 Comments
  • English as a Second Language, English language learner
In this second part of the blog post series, “Starting the School Year Right for Our ELs”, we will focus on setting up a plan for effective communication with ELs and their families. In this blog post, we’ll share three steps you can take to foster better communication with EL families and some guiding questions […]
Read More
 

Starting the School Year Right for our English Learners: Part 1

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On September 5, 2017
  • 0 Comments
  • English as a Second Language, English language learner
In preparing for the school year, we teachers can easily spend countless hours setting up our classrooms with eye-catching bulletin boards and classroom organization. But how much time do we put into the unseen foundation for preparing our students–ALL of our students–for academic and personal success? What are we doing before the school year even […]
Read More
 

SupportEd’s Second Guiding Principle: A Supportive School Climate for ELs

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On February 27, 2017
  • 0 Comments
  • Advocacy, EL strategies, EL tips, ELLs, ELs, English as a Second Language, English language learner, English language learners, supportive school climate
by Sydney Snyder | March 1, 2017 In last month’s newsletter we provided an overview of SupportEd’s Five Guiding Principles and focused on the first principle. Here we take a closer look at Principle #2: ELs learn best when they are taught in a welcoming and supportive school climate. A school culture that supports equitable […]
Read More
 

May-June 2014 Newsletter

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On June 2, 2014
  • 0 Comments
  • Advocacy, Colorin Colorado, ELL, English as a Second Language, Professional Development, TESOL, TESOL International Association
Thank you for your interest in DSF Consulting, a small business that supports English learner achievement and teachers of ELs. We’d like to share some of the ways we worked toward EL equity during the past two months. Supporting TESOL International Association with Three Projects In addition to Diane Staehr Fenner’s ongoing managing of Council […]
Read More
 

What’s Your “Elevator Speech” About Your Expertise with the Common Core for ELLs?

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On May 29, 2014
  • 0 Comments
  • Advocacy, Colorin Colorado, Common Core, elevator speech, English as a Second Language, English language learner, ESL, Professional Development
By Diane Staehr Fenner | originally published on Colorin Colorado May 22, 2014 Throughout my conversations with educators this spring, I’ve focused on helping ESL teachers further develop their leadership skills as they solidify their role within the Common Core framework.  One strategy is for ESL teachers to get some practice at explaining these new […]
Read More
 

Preparing New Teachers to Work with ELLs: An Overview of the edTPA

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On May 12, 2014
  • 0 Comments
  • academic language, Common Core, edTPA, ELL, English as a Second Language, English language learner, Praxis, Professional Development
By Diane Staehr Fenner | Originally posted on Colorin Colorado May 1, 2014 recent blog post, I wrote about how ELL experts are rethinking preparation of ESL teachers in the Common Core era.  As I wrote that post, one of the topics I started thinking about was the edTPA, a relatively new assessment for pre-service teacher candidates […]
Read More
 

Preparation of ESL Teachers in Common Core Era

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On April 16, 2014
  • 0 Comments
  • Aida Walqui, Amanda Kibler, CCSS, edTPA, English as a Second Language, English language learner, ESL, Guadalupe Valdes, Kellogg Foundation, standards, TESOL
Originally published on the Colorin Colorado website by Diane Staehr Fenner / April 9, 2014 Happy Spring! After spending much of March providing professional development to ESL and content teachers in a few states, as well as attending the TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo in Portland, OR, I’m happy to be back in the Washington, DC […]
Read More
 

Common Core Curriculum Rubric: Meeting the Needs of ELLs

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On February 28, 2014
  • 0 Comments
  • assessment, Colorin Colorado, Common Core, curriculum, ELL, English as a Second Language, rubric, text dependent questions, WIDA
Originally published on Colorin Colorado by Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder / February 27, 2014 This week we’d like to focus on taking a closer look at CCSS-based curriculum that meets English language learners (ELLs)’ needs. I was recently asked to review ESL curriculum that is being developed for a state education agency and is designed to […]
Read More
 

Recent CCSS for ELLs Resource Roundup

  • Posted by Diane Staehr Fenner
  • On February 28, 2014
  • 0 Comments
  • academic language, Colorin Colorado, Common Core, ELL, English as a Second Language, MOOC
Originally posted on Colorin Colorado by Diane Staehr Fenner / February 13, 2014 Greetings from snowed-in Washington, DC!  This week I’d like to take a break from text-dependent questions to share some resources with you on implementing the Common Core with ELLs that have become available recently. You’ll also notice our new blog design, which we hope will […]
Read More