Ashley Thompson

Books in Our ELA Classrooms Should: 

• Allow readers to see themselves

• Allow readers to see into the lives of others

• Allow readers to move from one end of this continuum to the other

• Develop their ability to empathize

• Be windows, mirrors, and sliding-glass doors

  • Students should be able to see the world in books, and themselves reflected in that mirror 

• Be books! No separation, no otherness, no book box based on race, sexual identity, or ability

• Be talked about specifically.

• Be considered as one just one voice

• Be evaluated for the invisible voice that may include the white, eurocentric voice

 

English Language Learners 

• Challenges

  • Few concessions

  • Struggle to express knowledge

  • Exposed to informal use of English

  • Expected to acquire more sophisticated and complex knowledge

  • Expected to express that knowledge

  • Expected to learn AB curriculum

  • Deal with cultural conflicts

• How to be a GREAT ELL Teachers 

  • Bring in group work 

  • Use manipulatives 

  • Use visuals

  • Use resources 

  • Ultimately, there is no cookie cutter way to teach ELL students 

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• Resources 

  • Learn Alberta – Supporting English Language Learners - Benchmarks

    • http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/eslapb/search_about.html

  • Alberta Education ESL guide – comprehensive POS

    • https://education.alberta.ca/media/563809/esl-guide-to-implementation-k-9.pdf

  • Ten Policies and Practices for Teaching ELL 

    • https://www.meadowscenter.org/files/resources/10Key_ELLs_Web_Rev.pdf

 

How to Be Welcoming

• Have materials in their language

• Learn a few phrases in their language

• Understand that your students are smart – they just don’t have the English language skills

• Know how to pronounce and say properly their name and use their names

• Make new students as welcome as you can even if they come mid-way.

• Know they are going to be nervous

• They are dealing with a culture, climate, country,

• Connect with family as soon as possible

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 FNMI Students

• Hurdles for FNMI inclusion

  • Eurocentric privileges, frameworks, and norms

    • Historical discrimination

  • Colonization & Oppression

    • Marginalization

    • Powerlessness

    • Violence

    • Exploitation

  • Aboriginal knowledge, voice, and vision not recognized

  • Personal barriers

    • Poverty

    • Abuse

    • Living conditions

 

Multicultural Education 

• Acknowledge differences, but focus on similarities 

• All students are ready and willing to learn and be cared for 

• As a teacher, stay informed of your students backgrounds and be interested in them