Helpful Resources for Your New Normal, Part 1

Perhaps you are settling into this new, temporary, normal. You don’t think it’s strange for people to wear a mask in the grocery store, and you almost cannot imagine a leisurely Saturday stroll through the mall. You may still be figuring out how to balance working from home and meeting the varied needs of your family members, but it seems more possible now than it did a few weeks ago. 

However, it’s likely you are still concerned about your English learners and their families, because that’s just the kind of teacher you are. Although you and your colleagues are doing the best you can to meet their academic and linguistic needs, it’s tough, to say the least. Maybe you found help in recent weeks from some of the online resources popping up for educators. It seems every time I look at social media, someone has published a new list of online teaching tools. But, there are so many it can be a bit overwhelming!

For the next two weeks, I will wade through the growing lists and share a few of the most beneficial articles or resources.

Here’s what I found for you this week…

Resource Articles

Colorín colorado is a bilingual (English/Spanish) website that provides a wealth of information and resources for educators and families. Below are two of their most helpful articles related to teaching during the current pandemic.

School Responses to COVID-19: ELL/Immigrant Considerations

https://www.colorincolorado.org/coronavirus-ell

This article addresses many topics—the rights of EL families, food security and healthcare, distance learning, and bullying—all with specific consideration for COVID-19. The author suggests issues to consider for each of these topics, as well as recommendations and links to additional resources. Although lengthy, the article is well-organized so you can quickly find resources relevant to your needs. 

Readers are provided with links to letters, FAQs, fact sheets, and infographics related to COVID-19 health & safety. The documents are available in multiple languages for you to download and share with families in either printed or digital formats. Additional links related to classroom resources, resources for families, and health and basic needs are also provided.

Webinar for Online Teaching

Dr. Diane Staehr Fenner began SupportEd nine years ago to provide educators with the resources and tools needed to teach ELs effectively. 

I have had the privilege of meeting Dr. Fenner and know that, in addition to SupportEd, she is also an excellent author, speaker, and strong advocate for ELs. This webinar was offered about a month ago, but you can watch a replay of it for free today.

Webinar: Practical Strategies & Resources to Teach K-12 ELs Online

https://getsupported.net/professional-development-webinars/

Next week…
I’ll share where you can find online multilingual books. Some of them were new to me, and maybe they will be for you, too. While many books are available in Spanish, they are also available in numerous other languages spoken by the immigrant and refugee families in our schools.