Good evening #ELLCHAT We have a thought-provoking (and emotion-provoking) topic tonight! How do teacher evaluations work when the evaluator doesn’t understand the work of the teacher of ELLs?
Q1 B) while we're waiting for more people to sign on, please share ideas that you have for #ELLCHAT topics. Karen & I will be making up the schedule for 2018-2019 in July.
A1 I’m Karen Nemeth - co-host of #ELLCHAT I focus my work on supporting early learning for children who are DLLs/ELLs, headquartered in eastern PA, but travel everywhere as author/consultant
Q1 B) while we're waiting for more people to sign on, please share ideas that you have for #ELLCHAT topics. Karen & I will be making up the schedule for 2018-2019 in July.
#ELLCHAT A1 Hi everyone, I am Ash. I live in Indonesia. I don't work as a teacher anymore. I used to be a Science teacher in J.Krishnamuthi school, India. Fascinated by Language learning too.
Q2) Have you ever had an evaluation of your teaching that was poor due to an administrator's lack of understanding what ELLs need in order to learn, Include what type of evaluation tool used. #ELLCHAT
A1 B I want to take a moment to celebrate that #ELLCHAT has been going on continuously for more than EIGHT years - that’s to @judiehaynes, then adding me, and help from @HSeslteacher Think of how many topics have been covered in this time! All ideas are welcome!
A2) When I was a new teacher I once had a new principal give me a poor evaluation because he didn't understand what I was doing in class with newcomers. I responded to him and took his eval & my response to the superintendent. No one ever did that again. #ELLCHAT
A2 In PreK, we don’t do teacher evaluations so much - we do classroom evaluations that address teacher child interactions, environment, content, safety, etc. How can you judge tchr-child interactions if they occur in language observer doesn’t understand? #ELLCHAT
#ELLCHAT A2 I did not struggle to make my point across as far as my activity in the classroom was concerned. I maintained a journal about what I was doing and why along with observations. Weekly discussion with the Headmistress, who was my mentor, helped a lot.
A1: I don’t think I’ve had a bad evaluation based on observations; but I always appreciated when there’s criticism. It helps make my lessons better and serve my students even better
#ELLchat
A2: I think what's lacking in evaluations for ESL teachers might be admin not pushing us enough because they don't have solid grasp on what ELs can do #ELLChat
A2) The problem is that many administrators using a "one size fits all" form like Danielson. If you look at the checklist, there are many things observed that would not happen with ELLs. #ELLCHAT
A2: We have a Study Hour class set up for ELLs to have an extra block to get homework done.Ts help when needed. Administrator came in to evaluate me but I scored low bc he didn’t see any tech instruction. I asked him to come during my instructional class. He refused. #ELLCHAT
A2b: our county ESL coordinator does a fantastic job providing PD to administrators and teach them what to look for during walk throughs or evaluations.
#ELLchat
A2 For many PreK programs, funding can be determined or taken away based on scores on a classroom observation instrument that includes teacher-child interactions and teaching practices. It’s not just one tchrs job - it’s the whole program depending on scores like that! #ELLCHAT
#ELLCHAT A3 Maintaining a simple journal helped not only my seniors and administrators to evaluate my classroom approach, but also to guide me with resources tailored for my natural teaching style.
A3) A few years before I left classroom teaching my school started a system where we wrote a description of what we were going to teach & the rational behind it. It helped orient admins to what was going on in my classroom. #ELLCHAT
A3: I’m with you, @HSeslteacher, I haven’t shared as much as I should but it’s never too late...our ESL coordinator @PalmaTeresa13 trained all ESL faculty on @SIOPModel and we’re now expected to share at our schools and admin! 😬🤓
#ELLchat
A2b: our county ESL coordinator does a fantastic job providing PD to administrators and teach them what to look for during walk throughs or evaluations.
#ELLchat
A2 On the other hand, I have heard preK and early elementary administrators say they have teachers who teach in non-English lang in “bilingual ed” classes, but they “don’t really know what they do in there - they have their own curriculum” #ELLCHAT Not OK either!
A3) #ELLChat I agree. I also think they need to be receptive to what we bring to the school community. This would be another great topic for the upcoming school year. What to share with administrators.
#Ellchat We used this method at school too. But young teacher trainees, like me, were invited to sit in the classrooms of senior teachers and an explorative dialog followed later along with the mentors.
A3: I need to do more. I have a great administrator now, I have shared WIDA literature. Would like to have monthly lunch n learns with the administrator and other ESL teachers on the 4 domains and how to interface them our current evaluation system. #ELLCHAT
A3 I have done PD on this topic for preK admins with these suggestions: Use video of teaching practice and ask the teacher to describe what she sees as you discuss and provide feedback; look for nonverbal cues that extended, positive, meaningful conversations happen #ELLCHAT
A3 In #earlyed if we hire bilingual staff, we have to come up with better ways to evaluate HOW they use both their English and non-English language effectively to teach young DLLs #ELLCHAT
A3) I’m in the “not enough” class with @emilyfranESL. I do try to share stages of L2 acquisition and rehash PD events I’ve attended or arranged. #ELLChat
A3 in preK, nearly all classrooms have teacher and assistant(s). Often it is the assistant who speaks the non-English languages needed in classroom, so that’s who has most interaction with DLLs - are paraprofessionals included in teacher evaluations??? #ELLCHAT
I feel like it’s never enough! With new strategies and methods and diversity growing more and more...there’s a never ending learning and sharing! #ELLChat
Q4) What specific values should be added to the evaluation documents designed for gen ed teachers that would reflect what good teachers of ELLs do? #ELLCHAT
A3 It certainly can be. If administrators can be open to sharing control, rather than telling teachers what to do, they can both learn together by talking about video even if admin doesn’t fully understand the language used! #ELLCHAT
I have invited them to this chat! I don’t know if any have ever been on here, but I have had one administrator read the next day summary. (I usually fall asleepnduring the school year myself!) #ELLChat
A4: There should be more detailed questions regarding how teachers are planning for differentiation. In domain one, it ask about t knowledge, but not "what did they plan using their knowledge." #ELLCHAT
A4: Knowing students' linguistic & cultural background in order to provide appropriate amt of scaffolding so ELLs can access grade-level content. #ELLChat
A4: Are Students being empowered using the @WIDAConsortium CAN Do Descriptors?!?
Are newcomers using native language to access new content in English?!?
Are they comfortable enough to take risk?!?
ALL this should be happening in every classroom BUT more so in ESL
#ELLchat
Q4) What specific values should be added to the evaluation documents designed for gen ed teachers that would reflect what good teachers of ELLs do? #ELLCHAT
Yes to WIDA Can Do! In TN, all grade level Ts of ELs are not required to be trained in understand WIDA scores and how they apply to instruction. Definitely this needs to be part of the eval system now. #ellchat
A4) I think the evaluation method should include exemplars of teaching practice at different levels of teaching proficiency to guide evaluators in evaluating effective teaching practices for ELLs. #ELLCHAT
A4 This a critical question. I’m at the National Research Conference on Early Childhood #NRCEC2018 heard that preK DLLs develop lang in different ways than monolinguals - so teaching practices MUST be adapted. Most purchased classroom assessments don’t allow for that! #ELLCHAT
Yes to WIDA Can Do! In TN, all grade level Ts of ELs are not required to be trained in understand WIDA scores and how they apply to instruction. Definitely this needs to be part of the eval system now. #ellchat
A4: Are Students being empowered using the @WIDAConsortium CAN Do Descriptors?!?
Are newcomers using native language to access new content in English?!?
Are they comfortable enough to take risk?!?
ALL this should be happening in every classroom BUT more so in ESL
#ELLchat
Q4) What specific values should be added to the evaluation documents designed for gen ed teachers that would reflect what good teachers of ELLs do? #ELLCHAT
Absolutely!! Even for States not using WIDA, THESE Descriptors are fantastic to provide students the support they need to be successful linguistically and academically! #ELLChat
A4 It’s not just about evaluating teachers of emergent bilingual preschoolers using the same evolution in different languages - we need to observe the special skills tchr needs to meet unique learning needs of DLLs #ELLCHAT#NRCEC2018
Sorry. This question should say
Q5) What would you tell administrators who evaluate lessons to look for when evaluating content and classroom teachers who have ELLs in their classrooms? #ELLCHAT
A5: I would say, PLEASE don’t lower the expectations!!
Just because you’re evaluating a teacher teaching Ss with 0-5 in English language proficiency does NOT mean Ss shouldn’t be engaged and learning.
#NoMoreLowExpectationsForELs & their teachers
#Ellchat
A5) I would also say that content teachers in higher grades have unreasonable expectations for beginning ELLs. So yes high expectations but not unreasonably high. This is due I think to the standardized testing. #ELLCHAT
A5: I would say, PLEASE don’t lower the expectations!!
Just because you’re evaluating a teacher teaching Ss with 0-5 in English language proficiency does NOT mean Ss shouldn’t be engaged and learning.
#NoMoreLowExpectationsForELs & their teachers
#Ellchat
A5) Agreed! Which is why Admin needs to look at scaffolding, including using HL/L1 when appropriate to help Ss reach the necessary GL Content. #ellchat
Hi I didn't notice that you were not putting the #ELLCHAT hashtag on your tweets. In order for everyone in the chat to see what you say, you must use the hashtag. Thanks.
#ELLCHAT A5 'Learning Pathways' .. is the language learning opening the Ss minds to bigger things? Or are they getting stuck in tenses and losing sight of their curious nature? Two poles to scale on.
A5 and here’s what I wrote about advocating for high quality teaching from a well-supported and diverse #earlyed workforce to support DLLs https://t.co/hRnhEVJd70#ELLCHAT
Yes!!! @Jechev and @julienora call it the “pobrecito” (poor little guy) syndrome 😞 in their book.
No pity but HIGH expectations with HIGHER scaffolding is what our ELs need to thrive! #ELLchat
A5 and @Larryferlazzo writes about findings of lates Gates Foundation project focusing on teacher evaluation doesn’t really work - but they conclude maybe we need to pay more attention to #EARLYED !!!! https://t.co/MGmCvwCyNe#ELLCHAT
A6) Also, Karen & I have decided to keep the chat going until July 9th and come back on August 20th. Next week we will be discussing refledtions of our past year and what we want to do in the future. There will be a chat on July 2nd. #ELLCHAT
@Larryferlazzo had some strong strategies to begin the year in his book #ellteacherstoolbox. A discussion starting with those and others would be a great way to start #ellchat back in the fall
