The Value of Diversity: A Poetic Celebration of Asian Heritage Month
In honour of Asian American Heritage month, which is celebrated every May, I tasked the students in my three Asian American Literature classes with a special project.
ESL and ELL
It’s Alive! Teaching with Horror Stories in the Classroom
Throughout my years of teaching, I’ve discovered that students are often more eager to read and discuss horror stories than other material.
Finding Purpose in Teaching ESL
As I stood in my empty classroom surrounded by piles of boxes, I couldn’t help but wonder: what was I going to do now?
A Lesson on Empathy: Refugees and the UN Rights of a Child
During our staff meeting that afternoon, my colleagues and I learned our school had six new students who were Syrian refugees.
What’s in a Name? Implicit Bias of ELL First Names
First names of English Language Learners, even for the most experienced and caring teacher, can evoke an implicit bias of which we must be aware.
Starting a Rubik’s Cube Club
Are you interested in improving student engagement with your ELL students? Here’s an idea that I tried at my elementary school that was both fun and successful—a Rubik’s Cube club.
The Promise of Bilingualism
From a young age, I wanted to be bilingual in English and French. I am not, however. It is a big regret that I am working to rectify.
Bonjour, My Friend: Understanding Minority Language Rights
It’s second nature to expect that Canada is—at certain levels—bilingual, but it wasn’t always that way.
Keeping Bilingualism Alive: A Conversation with the Official Languages Commissioner
Statistics show Canadians support children learning both official languages. Yet there is a struggle to recruit and retain French as a Second Language teachers across Canada.
Complex Learning Environments: The ESL Challenge
For K–12 teachers of English as a Second Language, the shifting nature of the ESL population is creating a new set of classroom challenges.