First Steps Toward ESL Success

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

The majority of my students do not have access to computers at home. The only place they can develop skills using technology is at school. We have a small computer station in our library that is shared by over 950 children, which makes it difficult for them to use on a regular basis.

I am a 3rd grade teacher at the largest high-poverty school in Louisiana.

We are a public, non-charter school with over 950 ethnically diverse students in grades K-5. Over 90% of these students qualify for free and reduced lunch. I teach STEM to about 50 students, and have achieved tremendous results thanks to the overwhelming support of the local community as well as the Donor's Choose community. Through this community support, I've successfully obtained laptops for each student in the class. I thought this would be a simple solution and quickly realized there is much to learn about full technology integration. Each day, I try to help students delve beyond a simple procedural understanding and dig deep into the why's and how's of STEM topics. Interactive lessons, engaging content, and full participation & discussion among students is my ultimate goal. I want their lessons to leap off their screens and excite them.

My Project

I am requesting technology and software that will help prepare me for our school's rapidly growing ELL population. The Fluenz Spanish software package will help me brush up on my Spanish-speaking & comprehension skills. The headphones & microphone are necessary to take full advantage of the Fluenz software via listening and voice-recognition software at home or on the iPad I was recently granted through another project. Finally, I am requesting ebooks that will help me take the first few steps towards pursuing formal ESL certification. I am very excited about this opportunity for personal growth as I look towards the next phase of my teaching career!

This project will help me become a better communicator and teacher when I interact with our school's rapidly growing ELL population.

I want to learn different ways to structure a lesson so that students can translate as smoothly as possible and learn English and the specific content area at the same time. There are some great ideas and suggestions about sequencing and language acquisition that I want to take advantage of, so that my future students can be successful.