Speaking Their Language

From: Tech & Learning Digital Edition
April 22, 2010

What do you do when 56 percent of your students are English-language learners, 80 percent come from low income families, your students speak 14 different languages at home, and 215 new students arrive in the first three months of the school year? Bring in the tech. “Technology has helped us create individualized learning portfolios,” says Erick Naumann, principal of Parlin Elementary in Everett, Massachusetts. “From the gifted and talented to ELL, we can educate the entire spectrum.”


In the past year, Parlin Elementary has gone from being the lowest-scoring school in the district for English language acquisition and mathematics to the highest and was recognized as one of the five fastest-growing schools in the state. “We use Diigo, a Web based technology that enables effective collaborative research,” says Naumann. “An ELL-based project team, class, or club can create a group on Diigo to pool relevant resources, findings, and thoughts. The students post book reviews, share ideas about class work, and help each other with homework when absent.

“We use video to record and play student projects and podcasts to share with fellow classmates,” he continues. “Skype and Google Earth enhance the teaching of English-language acquisition, and Fast ForWord has helped our ELL population learn to speak English in a nonthreatening environment where the students are encouraged to make mistakes and learn, without being penalized or embarrassed in front of their peers.”

“So often, student feedback on performance requires a paper to be graded or report card to be filed,” says Gerhard Grotke, principal of James Madison Elementary in San Leandro, California. “The format of assessment may not match the format of learning. Study Island is a great platform for the kids to show what they know.” The internal email system allows ESL students to exercise their written-language skills in a supervised and safe environment (negative- and abusive-language filters tip teachers off to intervene to prevent bullying). Grotke holds school-wide contests that utilize the technology’s capability to remotely monitor usage and achievement, whether at school or at home.

After using Classworks, ELL students at George Y. Komure Elementary in Stockton, California, posted double digit gains in language arts, their proficiency increasing from 19 to 32 percent, says second-grade teacher Karen Brickell. “As our teachers became more focused on specific standards,” principal Jo Ella Allen says, “we saw the benefits in student engagement and in test scores.”