crazycatgirl's blog

I work with English Language Learners (ELLs)  at a school with a large bilingual population as a support teacher.  This year, like many years, we have new students who are in intermediate grades (3-5) and read at a kindergarten or first grade level, and their math skills often correspond.  These students come from areas where school is not necessarily available.  Clearly, the classroom teacher cannot meet all the student's instructional needs, but then neither can I in a half hour or forty-five minute block.  Luckily, we should have an instructional assistant to work with this particular ethnic group this year and their time can be focused on the most struggling students.

My whole school's teaching staff was trained in the Columbia Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project Writer's Workshop this summer.  So this, the first week, was filled with the workshop launchings, mentor texts, read alouds in which we read like writers and baseline "on demand" or prompted writing occurred across the school.

Family engagement at high poverty schools can poise a great challenge to educators, but also much hope for improvement and empowerment of parents and students. At my school, one way we improve the school to home connection and increase family engagement involves visiting students in their homes, home visits.