Changes and New Opportunities

It's time for a change.

I will be teaching a new (to me) class in the fall. I'm going to be the Language Support-History teacher in our building. I will have 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade English Learners in my class and together we will study both World and US History. 

I couldn't be more excited! This class will combine my backgrounds in teaching History, Foreign Language (German), and my deep passion for character education for the first time in my career. 

The year will begin with a study of our world, moving into learning about North America, the United States, our state of Michigan, our city, and our school. I will learn from and collaborate closely with two amazing educators, our school ELL Coordinator and ELL Parapro. Our District-level English Language Coordinator is outstanding and I can already tell we will work very well together, too. We have some exciting plans and I'm starting to formulate ideas and possibilities for day-to-day activities.  

I am really eager to help my students acclimate to a new country and feel confident about themselves as learners. I strongly recall my first college-level German course and how overwhelmed I was when my Professor, a native German speaker, spoke non-stop German during our two hour class. I remember the frustration I felt and how challenging it was to keep up and understand both conversational discourse and language related to the content we were learning. I cannot imagine how these EL students feel when they experience this six hours every day in school--these students are resilient and brave! I am humbled by the opportunity to help introduce these young people to life in America.


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