Incorporating Blog Posts into Professional Development

A number of years ago I was in charge of a rather large ESL and bilingual program. I often struggled with ways to share effective practices, tips, and ideas with my teachers across our various buildings. They were busy people and I knew I couldn't add more to their plate. I am mentioning this to you because I was reminded of this dilemma recently. I was speaking with a group of educators, and one of them asked me some questions. Rather than bend her ear for several minutes, I referred her to some blog posts on that very topic. Soon a number of others asked for the links. They realized the potential of sharing these short blog posts with their colleagues. The conversation turned a bit and we found ourselves discussing the merits of regularly sharing relatively small amounts of text with our colleagues via blog posts, short articles, etc.

Running Records and ELLs: Comprehension Considerations

It is easy for a student to come to the erroneous conclusion that reading is about quickly and correctly pronouncing words out loud.  Running records can exacerbate this misconception if teachers are not emphasizing the importance of comprehending what is read. 

The comprehension component of running records is included to help us notice how a child is being thoughtful about his reading. Evaluating or measuring comprehension is difficult for many reasons for all learners (not just ELLs). As teachers, our goal is to uncover the process of comprehension. Consider these tips the next time you give a running record to an ELL.

Running Records and ELLs: Miscue Analysis

Recently I was asked about how best to use running records with ELLs. As we know from the literacy field, running records give us a "snapshot" of a child's reading behaviors. They also help us determine a student's instructional reading level.

There are several things I'd like to encourage you to keep in mind with regards to ELLs and running records.