Finding joy with English Learner Instructional Supports

My first four years of teaching was at a public high school with 700+ English Language Learners. As an English Language Learner (ELL) teacher, this was the best place to teach! Every class had at least 50% ELs with a minimum of four different languages represented, the admin invested in our continued education on co-teaching, ELA strategies to improve reading and writing scores and as an EL teacher, I had the autonomy to try new methods and strategies to engage my 80+ newcomers. Even though it was so demanding and busy, I LOVED working at this school. Every day I was growing as a teacher and learning something new.

In June 2023, my husband and I moved to another state to start a family closer to his parents. We made this decision together with our future family in mind. Both of us were able to get the same jobs in the new city. Since the move I have been grappling with our decision. On one hand, I am so much happier with his family near by, especially since the arrival of our baby in August 2024. Ultimately, I know this move was the right decision. But on the other hand, when it comes to my career as an ELL teacher, I began to not be satisfied with where I currently teach.

A year into my new teaching job, I realized that one of the aspects of EL teaching that I am missing the most is instructional content creation for newcomers. In putting myself first, I began creating content in my free time (because I enjoy it!). It didn't take long for me to begin to realize that when I show up to my work now, I am so much more content. Check out what I have been creating for ELs below!