Students Present with Professor at Illinois TESOL-BE 2020
Professor Kristin Lems, ESL/Bilingual Education, presented with six of her current NLU students in three different workshops at the Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages - Bilingual Education (TESOL-BE) Annual Convention in Lisle, IL held February 28-29, 2020. The three workshops were on the theme of bringing sustainability projects into the multilingual and multicultural classroom.
The students, all practicing public school teachers earning their ESL/bilingual endorsements, were part of two cohorts that had had a previous class, Methods and Materials for ESL Learners, with Dr. Lems the previous quarter. In that class, the key assessment is creating a lesson plan using a particular sheltered instructional format, and Dr. Lems asked each student to create their lesson plan on a sustainability theme if possible. After seeing the remarkable lessons created by her students, Dr. Lems got the idea of presenting them at the state conference of professional teachers of English language learners and invited the students to participate.
Dr. Lems submitted three different conference proposals to reflect the three rough divisions of teachers: early childhood/early elementary, elementary/middle school, and secondary school. The proposals were all accepted and the six teachers, representing the Wells High School Chicago Public Schools ESL endorsement cohort and the Dawes School District 65 ESL cohort, presented that day. Following are the workshop titles and student presenter names and bios.
Sustainability-centered Projects for Multilingual Learners: Early Childhood Focus
- Mandy Kal, a Chicago Public School preschool teacher, explores wriggler worm classroom composting. This project helps initiate environmental discussions with diverse students and families.
- Kim Edwards-Anderson is a National Board Certified EC/Gen Pre-K teacher at Sabin Dual Language Magnet School. Her sustainable activity is based around Peter's Chair, the children's picture book.
Sustainability-centered Projects for Multilingual Learners: Elementary Focus
- Sarah Zelonis teaches 3rd grade in Evanston School District 65. She is starting to learn Korean alongside her daughter, age 4.
- Elizabeth Morales is a 4th-8th special educator in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. She draws from her experiences with two siblings with autism, and as a former ELL.
Sustainability-centered Projects for Multilingual Learners: Secondary Focus
- Lynn Bailey is a National Board Certified Art teacher who has been teaching grades 9-12 in the Chicago Public Schools for 19 years. She is currently in coursework to obtain an ESL endorsement.
- Nicole Gamboa has been a science teacher at Peace and Education Coalition High School for 10 years working with 16-21 year old youth in Chicago.