ELL Weekly Update
Together we achieve more than alone
Introduction to the Weekly Update
Hello team! I am so excited that the beginning of the school year is finally upon us, and that I have the opportunity once again to lead this amazing team of people deeply committed to educational equity and social justice for English learners. One leadership tool I am trying out as I re-enter my role as director is the ELL Weekly Update. My hope is that it is a palatable format for me to share (1) information/updates, (2) requests for action, and (3) key dates. I also want to "cross pollinate" by sharing pictures and stories about the amazing work our team is doing across the district each week. We can often feel isolated in our respective roles, so we deserve access to a consistent dose of inspiration from one another. Finally, my new Brene Brown inspired mantra is "clear is kind," so my hope is that by laying out crystal clear requests, team members will know exactly what is expected of them helping to prevent important work and deadlines from falling through the cracks.
Betsy rocks!
ELL volunteer extraordinaire Betsy Rocks leads math tutoring for ELL students this summer at BHS.
Welcome (back,) Summer!
Over the summer, we hired Summer Ostlund to be the new ELL secretary. Some of you may remember Summer from 2008-10 when she was the ELL Data Secretary. She has her MA in TESOL and owns a private ESL tutoring business. Basically, she's awesome, and we are lucky to have her back on our team!
ELL Specialists = Instructional Leaders
Many ELL Specialists participated in PD planning for their building(s) on August 14th with principals and ed. tech. coaches.
Requests for Action
Get Ready for ELPA Screening!
- Please complete the ELAP21 screener training through Moodle (https://moodle1.ospi.k12.wa.us/course/view.php?id=89, ). The training consists of a 30 minute recorded webinar, a quiz, and a registration. Please ensure that you complete all three steps before Wed. Aug. 28.
- Please complete the TIDE test administrator certification module by going to the WCAP Portal at: wa.portal.airast.org by Wed. Aug. 28. (See attachments below)
- Please review testing equipment making sure you have (1) laptop for test administrator, (2) student laptop, (3) USB headset. Contact tiffany.sutherland@bellinghamschools.org to request a chromebook before Wed. Aug. 28.
- Please review the ELPA Screener Test Administration Manual (TAM) and step 2 speaking test scoring guide before administering the ELPA screener to students. (see attachments below)
Summer and I are working with Tiffany and Charlotte in the research and assessment office to get students who should be tested entered into the TIDE system. You will receive an email from Summer with a list of students to test at your schools once they are in TIDE--hopefully by end of day Monday Aug. 26. Please email or call Summer (summer.ostlund@bellinghamschools.org) 360-676-6502 or call/text my direct line--360-389-7388 with questions.
Key Dates
- Wednesday August 28--First day of school for students, deadline for completing ELPA Screener and TIDE TA trainings, deadline for requesting Chromebooks from Tiffany.
- Friday September 6--Fall ELL Retreat.
- Wednesday September 11--Ten day deadline for screening students who enrolled on Aug. 28 (the first day of school.)
- Friday September 20--Staff Learning Day, whole day building-based PD
Call or text me any time...
Coming Soon...link to new and improved ELL Share Point
and 2019-20 ELL OneNote Notebook.
Email: amy.carder@bellinghamschools.org
Location: 1306 Dupont Street, Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone: 360-389-7388
Twitter: @carderamy