QTEL News: Back to School Edition

Teacher Corner 

Setting High Expectations from Day One: Engaging the Rule of Balance When Introducing New Participation Structures 

“Thank you for doing an ice breaker that isn’t meaningless.” It was day one of a Building the Base Institute and educators had just finished engaging in the Secret Envelope task as a way to build community before engaging in their weeklong professional development. What participants had yet to find out is that while the task allowed them to get to know each other better, it also had another purpose: to apprentice them into an intentionally planned and scaffolded participation structure, or learning task.

Educators participating in this QTEL Institute had just experienced “the rule of balance,” which dictates that when you introduce a new participation structure, you should use familiar content (like students’ lives), to allow students to focus on learning the structure  of the task.  Then, once students understand the task structure, the task can be replicated with new content. This helps reduce students’ affective filter, while also setting the expectation from the beginning of the school year that all students, regardless of language proficiency, will be expected to actively participate and talk, and that—crucially — they will be supported along the way.

To help you kick off the school year in true sociocultural form, we’re offering three learning tasks below that you can employ with your students, and which can serve as meaningful, collaborative Do Nows that get students talking and interacting from day one.

Remember: While each of these tasks helps to build classroom community, they also each have a distinct purpose and therefore must be used thoughtfully and intentionally according to your learning goals. 

“When students are taught the structure of a learning task—and have time to practice its routines and procedures—they gain the confidence and clarity to engage with ideas, use academic language and collaborate meaningfully. Routines don’t limit learning; they open the door to it.” Adapted from Walqui & van Lier (2010), Scaffolding the Academic Success of Adolescent English Language Learners: A Pedagogy of Promise, WestEd

Three tasks to try in your classroom

Secret Envelope

Process: In small groups, students answer and discuss questions about their lives and/or about the class content.

Step 1: Take turns selecting questions from the Secret Envelope and answering them within your small group of 3-4.

Step 2: When it is your turn, introduce yourself and select one question from the envelope and read it aloud to your group.

Step 3: You and everyone else in your group will answer the question.

Step 4: Pass the envelope to your right and the next person will select a question and repeat the process.

Link to example Secret Envelope

Three-Step Interview 

Process: Ask students to sit in groups of four and form two pairs that will interview each other. Explain that you will provide a prompt and that the interview will take place in three steps:

Step 1: At the same time, and using the provided prompt, one student in each pair interviews the other partner.

Step 2: Now partners trade roles.

Step 3: Working as a group, each student reports to the other three the information provided by their partners.

Example prompts:

• Describe a time when you learned something unexpected from another person. What did you discover, and how did it change your perspective?

• Describe an invention or idea you think could change the world or make life easier. What problem does it solve, and how would it work?

One’s Gotta Go  

Process: Students work in small groups to reach a consensus about which item has ‘gotta go’. 

Step 1: Make sure students are sitting in groups of 3-4.

Step 2: Project the first slide for students.

Step 3: Students engage in a Round Robin to begin with. Each person shares which one they want to go without interruption.

Step 4: Students reach a consensus about which one has to go. Each student needs to be prepared to justify the groups’ final answer.          

Link to example One’s Gotta Go slides

Upcoming Opportunities

Elevating Access in Master Scheduling E-Series

Register for WestEd’s "Elevating Access in Master Scheduling E-Series" with presenters Jennifer Blitz, Molly Faulkner-Bond, and Haiwen Chu, as they revamp master schedules to open doors for English Learners. Learn how to design schedules that ensure English Learners access rigorous coursework and the support they need.

Session Dates:

• Session 1: Setting Priorities for Course Access – Sept 18

• Session 2: Improving Registration Conversations – Oct 16

• Session 3: Data-Informed Scheduling – Nov 20

• Session 4: Reviewing the Master Schedule – Dec 11

Time: 12—2pm PT / 3—5pm ET

Cost: $1,200 per person

Learn more and register here.

Scaffolding the Academic Success of Adolescent English Language Learners: A Pedagogy of Promise

Scaffolding the Academic Success of Adolescent English Language Learners offers a future-oriented pedagogy, one that looks ahead to what students can become and that builds on the knowledge, beliefs, and values all students bring to school (Walqui & van Lier, 2010).

This six-module professional learning course invites school-based teams to deepen their understanding of how to design instruction that simultaneously develops disciplinary knowledge, analytical practices, and academic language, especially for English Learners.

Together with your colleagues, you’ll explore:

• How sociocultural theory informs a “pedagogy of promise” for multilingual learners

• How scaffolding fosters learner agency, autonomy, and engagement

• How language and content development are intertwined in academic success

• What high-leverage principles define quality teaching for English Learners

• How task structures and lesson design shape student learning

• How to plan instruction using the Three Moments Lesson Architecture

Register here.

Want More? 

As you implement the QTEL tasks highlighted above (and others!), we invite you to share what you did by posting to our Padlet. We’d love to hear your insights, questions, and suggestions for future newsletter topics on this Padlet as well.

Best wishes for a successful and engaging start to your school year and thank you for inspiring active participation and growth for all students.