If you are interested in guides that are already in publication I like “Beyond Good Teaching: Advancing Mathematics Education for ELLs” by Celedon-Pattichis and Ramirez. Chapter 2 in particular would be quite useful for other publishers and teachers.

Thanks, Rachel. I’m eager to take a look. I was really surprised (though I suppose I shouldn’t have been) the first time I saw how the “three levels” of ELL proficiency were treated by one publisher, whose notes to teachers seemed to miss totally that the issue was about English language knowledge, not cognitive deficit or other mathematical conceptual weakness.

As I was reading “gestures” here, another thought occurred to me. I’ve been noticing in classrooms that have projection equipment (overhead projectors, Elmo devices, and even smart boards) the teachers are no longer quite as visibly “in the picture” as when they are drawing on a board with their own hands. Their gestures are smaller, and not where the students’ eyes are. I wonder if this will wind up doing exactly the opposite of what we’d want, especially since gestures (even the “inarticulate” ones that just serve to punctuate our speech) seem so important and natural in communication. What do you think?

Thanks Paul again for your comment and contribution to the discussion. We observed in our study that the use of projection equipment was combined with the use of gestures (pointing at a picture or object, covering/uncovering essential pieces, tracing graphs, etc.) and most of their practices with the equipment was combined with class discussion where students used their hands or their work to communicate. So, I think it is more how the equipment is used rather than the equipment itself. Having said that, when using the projected materials, there is less wait time for exposure to the content. This limits the access to students that are developing academic language.

Oh, wow! I wasn’t expecting the reduced wait time! Why do you think /that/ is happening? Intriguing.

I definitely believe (about all equipment) that it’s how people use it, not the technology, but it also (happily) sounds like the teachers you were observing were more mobile than some that I’ve observed. Perhaps that’s because they were already attending to maximizing the clarity of communication?

You are absolutely right Paul! The teachers observed were in a large district south of the border and they are very aware of the importance of developing literacy skills at the same time they teach the mathematical content. They strategies vary but they all have as a policy (and beliefs) to integrate language development by having students read, speak, listen, and write.

And what caused the reduced wait time? Do you know?

Thank you Alex! We appreciate your support and advise.

Hi Jorge. I am a research assistant with this project and I have also taught K-12. I believe that much of what this project has uncovered can be implemented in the classroom with little difficulty. Things like connecting the mathematics with students’ life experiences, leaving information on the board longer, and discussing students’ work are all helpful for ELLs and, I think, native English speakers. Teachers just need to be aware, thus the PD, of the fact that these techniques have shown themselves to be beneficial.

Thank you Beth for your contribution and support!

Hi Courtney! Thank you for your question. Our findings do not account for differences among grades, unfortunately our sample was not big enough per grade level. We had 34 teachers more less evenly distributive among 6, 7, and 8 grade. I think your question is very important to address and we can consider it in the future with bigger sample size.

Thank you for your questions Miriam! We tested these factors by creating an observational scale consisting of the different elements (6) and then an overall score. We have conducted the analysis using the overall score (since we have acceptable inter-rater reliability of about .8). Hence we do not know which one of these elements in particular is accounting for the variation of student achievement. We are planning on conducting exploratory on the individual elements to formulate the kind of questions/hypothesis that you suggest now that we know that they do matter. Thank you so much for the interest, we are very excited to continue our work and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in this area – you are helping us by posting very good questions!!!

Gracias Jose por tu comentario! En nuestras observaciones de aula vimos una gran variedad de estrategias de enseñanza y en los grados sexto y septimo habían bastantes actividades de “juego” con materiales concretos y mucha actividad. Tambien hemos observado en algunas aulas de otros distritos escolares (no del que participo en esta investigación) el modelo de tutores y los estudiantes se sienten acompañados y apoyados en su aprendizaje. Ese factor no fue tomado en cuenta, pero lo incluiremos en futuros proyectos de investigación! Saludos a todos los hondureños educadores!!!