Working with English Learners: Professional Development That Changes Classrooms

Every K-12 teacher in America has English Learners in their classroom. Most of them want to help these students succeed. The problem isn't willingness - it's preparation. An overwhelming number of teachers tell me they feel inadequately prepared to meet the needs of their English Learners. They didn't get this training in their credential programs, and the professional development their districts provide is often too theoretical to be useful.

That's where TESOL Trainers comes in. Our English Language Learners professional development gives K-12 teachers practical strategies for working with English Learners - concrete techniques they can use the next day to connect ELLs to the content, the language, and one another. This isn't theory. It's hands-on, experiential training built on the SIOP® model, where teachers experience every strategy as learners before they apply it with their students.

This professional development is built on three principles that define everything we do:

Actively connect students to the vocabulary. We cannot assume that English Learners develop their vocabulary through osmosis. Merely saying a word or writing it on the board does not guarantee a student will learn it. Teachers must get students to actively interact with new language - use it in context, discuss it with a partner using sentence starters and sentence frames, categorize it, and think about their own comfort level with it. Writing a word in a notebook with its definition is not active enough to own vocabulary words - it only helps students rent the language for a short period of time.

Actively connect students to the content. In order to help English Learners meet the lesson's content objectives, they must be made active participants in their own learning. This means giving students a reason to listen and read, and providing them with opportunities to express their learning orally and in writing - across all four language domains.

Actively connect students to one another. English Learners develop language through interaction, not isolation. When students discuss ideas with a partner, negotiate meaning in a small group, or explain their thinking to a peer, they are doing the real work of language development. Our training shows teachers how to structure cooperative learning so every student participates meaningfully.

This English Learner professional development is designed for any K-12 educator who has English Learners in their classroom - whether that's 2 students or 20. Content-area teachers, ELL specialists, instructional coaches, and administrators all benefit. The strategies apply to every subject area and every grade level because language is present in every lesson.

Most PD on working with English Language Learners falls into one of two traps. Either it's too theoretical - lots of talk about second language acquisition research but no practical strategies - or it's too generic - a grab bag of 'tips and tricks' that don't connect to any coherent framework.

Our training is different because it's built on the SIOP® model, which gives teachers a comprehensive, research-based framework for every aspect of lesson design and delivery. And we teach it experientially - teachers don't just hear about strategies, they experience them in real time through model lessons and collaborative activities.

Q: What is English Learner professional development?

It's training that equips K-12 teachers with strategies to make academic content accessible to students who are developing English proficiency. TESOL Trainers' EL professional development is SIOP®-based, experiential, and focused on practical strategies teachers use immediately.

Q: Do I need to be an ESL teacher to benefit?

A: No. Any K-12 teacher with English Learners in their classroom benefits from this training. The strategies apply across all subjects and grade levels.

Q: Is this training available online?

Yes. We offer both onsite and fully remote training via Zoom. Our remote PD is rated 5 stars by over 1,500 educators.

Q: How is this different from SIOP® training

This training focuses specifically on practical strategies for working with English Learners in the content-area classroom. Our SIOP® training covers the full SIOP® framework in depth. Both are experiential and practical.