Here are some general tips for EAL support staff. The focus is on providing in-class support. In particular, how do you start building that rapport and trust with subject teachers?
Make the first move!
Teachers are busy. Very busy. Don’t rely on subject specialists to make the first move. If you know that you’re supporting certain teachers, go to them. Open the channels of communication (verbal, email, drives, whatever). Be proactive. Describe your experience to them. Explain what you offer the teacher and the learners. Explain some specific ways in which you can help if needed (planning? Group teaching? Language starter activities? Etc).
Assume nothing!
Not every teacher has had support staff in their classroom before. It’s easy to assume they have, and that they will be welcoming of the support on offer. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case (for a number of reasons).
Ask your teachers questions – have you worked with EAL specialists in your classroom before? If so, how did you make it work? What would you like from me – how do *you* see this working?
Share information
Direct your teachers to EAL registers or learner profiles, wherever the useful info is stored. Remind them of it. Share specific info on your learners – strategies for support, EAL areas for development, successful pairings/groupings, etc.
Share what’s happening across the curriculum. Sometimes, Science teachers won’t realize that there’s cross-over in their topic to what’s being taught in, say, Geography or History. Tell them!
Use your knowledge of learners for a route in to learning. You’re in a history class and they are learning about WW2, Japan, etc. Battlements on Guam are mentioned, and you know an EAL learner in the classroom used to live in Guam. Tell the teacher! Talk! Share! Make the learning live, use experience as a springboard.
Get in and around the planning
Find out where the learning is going. Get the slides, resources, get in the Google Classroom. Comment on the classroom thread so the learners know you’re there and involved. Add comments to slides or add speaker notes with suggestions for teachers (task set-up, anticipated problems for EAL learners, etc). Add planning and relevant resources to the drive. Drop teachers a line to tell them that you’ve done this. They may take a look, they may not, but at least they’ll know it’s there.
Be vocal in class
When you enter the classroom, always check in with the teacher. Show the learners that you are colleagues and that you talk. Engage, ask them about the learning today (even if you know what it will be). It’s a chance for teachers to show learners that they are planned and organized, and that they are communicating the learning well with other adults too. Just a quick chat. It instils confidence, and it empowers teachers. They deserve to be empowered, and they should be, because by having another specialist in the class they may feel vulnerable. We should manage that vulnerability carefully.
Be present in the classroom space
Encourage teachers to let you be present. ‘Can I have this board space?’ ‘Can I use this mini-whiteboard?’ ‘Can I set up my space here?’
Tell the teachers (don’t ask them) exactly who you plan to support. Walk around as needed during practice phases – take the initiative. Lay your support tactics out in the open so the subject teacher can hear and see them – successful or not. When teachers do quick scans and checks, GIVE THEM FEEDBACK on your learners – a thumbs up, a thumbs down, a quick ‘I think Student A needs this…’
Be professional
Communicate, even if the teacher isn’t someone you normally interact with around school. The classroom is the classroom, and you are professionals. Remember – we do what we do for the learners, so cede egos and awkwardness.
Be present in the classroom space *for everyone*
You walk past a table of learners, none of whom are on the EAL register. Who cares? ‘How’s it going here?’ Check in. If you can’t answer a question from them, just mediate: ‘Teacher – we’re not sure here about…’ Don’t be afraid of not knowing – you might actually surprise yourself! Anyhow, show other learners that you are there for them too. In contexts like ours when a majority of our learners are technically learning EAL (whether they are on an EAL register or not) you might actually be able to support them in developing some academic vocab/language skills too.
Don’t forget – EAL learners are often assessed on the development of their communication/oracy skills. Oracy development can go under the radar for some students in the mainstream. We can use our skills as language specialists to promote oracy development for ALL learners.
Advocate for your learners
If learners aren’t vocal or confident enough to speak out just yet, be their voice. If they don’t understand a task, be the fall person. Tell your subject teacher ‘sorry, *I’m* not so clear on this, could you explain it again?’ Or ‘we were just discussing XYZ, and we wondered if you could clarify…’ Do this in front of the class. It shows other learners that everyone is involved in the learning, it gives *them* an opportunity to support, it gives the teacher useful information and an opportunity to support and demonstrate that every learner matters to them. When learners share something great but don’t have that confidence to articulate it – highlight it: ‘Teacher, Student B just mentioned something really interesting’. Do that in front of the class – celebrate your learners.
Advocate for your teachers
Tell teachers about their great practice. Tell them what you think works well. Don’t wait for them to ask, because they won’t. Tell them. ‘I think XYZ was really successful’, ‘I like this task set up, have you noticed how it helps Student A express their ideas?’ ‘This is a good activity – the right level of challenge, don’t you think?’ Do this in the moment. Make teachers aware and conscious of their strengths, open up those little chats (not lengthy natters that detract from the learning but just steal little moments). If you do that, teachers will probably be more inclined to welcome constructive feedback. ‘Do you think we could…?’
Tell leaders about the good practice you see. Find ways. ‘I was just in Teacher A’s classroom. Their questioning technique is awesome…’. I don’t mean brown-nose. I just mean tell them – because leaders don’t see it. They drop in for a few minutes a couple of times a term. They are not in and around the learning in the same way as support staff.
Do not (unless it’s a safeguarding issue of course) share negative feedback about teachers. You are there as a resource for teachers and learners, you are not entitled to pass judgement and share this with others. If you think something could improve, talk it through with the teacher in the first instance. Remember, and respect, their vulnerability. It takes terms and years to build trust between teachers and specialists. It takes mere moments to break that trust.
Model having a genuine interest in the learning content
Remember how lucky you are. You have the privilege of working alongside subject experts. Exploit it. Ask them questions. Extend the learning for everyone. Give the subject teacher a chance to showcase their knowledge in front of learners, and show what it means to be genuinely inquisitive about a topic.
Deal with challenges together
‘In today’s lesson, Student C was struggling with… I’ve made this resource for some extra practice.’
‘Would you like me to prepare anything for the next lesson to help learners consolidate XYZ?’
Again, teachers are busy. If you can find the time, make their lives easier.
Finally
Always, always thank the subject teacher. They have welcomed you into their space, and left themselves open for critique. Respect that. A simple, genuine ‘thanks’, even an ‘I enjoyed that!’ or ‘I learnt a lot from that’ (if you did!) would be most welcome.
Categories: General, teacher development
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