ENL Department
News
Middle School ENL Teachers Present with Nearpod
Middle school ENL teachers Stephanie Hauser, Meredith Salijoski and Pamela Solomon recently created a presentation using Nearpod, an instructional, interactive software platform, which was selected for the Title III Consortia of Long Island ENL teachers’ Celebration of Learning.
The Nearpod presentation was created to connect students with the theme of empathy, conveyed through their grade-level novels (Linda Sue Park’s “A Long Walk to Water for seventh grade and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” for eighth grade), and providing reflection for students with the Flipgrid application. Videos and excerpts from the novels were utilized to provide students with connected examples of empathy.
“It was a pleasure to work alongside our educators who are well respected within our ENL teaching field, because they care so very much for our students,” said Dr. Robert Wottawa II, the district’s director of art, ENL, music and world languages. “BOCES was thrilled to have our students as part of the presentation and our students loved to share their knowledge and skills.”
Commanding Ceremony Honors English Language Learners
The district’s second annual ENL Commanding ceremony, held recently in conjunction with Parent Night, recognized East Islip language students who scored “commanding” on the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test.
“I am so proud of these students as well as their teachers,” said Robert J. Wottawa II, the district’s director of art, ENL, music and world language.
ENL Parent Night Offers Resources
The school district held an ENL Parent Night on Oct. 18 in the Early Childhood Center building, offering an opportunity for English as a new language teachers, parents and students to explore the programs available for English language learners. The ENL teachers provided a presentation to the parents in English and Spanish to improve communication with East Islip’s ENL population, while parents were able to speak with the teachers about their particular child’s academics and progress.
“This was a wonderful evening where our diverse cultures fused together to support our ENL students and their families” said Dr. Robert J. Wottawa II, the district’s director of art, ENL, music and world languages. “Our teachers provided resources for our ENL parents to access in order to foster a growth mindset at home and develop a culture of learning. Our ENL teachers were excited for the evening and are looking to continue this tradition next year.”
ENL Students Show Their ‘Command’ of English
East Islip hosted its very first “Commanding” ceremony on Jan. 8 for 29 English as a new language students in the district who had scored “commanding” on the NYSESLAT exam. These students exhibited sufficient knowledge in reading, writing, listening and speaking the English language.
“Here at East Islip, we have over 100 ENL students that represent 15 different languages of our world,” said Robert J. Wottawa II, the district’s director of art, ENL, music and world language. “This evening was a celebration of excellence and culture, bringing together our ENL students and families with East Islip’s teachers and administrators. We hope to make this wonderful evening a tradition here at East Islip.”
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