#ELLSAPD: Saturday, May 8th 2021. 11AM (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)
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Theme: Understanding the Differences between Language and Special Education Needs

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Welcome to the 9th #ELLSAPD event! It was great to see so many people joining is in March, both for small group gatherings and on Twitter.

Our theme today is... 

​This event has 3 #ELLSAPD Learning Cycles. ​You can contribute to & follow the #ELLSAPD event on Twitter from wherever you are.


Thanks to Gina Ballesteros (@G1naTeachLearn), Dorthe Allen,  Justin Garcia (@kruu_justin), Kanako Suwa (@kanakosuwa), Alis Gorcea (@MsAlis_class), and Tony Qureshi (@tonyqureshi1) for collaborating to curate the resources for this event. We hope you have a positive, social and meaningful learning experience as you engage with the thinking prompts and ideas shared.
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 WELCOME & TUNE-IN @ 11:00 - 11:15 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)

15 mins 
WELCOME to #ELLSAPD
  • If you're in a group, introduce yourselves.
  • Organize drinks and snacks.
  • Take a minute to look over the agenda for today. 
  • Keep this page open to see prompts.
  • Notice cycle timing and breaks.
  • Decide on who is keen to Tweet out responses.
  • Take a selfie and Tweet out #ELLSAPD.

Are you new to Twitter? You're here because you're a learner. One of the aims of #ELLSAPD events is to show how we can connect to and benefit from a #PLN (professional learning network) to enhance our teaching practice.
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Cycle 1 @ 11:15 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)

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5mins - stimulus
As our international school contexts become more inclusive, our roles are changing. We find ourselves servicing neurodiverse multilinguals who are developing a new language and dealing with specific learning needs. 
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5mins - think & discuss
  • How does this role change manifest in your context? 
 
  • More and more, we work alongside a special needs, Learning Support (LS), LR, and or Special Educational Needs (SEN) specialist. How can we collaborate with them to maximize our areas of expertise to best support multilinguals with learning needs?​
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5mins - post on Twitter & engage
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.
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5mins - engage & respond on Twitter
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!

 Cycle 2 @ 11:35 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)

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5mins - stimulus
Every multilingual goes through a unique language acquisition process. It is important to have an understanding about cultural and linguistic differences among our learners. ​
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5mins - think & discuss
  • How might we prevent making assumptions about multilingual learners that struggle? 
  • What culturally responsive ways may we use to collect data and assess individual levels of performance? 
  • The learning environment and school frameworks/structures could pose barriers for our multilinguals. How can we ensure that the environment is inclusive and supportive of our multilinguals’ needs?
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5mins - post on Twitter & engage
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.
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5mins - engage & respond on Twitter
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!

Cycle 3 @ 12:00 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)

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5mins - stimulus
MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) is a system that many of our schools use; also known as RTI (Response to Intervention) in the past. It’s a proactive and preventative framework that integrates data and instruction to maximize student achievement and support students social, emotional, and behavior needs, from a strength based perspective.
Source: https://intensiveintervention.org/
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5mins - think & discuss
​How do we use MTSS to identify learning needs of multilinguals?
  • What evidence-based and culturally responsive tools do you use to assess individual learning needs of multilingual learners? 
  • How do you monitor progress of individual students’ growth?
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5mins - post on Twitter & engage
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.
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5mins - engage & respond on Twitter
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!

Food for thought...

Read this sample student profile to the right. Given all the things we discussed today, what would you identify as your next steps in providing support for this student? 

Click here for some sample steps!

Additional Resources

Resource List: Academic Assessment, Instruction, and Intervention for English Learners
https://intensiveintervention.org/sites/default/files/NCII-NCSI_EL_resource_list_508.pdf

​National Center on Intensive intervention, Language Learners
https://intensiveintervention.org/
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Every Child Matters: English as an additional language and SEN
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XFXYKEpI9dmDHmNmR_6pE61zu2lTQPmm/view?usp=sharing 
Difference VS disability
Why is it important to take into consideration the process of language acquisition when assessing students’ language growth and levels of performance in the different content areas?