The DIESOL Podcast | EdTech in ESL

Many of our interviews have been with instructors of adult learners, so this time around we are fortunate to sit down with Angela Barnett (@MrsBarnett_tchr), third-grade teacher, and educator for close to 20 years to talk about the challenges and changes she's faced with ELLs during the pandemic.

In an age of unparalleled stress around high-stakes testing from home and proctoring problems across the globe, digital portfolios can offer students a better way to show the depth and breadth of their work as they're developing their language. This episode looks into some of the research supporting e-portfolios for language learners, and some tools and tips to make them a valued part of your students' learning journey.

Dayamudra Dennehy shares insights on how to create a friendly and accepting online community with your English Language Learning Students. From creating a liquid syllabus that's open before class starts, to showing a better understanding of student needs and respecting their personal situations at home, Daya has ideas to help us all reflect on our approach to online teaching.

Punctuation causes all sorts of disagreements among native English speakers, and despite seemingly straightforward rules, there are always exceptions, variations, and style differences. Still, students need help understanding when and where to use different forms of punctuation, and many rely on well-meaning myths that should have been thrown out years ago.

In this episode, Ixchell & Brent explore some resources to build a foundation with, and some tools that you can use to help students explore and build on their punctuation knowledge.

We sit down with Dustin from Board Gaming with Education to talk about understanding and using board games, both physically and digitally to help engage students. Dustin shares ideas on games and how to integrate them into your class needs while keeping students coming back for more.

We made it to 2021! Congratulations on making it through, and we're excited to shake off "that year" and explore some more fun with twenty twenty-one! The truth is that 21 tools is probably an overwhelming number of things to look at and explore, but remember that you should NOT be using all of these, it's just meant to see what matches your needs and hopefully can help you out.

Listen in as Ixchell & Brent talk about what each tool is, then if one tickles your fancy, give it a spin! Not sure if a tool is right for you? You can join our Patreon and every month we'll explore something together and see how it works.

Matt Miller joins us to give a positive ending to a trying year! Listen in as he shares how he transitioned from being a textbook-dependent teacher to an innovative educator in his language classes and beyond. Matt shares how to Ditch That Textbook (gently) and build that language (quickly)!

We've spent two episodes looking at the TESOL Technology standards and in our final installment of this series we explore the ISTE standards. Why is it important to look at the ISTE Standards when we already have TESOL technology ones? What can we glean from them that we can strive to include in the TESOL standards? Join us for a discussion on the importance of including the concepts of the ISTE standards as we blend technology in ESOL.

In this episode we meet up with ESL Instructor, Robert Jonte, to discuss several games that translate well into Zoom! He discusses how to recreate classic favorites as Zoom versions; best of all, these require little to no prep because as Robert shares, all you need is the ability to share a screen, annotate, and use the chat function. Listen in as we dive into ways to use up those few minutes left of class and target specific language areas!

In the second installment of a three-part series, we take time to discuss understanding technology standards for ELLs. Why is it important to have a plan when introducing students to technology? How can we approach what can be a daunting task in an organized way? What approach should we take when teaching media literacy skills? Brent and Ixchell review the rationale for a framework and discuss the TESOL Tech Standards Framework and its three goals and eleven standard. Finally, we share ways to apply the standards in our own classrooms.

Breakout rooms are a great way to get your students communicating, and they're more likely to share and practice in small groups, but you can't just send them away and hope that it will work. In this episode, Brent & Ixchell talk with Savyonne Steindler about the ins and outs, the technical setups, and the activities you can do with breakout rooms in your online ESOL classrooms.

With the COVID rush to teach from home and meet the needs of our students, we’ve been pushed to sample all sorts of tech tools. This urgency has exposed us to testing a plethora of educational technology. That has been both exciting and overwhelming. How do we make decisions on what the best tool is? Do we have a framework to apply when choosing something? What standards exist in our approach to selecting tech tools? Join us in this episode to find out!

Weina Li Chen is a Visiting Instructor of the MA in TESOL program at Pepperdine University and teaches MA TESOL candidates, MS in Educational Leadership, and Learning Design and Innovation. She has extensive experience and passion for multilingualism, educational technology, hybrid, and online learning. Join our conversation on the importance of creating a risk-free environment for language learners and on the importance of supporting teacher candidates in creating habits to foster creativity and life-long learning.

What are some of the challenges students face when learning verb tenses? In what order should teachers present the tenses? In this episode, we explore what some experts in the field recommend and we offer some practical ideas as to apply them.

School has started and we already need something to take our mind off of things! On Fifth Mondays we join up for an informal get-together with the #DIESOLcrew - including you! Join Brent & Ixchell along with Daya, Mark, Denise, Simone, Brian, Michelle, JPB as we have a couple drinks and play a couple of games, including Ixchell's already infamous "Stump the Teacher"!

Flipgrid has recently launched a whole new roll-out, just in time for the 2020 school year, when many of us are still working to figure out better online engagement. 

Ixchell & Brent chat with Educator Innovation Lead at Flipgrid, Ann Kozma, and Flipgrid Ambassador & ELL teacher Luis Oliveira to discuss fun, meaningful, and innovative ways to use Flipgrid to support our ESL students. Listen in to hear the powerful ways giving the opportunity for student voice can empower language learners. 

Today we celebrate DIESOL's first birthday! Brent & Ixchell spend time reflecting on the minor and major changes that have happened over the last year. Then they take a look at Adobe Spark and what it can do for your students on their goal to improve their English.

How can we set up constantly engaging structures for our students to work with, without boring them to death? Jon Corippo joins us to share how Eduprotocols can be used for low/no prep activities with high engagement and quick grading. 

Listen in as Jon shares how to use free resources to develop activities and lessons that will hook your students. 

A lot of teachers aren't aware that they are struggling to make a good resume or CV, and this is as true in TESOL as it is anywhere. Due to the massive changes happening in education, having a well prepared resumé and digital portfolio can help position you well in front of hiring committees or potential employers. Brent & Ixchell break down what they've seen over years of job-seeking and hiring.

Every once in a while there's a 5th Monday of the month, so we've decided to invite listeners in for some time to kick back and have fun! This is our first ever Drinks with DIESOL featuring educators from across the States! If it sounds like fun, you're invited to join us next time! Follow on Twitter @DIESOLpod to see when our next open invite is!

In this episode we are not talking about technology in the classroom, but rather looking at how our field is involved with the bigger national conversation around racism, whiteness, and how TESOL teachers are involved with the systematic disparities happening to BIPOC in English Language Teaching. 

JPB Gerald is a scholar in the field focusing on the understudied area of whiteness in TESOL, and shares insights and challenges on how we can go about decentralizing whiteness in our field. 

Not an episode, just a plea to listen to the voices of Black Americans right now, and a couple of resources if you don't know where to start. 

Ixchell & Brent talk culturally responsive teaching and literature with Dr. Mary Patton, Professor of ESOL at El Centro Community College in Dallas, and President of TEXTESOL V. This discussion covers finding novels that engage students, recognizing where students are coming from, and of course, how technology impacts their learning. 

To avoid Summer Learning Loss, we can encourage our students with some useful ways to keep their language acquisition skills up even when they aren't in class. This episode covers why this is important, and a number of resources students can use for autonomous learning during the summer. 

Judie Haynes, co-founder and facilitator of #ELLchat, TESOL columnist, and author of several ESL Books including Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence, and Chronic Stress, joins us to discuss the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) of ESL students as we continue to deal with the shift to distance learning. 

With the shift to distance learning, a lot of teachers are concerned about how to Engage their ESOL students online. Since Brent is teaching via Zoom, and Ixchell is teaching with a combination of telephone and alternative resources, this episode covers some of the ways we have been exploring as possibilities to keep our students learning and focused.

Sometimes we just need to take a break and hang out with some friends. This episode is a wide-ranging open conversation with Brent and Ryan & Brian from the Check This Out Podcast, Tom & Mike from TOSAs Talking Tech, and Shukes and Giff from Shukes & Giff. 

This episode is just for fun, because we all need to blow off some steam, so come join us for some laughs. Back to the regular schedule next week!

With the worldwide switch to online teaching due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to bring on Denise Maduli-Williams, a teacher with in-depth experience working with English Language Learners online. 

Denise shares from her wealth of expertise and helps distinguish best practices for the current crisis as well as for fully developed online classes. If you're not sure where to go with your transition to teaching over the Internet, listen in!

Brent & Ixchell explore issues with anxiety around speaking for English Language Learners and share some ideas for best practices in helping students with low stakes opportunities to improve. 

How much does it take to build a brand new game for your class? Brent and Ixchell talk with Cate Tolnai about gamification, game-based learning, and how to use games to make learning more accessible. Then they create a game live on the show for everyone to use - LEVEL UP!!

Brent & Ixchell dive into a meta-analysis of best practices in teaching grammar, and then transfer those practices into tech to help students improve.

Carol Salva drops in as the first guest on the DIESOL Podcast! This open conversation covers best practices, improving as a teacher, managing our daily lives, and much much more! 

Why is it important for teachers to try new things and explore new tools? Brent & Ixchell discuss why it's important to move out of your comfort zone, confront confirmation bias, and experiment with new technology.

In the spirit of exploration, we explore 20 tools we want to look at in 2020.

Brent and Ixchell break down the research and best practices behind groupwork, and what to do when students are reluctant to work in teams. They then lay out the response to the argument that if kids are working together in class, then they don't need technology. Finally, they discuss some useful technology to ensure collaboration.

Show notes at www.diesol.org 

Brent and Ixchell look at some of the research behind writing and engaging students and use that information to discuss how teachers can use message boards to help English Language Learners. 

We also discuss auto-summarizers, a bit of plagiarism, and some techniques for helping students through drafts of papers.

The DIESOL Podcast focuses on helping TESOL Teachers support their ESL/EFL students through using research-based pedagogy with modern technology in the classroom.

In Episode 4, Brent and Ixchell talk about short-term and long-term motivation for language learners. We discuss how to build it, & how to maintain it, and we also talk about using games as a technique to keep the motivation levels high.

Tune in for information on  EdTech, ESL, Education, EFL, ESOL, TESOL, TEFL, ELT, TEAL, ELL, Motivation, Games, Gaming, & Gamification

Conferences are a great way to build your knowledge, understanding, and contacts in the ESL field, but many people don't know the best way to take advantage of conferences. Brent and Ixchell share best tips for attending TESOL related conferences including how to find useful sessions, and who to talk to when you're there.

Second, if you're ready to step beyond attending and get into presenting, we've provided a number of things to consider as you're getting into giving presentations. Whether you are interested in starting with poster sessions, or getting more advanced with breakouts or even featured presentations, we get you started with things to consider.

If you do end up presenting, send us a message and let us know where you're going to be! 

Brent and Ixchell discuss some common myths around vocabulary acquisition, including the idea that students should avoid anything in their mother tongue. This episode looks at ideas from Keith Folse and goes on to share ideas for apps and services that can help students become independent vocabulary learners.

In this episode, Ixchell & Brent launch the show and discuss the many acronyms involved in the field of English Language Learning. They also take a look at best practices for listening in an ESL class, and offer some advice on getting students to build their listening skills beyond the classroom walls.