Helping English Learners Stay Engaged and Motivated During COVID-19 and Beyond
Distance learning for non-native English-language speakers poses significant challenges during COVID-19, especially in communication.
Jami Herbst, Professional Development Manager with Istation, shares her experiences and insights on challenges that English-language learners face. Herbst spent the first part of her career as a K-12 ESL, Spanish, and PE teacher. At Istation she focuses on bilingual development as both a specialist and a lead.
Herbst said educators sometimes feel like they are in a triage situation with all of the uncertainty and changes in the education space due to the impacts of these unique times.
“We were always concerned about how we best communicate with families,” Herbst said. “How do we make sure we’re communicating properly with the students, even face-to-face in my classroom? And the teachers and the schools that are now faced with … looking for technology equity, looking to make sure we are reaching all of those students still — how are we really communicating now that we have all these extra challenges?”
