ELL News Headlines

School's a little different this year, so art teachers are using their classes to help kids cope. After spending months trying to get used to remote learning, now kids are struggling to adjust to being in school in person again. Health experts recently declared the decline in children and adolescents' mental health a "national emergency." As schools grapple with the social and emotional effects of the pandemic on students, music, theater and other art teachers are trying to help.

In a July survey, 97% of school food service directors across the country said they are concerned about supply chain disruptions and 90% said they were concerned about staffing shortages. Food service directors are struggling to source enough products for school cafeterias in the face of shortages of food to serve, workers to heat it, plates to serve it on, and refrigerators to store it in.

Making a change to classroom instruction can be complex, confusing, and even overwhelming. Educators may have reservations about shifting their teaching approach as they consider student response, increased time commitment, or lack of support. They also may not know how to take the leap. But taking the leap to project-based learning is well worth the effort. Moving toward a PBL teaching approach includes many potential benefits for educators and students alike.

Secretary Miguel Cardona grew up in a Puerto Rican household in Meriden, Connecticut; Spanish was his first language. On his first day of kindergarten, he couldn’t speak any English. It was overwhelming, to say the least, and he wanted to go back home. His mother had to pick him up. But, of course, his time inside schools didn’t end there. He returned, loved it, and eventually became the first person in his family to attend college; he majored in Education. He started teaching fourth grade in the same middle school he attended as a child in Meriden. To this day, being around kids brings him some of his greatest joys.

The stories and videos in this report examine how school systems today are successfully recruiting and retaining people of color to craft K-12 policies.

Two tribally enrolled women made history when the American Library Association awarded the Caldecott Medal to their book, We Are Water Protectors. Carole Lindstrom, the author of We Are Water Protectors, is tribally enrolled at Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and Michaela Goade, the illustrator, is Tlingit, a member of the Kiks.ådi Clan.

When COVID closed down schools in the spring of 2020, librarian Janet Damon worried about the students and families in her Denver Public Schools who were suddenly cut from friends, teachers, and other parents. She knew that losing the support of their social networks during a stressful time would have very real mental health impacts. Damon couldn’t open the schools, but she could unlock the healing power of the outdoors—and she was lucky enough to live in a beautiful state where the governor was encouraging residents to make the most of its parks.

Traci Sorell's Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer is receiving starred reviews from the major children's literature review journals. And, I'll add, with good reason! Sorell is Cherokee. The book, focusing on a Cherokee aerospace engineer, is tribally specific. And people interested in STEM will love what they'll find in this picture book. You can read it aloud, and you can watch the video format where DeLanna Studi provides the narration.

Philadelphia parents who don’t speak English say they’ve long been excluded from parts of their children’s education because of language barriers, something exacerbated by the pandemic and the return to in-person learning.

What are the best ways you are incorporating social-emotional learning in your classroom and what are you doing to ensure that it is culturally responsive?