Social Emotional Support for English Learners- Part 1

As a school social worker, I have worked closely with English Learners.  I have naturally connected with many of these students because I was an English Learner myself.  I came to the United States with my mother in 1996 when I get 8 years old.  At a young age, I quickly learned that there would be barriers that I would have to overcome in order to adapt to a new environment.  Having parent support and encouragement along the way was the key to my success.  As a result, my experience has allowed me to meet the needs of many of my students and families.

SEL Support in Schools is a Family Affair for Us

My husband, Nicholas Metcalf and I share a similar vision and passion for supporting English Learners.  We collaborated on developing these blogs for SSWN that we will share this November:

Part 1- Introduction to SEL Support for English Learners

Part 2- English Learners from a classroom teacher perspective, and

Part 3- English Learners from a school social work perspective

Part 1:  Introduction to the need for SEL Support for English Learner Students

The population in the United States is projected to become more diverse over the next few years.  It is crucial that educators across the nation become more culturally competent and sensitive to the students’ background. The video below demonstrates what it may be like for an English Learner in a monolingual classroom.  Through this video, we hope that the idea of empathy can be highlighted as it is a key component to developing quality instruction.

In the following two articles, we will  share with SSWN readers resources and ideas in order to meet the needs of English Learners. Please post your reactions and strategies here, and consider joining us over at SSWNetwork (our social media workgroup platform) if you haven’t joined already at: https://schoolsocialworkers.mn.co/share/UMs2jEsSfPsI-j2B?utm_source=manual

It’s free to join (no spam e-mails either, we promise!) and almost 1,000 SSW and related SEL professionals are there now–join us there to continue this important work we’re going to be sharing  in this special series.

Video by EAL Team SIS

More on Nicholas Metcalf: Currently teaches P.E/Health/Drivers Education at York High School, previously taught Special Education at Oswego East High School and self-contained special education at Willowbrook High School. His Bachelor’s degree is in Secondary Education with a focus in Kinesiology from Elmhurst College. Additionally, he has endorsements in Health and Driver Education from Chicago State University.  Two other endorsements as a Learning Behavior Specialist 1 and English as a Second Language from Roosevelt University.  Lastly, he is the head Wrestling Coach for York High School; he is a passionate educator who enjoys mentoring teens into becoming the best version of themselves by living a healthy lifestyle, as they are the next generation.