ELL Resources: Inspired testimonials from NT101 Participants
No two children, like the beautiful butterflies that open this blog, are identical. And like butterflies, netTrekker’s ELL Channel and differentiated instruction features help each learner to take flight. As the school year is quickly coming to close, I’m reminded that it’s IEP and 504 plan time. These very important meetings dedicate time to students with special learning needs to have their plan re-evaluated and decide what should be included for the following year.
As the netTrekker 101 online course facilitator, I just wrapped up module six on using netTrekker with English Language Learners. The course participants filled the discussion forums with very thoughtful content which may be helpful to those of you who are writing IEP and 504 plans.
I am delighted to share with you several of the participants’ comments from the discussion board about the Dictionary Hot Key, Read Aloud, Readability, and other refinement features in netTrekker. Enjoy these testimonials from passionate educators.
“ I love these features!! What a wonderful service for students!! First of all, the students LOVE to use earphones—I KNOW they are not just skimming over the information because they are sitting there listening to the netTrekker article…in TOTAL!!
It’s also a great feature for one of my teachers who is legally blind. He loved it because he could listen instead of using his super magnifiers & putting his face up to the screen.
I loved the dictionary hot button when I went to some science related websites via netTrekker. There were words that I didn’t know & instead of moving ahead, I stopped to find out the meaning of the word.
Wonderful Service to students and teachers alike!!!”
Gina Lunsford, Woodlands Christian Academy, TX
“As a high school English teacher, I think the best feature from this week is the read aloud button. In my classroom I have so many different levels (especially reading levels). Many students struggle with reading on their own. This button makes it an even playing field.
I look forward to utilizing this to help the students grasp concepts better in my classroom.”
Carrie Brisbane, Charter Tech High School, NJ
“Even as a regular education teacher my students can benefit from the readability tab and read aloud feature. There are low-level readers in our classrooms as well and it can provide that extra support that the student may need.
I love the dictionary hot key feature because it provides not only a definition but word origin as well. It is always fun to discuss with students where words originate from and how they came to our country.”
Kalin Wilburn, Mansfield School District, OH
“The read aloud feature allows students to explore and learn on their own even if their English reading skills are not particularly strong. Many second language learners learn spoken language much faster than written language because they are immersed in the spoken language of their second language in their new country. Read Aloud provides these learners the opportunity to strengthen their reading skills because the see the words as they listen to the reading.”
Sarah Garrett
Glacier Hills Elementary, MN
To take full advantage of the many resources to support ELL students and to customize enrichment resources for all of your students, visit the ELL Channel in netTrekker.
A few spaces are still available for the Summer 2010 session of NT101. TO REGISTER: Contact your Account Manager. If you have questions or need additional information, please e-mail Amy Ellisor, the NT101 Course facilitator, aellisor@nettrekker.com.
Top 10 Reasons Future Teachers Love netTrekker
Shared by Education Students
Dr. Douglas Hazlett’s Integrated Instructional Systems Class
Thiel College Education Department, PA
1. “netTrekker allows future teachers to use materials and resources that are credible and reliable – saving us valuable time planning our first units.” (Saves Time)
2. “netTrekker is a resource for materials that are based on standards AND provide differentiated instruction.” (Standards-Aligned)
3. “Searches for photos and videos are safe, unlike a general search engine such as Google™.” (Safe Searching)
4. “Organized resources that can be individualized for student needs, including gifted and special needs students.” (Personalize Learning)
5. “netTrekker pulls together all the aspects necessary for learning to take place while making instruction more engaging.” (Engaging Students)
6. “netTrekker helps incorporate technology into the classroom while accommodating all learning styles.” (Technology Integration)
7. “netTrekker is organized and easy to navigate which means less of a headache for teachers.” (Easy to Use)
8. “The Read Aloud and Dictionary/Translation tools will dramatically help ELL/ESL students.” (Support for ELL/ESL Students)
9. “Ideas and information for classroom management, professional development, learning styles and strategies, special education, and more.” (Teacher Tools)
10. “netTrekker provides a lot of tips and resources for helping our students become 21st century global players.” (21st Century Learning)
“From freshman students investigating education topics through seniors doing their student teaching; Thiel’s educaiton students made great use of netTrekker. Thiel College requires all education majors to develop standards-based lesson plans using engaging pedagogy (like Marzano’s instructional strategies) in fun creative ways using a variety of instructional strategies for all learners. netTrekker is a tremendous digital assistant in this process. netTrekker provides all the answers for college students to design standards-based lessons using engaging pedagogies to increase student achievement for all learners. Special features like timeline are very popular with students especially history majors. Science majors love all of the interactive websites that are suggested with a keyword search. All students use the image search feature. netTrekker is just a tremendous resource for college education majors and K-12 teachers alike.”
Douglas R. Hazlett, Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor
Education Department
Thiel College