INTESOL 2019: Teachers as Leaders for Change This year’s conference will highlight teachers’ ability and potential to enact positive change in the lives of English learners. From early childhood through high school, in higher education and adult education, teachers play integral roles in daily placement and instructional decisions, in influencing awareness of their colleagues and communities, in advocating for more equitable policies and practices, and much more. In many ways, teachers are uniquely positioned to act as catalysts of change, to support and amplify nascent change where they see it, and to rally stakeholders to broad support of change at scale. Teacher educators and teachers of English learners can bridge values and ideals with practice, courageously and reflectively integrating more student voices and experiences into their learning communities. This conference aims to showcase this important work.
In this session, we will share the collaborative service learning unit presented to elementary students by level 3-4 high school English learners. High School students developed their lessons after an interactive q & a session via FaceTime. Elementary students engaged with the ESL learners in their media center and experienced the culture, language, and personal connections. As a result of this experience, high school students became enthusiastic to continue serving the elementary in a variety of projects.
