[caption id="attachment_138252" align="alignright" width="460"]All Aboard the ELL Train Cindy Bentzen (center), an English and ELL educator from Bothell High School in Washington, speaks with participants at South by Southwest Education workshop "All Aboard the ELL Train: On-track strategies."[/caption] In their interactive workshop, “All Aboard the ELL Train: On-track strategies,” Linda Hicks-Green, a Round Rock ISD district instructional coach, and Karon Henderson of Comal ISD shared their English language learners, or ELL, education experience and tools March 7 with a room of about 60 attendees of SXSWedu Conference & Festival. Hicks-Green said there are about 1 million ELL students in Texas’ K-12 education system, and learning to better reach and support those students is beneficial on many levels. “It’s a smart idea for us as a country economically,” Hicks-Green said. With the help of a topic-appropriate train whistle, Hicks-Green and Henderson led participants through a variety of exercises that could be incorporated into an ELL classroom to help students feel comfortable and connected, interspersing their own personal lessons learned. Exercises included small group discussions where participants answered questions such as:

  • Who gave you your name?
  • How do you believe others perceive your name?
  • What are your feelings about the name that was given to you?
Cindy Bentzen, an English and ELL educator from Bothell High School in Washington, said while her school district has a small ELL population, the students in her classroom are very diverse and speak a range of primary languages. Bentzen said she attended the ELL workshop to interface with other educators and learn new classroom techniques. “I wanted to get interaction with other teachers,” Bentzen said. “I have such a small group in my district, [I am seeking] new perspectives and always new ideas.”