ELL News Headlines

From dog walkers to delivery drivers, from landscapers to farm laborers, many workers whose jobs require time in the outdoors have plowed on this week, even as smoke from wildfires raging in Canada has created abysmal air quality up and down the East Coast. Their predicament reveals how outdoor laborers, more than any other segment of the workforce, remain vulnerable when it comes to climate change.

The nation is in the midst of a teacher shortage, and at the end of another school year, burnout is causing many more teachers to call it quits. Micaela DeSimone is a 6th-grade English teacher in a charter school in Queens, New York. She shares her Brief But Spectacular take on teacher burnout and explains how the past few years have changed her views on what was once her dream job.

Billowing smoke and particulate matter spreading south from the wildfires scorching Canada are creating dangerous air quality across the eastern United States. An estimated 98 million Americans from New Hampshire to South Carolina were under air quality alerts Wednesday, and health experts urge caution in the days ahead.

Newark Public Schools and central office will be closed on Thursday as the smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to impact New Jersey and the surrounding areas. The district made the announcement on its Facebook page just after midnight on Thursday. Unhealthy air quality conditions are expected to continue Thursday, and as of 7 a.m., Newark and nearly the rest of the state were under a purple alert, marking very unhealthy air quality conditions for residents. 

Summertime is when we teachers can de-clutter our minds and decompress from the school year. It can also be a time for us to reflect on the bigger questions facing our profession. Today’s post is the latest in a series exploring what some of those questions might be.

For years, Gene Luen Yang was convinced a single character in his groundbreaking graphic novel would doom any attempt at an adaptation. What changed?

Self-identifying mixed-race people make up the largest demographic among Americans under 18. These picture books and middle grade novels feature multiracial kids as heroes of their own stories.

More than 160 organizations, including UnidosUS, TESOL, NABE, CAL, JNCL, the NEA, and the AFT are calling on the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to include $2 billion in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget for Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) — the federal formula grant program intended to support English learners (ELs) in every state and territory.

Storytelling is a powerful way to develop community, to teach, and to empower. When teachers tell their students stories in which characters overcome challenges, we empower students. When classes gather and listen to stories, they develop a sense of belonging. 

The public schools in Sarasota County, Florida, continue to see an increase in their population of homeless students, particularly since Hurricane Ian hit the region last September and displaced many of the district’s families.