How to Support the Social and Emotional Health of Middle/High School ELLs

By Michelle Lawrence
One pager by Alyssa Walsh

QUOTE
”Building relationships with students can
help increase student confidence, provide
meaningful connections to students'
interests, and experiences
​inform your instruction and support.”

ELL students come from CONNECTIONS ELL students may have

a variety of backgrounds The students I have worked with this year extra financial,
and experiences. They have come from a wide variety of household, family, and
may be refugees, from backgrounds. For example, last semester I translation
migrant farmworker had two siblings who live in a Hmong responsibilities.
families, indigenous, community. One of them did a presentation
unaccompanied, in mixed on the Hmong people. It was a great way __________________
immigration status for his classmates to learn more about
households, adopted, or another culture, and he got to share a One way I can support
have an interrupted piece of himself as well. A student I have my ELL students as well
formal education. It is now lives with her cousins, because her as all my other
important to remember parents still live and work in Mexico. Every students is by
the diversity of student has different experiences and differentiating my
backgrounds each challenges that they go through, and it’s instruction. Every
student comes from. important for me as a teacher to recognize student needs different
and affirm their differences in order for kinds of supports, and I
them to feel safe and welcome in the should base my
classroom. instruction on the
needs of individual
students.