Online learning can be difficult for any student. It requires motivation, patience, and responsibility. Students must be motivated to log on each day, patient with being seated in one place with little contact with friends, and responsible to complete all assignments on time. The ELL student will need extra services to differentiate learning to meet each student’s individual needs.

Communication

It is imperative that students have constant and consistent communication. You must send text messages, emails, phone calls, and video calls to stay in contact with your students. It is only through consistent communication that you understand how to differentiate lessons so the needs of students in their particular situation are met. And, students need to understand your expectations as well as the knowledge that you care about their learning. 

Online Tools and Ideas

Students need as much help as possible when learning a new language online, so use the many tools available. Post videos of you explaining difficult concepts to your students. You can also create cooking videos where you show students how to make a particular recipe connected to their new culture. Use the many videos on YouTube with instructors giving lessons, reading stories, and translating. You can also create a playlist of YouTube Education where you choose the lessons you want for your students. Most of these resources are free and easily accessible to you and your students. 

If your school does not use a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Canvas or Bright Space, Google Classroom is free and a very easy method for posting and organizing assignments, videos, and announcements. If not Google Classroom, you can create a Google folder to share with all of your students. You can populate the folder with videos, assignments, and directions. 

Students can also post videos of themselves teaching a lesson. Assign each student a word to define for the class. They can draw pictures, write stories, or create a poem to help explain the word. Classmates enjoy learning from each other, so get them involved. At the end of the online vocabulary lessons, you can create a Quizlet for students to show what they learned. 

Other online tools that allow you to create and share with students include: Quizlet, Flip, Kahoot, Tik-Tok, Twitter, WEvideo, and Instagram. You can also have students participate in a discussion post. Find a topic that is interesting to your students and have them respond in writing, with videos, or however they want to express themselves.  Also, a low stakes activity is to have students create a message using specific guidelines. For example, they can write a message about their plans for the weekend in 240 characters. 

Learning online can be difficult, so it is important for teachers to use modeling as much as possible. With modeling, teachers regularly explain their expectations with examples. Along with modeling, repetition of daily routines is also important. Begin each class by reviewing their newest vocabulary, discussing the day’s weather, and the day’s date and day of the week. Maintaining routine and consistency is less stressful for students because they can predict what is going to happen next.