Something Old, Something New

Well, I have a new job. I will still be working for my school district, but instead of teaching ESL (or EL – English Learners – as my district now calls it), I will now be an EL Consultant for the district. I will still be on teacher schedule and teacher pay, but I will be assigned to 10-12 schools and will be sort of like a coach or mentor to the ESL teachers. I will be responsible for making sure schools are in compliance with state and district ESL policies and for doing professional development and teacher coaching.

I have been teaching for eleven years, nine of which have been ESL in some shape or form. I’ve taught K-4 and 9-12 ESL. I’ve been in a self-contained model, a high school block schedule/ESL class model, and a pull-out model. Between my ESL certification and nine years of figuring out what works for ESL students, I have developed a lot of knowledge and skills about teaching ESL. (Caveat: I never feel like I “have arrived.” It is always good to be open to learning more and improving. But I do feel like I’ve honed my skills through the years.) For the most part though, dealing with ESL issues and best practices is old hat.

However, having this type of leadership position is new. I approach this position with excitement but some nervousness. Am I really ready? Can I work with adults as well as I work with kids? Will the teachers I work with be open to my help or not? How will I build positive, nurturing relationships with these teachers?

One thing I would like to do is create a website or blog with ESL resources for my teachers. I would like to have lots of different teaching ideas and links to other web sources. I’m thinking of using wordpress.org (as opposed to wordpress.com) to do it. So readers, I need feedback:

What should I call my site? Here are some ideas I’ve thought of:

ESL Teaching
ELL Teaching
ELL Pages
ESL Resources

I don’t want something too difficult to type in or remember. But I can’t think of anything really catchy either. Ideas, please!!!

Second, anyone who uses wordpress.org, please let me know how your experience has been. Which host did you use? Also, I would be uploading documents and photos alot, so is that easy to do with the wordpress software?

Thanks!!!