Hola again,

As an ESL teacher, I have been using iPad, apps and laptops in my classroom for years. The students are motivated and there are tons of apps to support reading, writing and speaking for new arrival students. I am especially looking forward to the students having the Chromebooks and being able to work from home on computers, rather than doing homework on their phones.

I was excited to be able to be part of the group that met for a technology conference this summer. First train ride and it was awesome! However, after attending the ESTE conference in Philadelphia (where I might add, I had my first Philly steak sandwich and LOVED it, although I was skeptical about the Cheez Whiz), I was disappointed in the lack of attention given to limited English proficiency students in the area of technology. Out of the hundreds of lectures, classes, seminars, discussions and sessions, only three were either directly or indirectly addressing the English language learner. Using Chrome to support ELL, ESL and Struggling Readers, Digital Storytelling: Apps that get ELL's Talking and, Using Technology to address the needs of students in Poverty. I spoke to countless sponsors, presenters and educators who all agreed that there was a very clear void in this area.

I would be amazing if we could present at ESTE next year, using the Blended Learning model with the ESL students. Hmmmm...something to ponder...