With 10 million English learners (ELs) in today’s classrooms, educators need to be able to work with students from diverse language backgrounds—and do so successfully. Many ELs struggle in the classroom as they struggle to climb over the language barrier. Our #ILAchat hosts, Karen Nemeth (@KarenNemethEdM) and Judie Haynes (@judiehaynes) will share their knowledge and insight on teaching EL students in today’s classrooms to make student transitions easier. Nemeth and Haynes co-moderate the weekly #ELLCHAT for teachers of English learners.

Nemeth is an author, consultant, presenter, and advocate whose expertise lies in effective early childhood education for dual language learners. She is a consultant for Language Castle, where she shares resources guiding educators through the process of teaching young children whose first language is not English. She writes and edits for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is the chair of the Early Childhood Education Special Interest Group of the National Association for Bilingual Education, and is a steering committee member for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages International Association (TESOL). She is the author of several books including New Words, New Friends (Language Castle Press, 2014), a bilingual children’s book for English learners.

Haynes is an EL teacher with more than 35 years of teaching experience. She has authored and co-authored four books about working with EL students, including two TESOL books. She is co-founder and content editor for everythingESL.net, providing lesson plans and tips for EL teachers. She previously served as the president for New Jersey Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/New Jersey Bilingual Educators.

Join @ILAToday in the #ILAchat at 8 p.m. ET Thursday, March 12. Use the hashtag to be sure you don’t miss a tweet!

Madelaine Levey is a communications intern for the International Literacy Association.