#25 - Supporting English Learners in PE Without Speaking Their Language (Yet) with Kelly Donnelly

2025-05-13

What would you do if 200 new students walked into your gym — most of them speaking a language you don’t understand? That’s exactly what happened to Kelly Donnelly, a PE teacher in Denver Public Schools. In this powerful episode, Kelly shares how welcoming a wave of Spanish-speaking migrant students changed her teaching, pushed her outside her comfort zone, and strengthened her belief that movement is a universal language. We talk about: How to overcome fear and anxiety when teaching ELLs Ways to bui...

What would you do if 200 new students walked into your gym — most of them speaking a language you don’t understand?

That’s exactly what happened to Kelly Donnelly, a PE teacher in Denver Public Schools. In this powerful episode, Kelly shares how welcoming a wave of Spanish-speaking migrant students changed her teaching, pushed her outside her comfort zone, and strengthened her belief that movement is a universal language.

We talk about:

How to overcome fear and anxiety when teaching ELLs
Ways to build connection through shared experience
Strategies for learning key phrases quickly
Using movement to teach language and social skills
The beauty (and challenge) of teaching beyond words

Whether you’ve worked with multilingual learners for years or you’re about to welcome your first, this episode will leave you inspired — and better prepared.

Resources

Partner Acceptance Video

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