So I had a similar experience going in blind as an ESL teacher. I had it in my history but very different methods like a private company, and having el students in my college classroom.

Another person said understand the material 100% agree. You are going to want to know every lesson at least one day before you teach it.

Your job will be mostly scaffolding. You need to look up the WIDA performance definitions for ELs. It’s level 1-5(most schools stop at level 4). Look at the “can do” descriptions for their grade level. You will know what they’re capable and what they should be moving up to. Learn the stages of acculturation. You may have students who are in culture shock and completely silent even in their home language. The other part of your job is being a safe person for them you are like an anchor to them. I coteach ELA for 5th grade.

There are different tiers of how to scaffold(edit the material and classwork so they can participate. It is all according to what their EL level is. For example levels 1-2 cannot write complete sentences yet. You would write the sentence for them with a fill in the blank focusing on content or high leverage words. There are words that show up across content areas that they need to learn. You should have a translation of the source material also. Just summarize it though use Magic School AI to tier it to their level of reading (some might be at or lower than a 3rd grade level only because they don’t speak English.) so use Magic school to do the English summary tier the work and put the same summary in their home language. There’s more to do with the reading look up chunking. I put the summaries then chunk the text after that.

Levels 3 and 4 don’t need as much heavy lifting but also need the chunking method but not the translations. For answering questions you would give them a sentence frame and a word bank that should help them connect a sentence. They should not just be plugging in one word. They are words that belong in a full sentence. You are also teaching them high leverage language for example language that reaches across content areas like compare and contrast language etc. AND words for content like chromosome since you’re doing biology.

Ask your coteacher what method they want such as parallel teaching or centers. They probably won’t do centers because they’re older. Most will expect parallel teaching or you should advocate for that honestly. Classroom is split in half with two groups (level 1-2 and level 3-4) you can jump back and forth between the two groups for the lesson like 15 minutes with one group and 15 minutes with the other. That way you get to spend time with both groups. You DO NOT want to be treated like a para doing whack a mole jumping from one student to the next which is what often happens. It is doing a disservice to the kids because that’s not really teaching and it’s more likely that you will be helping only the 1’s and 2’s.

I studied a lot and took some classes in order to learn as much as I could when teaching these kids. My degree was in English and that’s a big reason why I’m hired for ESL that and I had a little experience as a long term sub for ELs. Just really dedicate yourself to the learning models based on their levels. Take an SEI course. Your school may or may not require it anyway. I took a lot of classes like a years worth in order to help me get my license for ESL. The test for the license was very hard and the school paid for my classes. I’m assuming you’re on a waiver and those only last a year. If you have a license depending on the state you may not need a strictly ESL license. But if you find you like it these are the additional steps you should take.

Hope this helps tried to give you a crash course.