October 12, 2016
Ms. C is an experienced ELL instructor who has worked at Eli Whitney as long as I have, which is at least eighteen years. She grew up in Puerto Rico, and is bilingual with Spanish as her first language, and English her second.
I was very excited to sit in on Ms. C’s sheltered English instruction class, and at the soonest possible moment, I am going to meet with her to ask her a barrage of questions about the program. It was really exciting for me to see many of the strategies and techniques I have been reading about in action.
Finally!
One of the first things that I noticed was that Ms. C and her students all switched back and forth between English and Spanish. Ms. C gave directions and asked questions in English, using Spanish to explain when necessary to ensure comprehension, and also at times when it was culturally appropriate. The students obviously felt comfortable with Ms. C, and they were enthusiastic learners.
Four of Ms. C’s students are also my students in English, and it was fascinating to see them in this different environment. Two of the students who are very quiet in my room were actually quite animated with Ms. C. I watched as a third, P, who has the least English of all of my ELL students this year, worked with Ms. C reading a text in English.
At first, P did not want to participate in the twenty minute independent reading time which is a cornerstone of the program as per district mandate. Ms. C was not about to let him off the hook; she prompted him to find his independent reading book, then determined that he was reluctant to read independently because the book was in English. She pulled him aside, and read the book out loud to P, stopping frequently to check for understanding, and to clarify words and points she thought P might find difficult to understand. She used both words (in Spanish) and body language to convey the meanings of new English words. At one point, she used her cell phone to find and show him pictures of Africa, which was one setting in the book they were reading together.
The fact that the rest of the class remained reading independently made me think that this is a routine well established. Students know what is expected of them, and they do it. But the best part came next! Ms. C announced that students were going to be writing in response to a story they had read in their text, and that she wanted to review the story before explaining the writing assignment.
Ms. C made sure to include all students in the discussion of the story that followed. She provided every student with a rich literary discussion of their reading; students switched rapidly from Spanish to English depending upon (so it seemed to me) the complexity of the ideas they wanted to express. They had obviously understood the story very well, and I want to meet with Ms. C so that I can ask her what strategies she used when she taught it, because she was obviously very successful; every student was able to share in discussion, and many were very excited about the story. Not only had they understood it, they had enjoyed it as well.
At one point, the concept of a particular Mexican cake arose; I was writing so fast, I can’t read my notes, but I remember that the cake is quite large, and that there is a small angel or toy somewhere in the cake. Whichever party receives the piece of cake with the item has to host the next gathering. The idea came up during discussion, and not all of the students were familiar with it. Ms. C used that as an opportunity to bring P into the discussion, so that he could explain the tradition.
I am hoping that I will be able to sit in on another of Ms. C’s classes.
October 22, 2016
My mentor Ms. B and I both signed up to go to the TESOL conference in Rocky Hill. We drove together, which offered us a block of time to discuss some of the questions I’ve had about how English learners are served at our school.
Ms. B has been feeling a lot of frustration in her current assignment, which is co-teacher in a ninth grade and a tenth grade Language Arts Lab. Her frustration comes from being relegated to essentially a para-professional, as the English teachers with whom she is paired are not open to her professional recommendations regarding the teaching of ESL students.
To compound this rigidity on the part of the content teachers, those same teachers are also resistant to allowing Ms. B to pull out small groups of students for specialized instruction. We brainstormed some possible solutions, including suggesting to the professional development chair that we offer training in models of co-teaching.
As I write this entry, about a week has passed, and I know that Ms. B has started to pull small groups despite the reservations of the English teacher. Although Ms. B’s co-teacher objected strongly at first, she is beginning to accept the change as it is for her students’ benefit.
To return to the conference…it was a fantastic experience, and I am really grateful to Ms. B for suggesting that we attend. Dr. Sonia Nieto delivered the keynote address Life-Long Learning from Life-Long Learners: Modeling Enthusiasm and Excitement in Learning. She shared the work of several examples of educators who are life-long learners, and the positive influence they have had upon their students.
Next, we attended the Supporting Secondary SLIFE Students workshop where we learned about the New Arrival Center that the Stamford public school district uses to address the needs of secondary level ELS students with limited or interrupted formal education. The program is based in discovering and then addressing each student’s individual educational needs; student schedules for the program are created with great care to ensure adequate and appropriate support.
After lunch, we attended the Library, Museum, Archival & Historical Societies: Resources for Emergent Bilinguals workshop. I have a fantastic list of virtual resources to use in building background knowledge. During the workshop we got into quite a deep discussion about the teaching of grammar, in other countries and here in the U.S. as most of us are only too well acquainted with the lack of grammar instruction occurring in modern public schools.
The last workshop I attended was titled Who am I: Who are you? Fostering self-awareness for culturally responsive practices. During this interactive workshop, I participated in using a survey tool the presenter had developed called “Who am I:Who are you?” The tool provides a way for people who do not know each other to discuss the similarities and differences in their experiences. It was an interesting experience, and one I may try to use with my senior students to help build our learning community.
October 26, 2016
My mentor brought me a copy of Content Literacy Strategies for English Language Learners: A Handbook for the Connecticut Technical High School System which was co-authored by Dr. Liliana Minaya-Rowe and Dr. Laura Vega, who is the ESL consultant for the Connecticut Technical High School System.
This handbook is a handy compilation of research based instructional strategies that have proven effective for students who are in the process of learning English as a second language. Additionally, Vega and Minaya-Rowe spend ample time discussing how students acquire language, and what teachers can do to support students in mastering content and acquiring English language skills.
Included as well in this handbook are suggestions for teaching students how to use learning strategies to enhance their learning. This reflects the state mandate that ESL students be taught how to use strategies to help them acquire both English language and content mastery at the Programmatic Requirements and Best Practice Recommendations for Implementation page on the Connecticut State Department of Education website. These requirements and recommendations come from the federal laws, which stipulate that ESL students should be taught how to be strategic learners.
I was really fascinated to find that learning strategies are recommended for ESL students; we have had hours of professional development being trained to incorporate learning strategies into our lessons. No one ever explained that what we were learning would support all of our students, especially our ESL students. I can’t help but wonder if this omission was intentional, in order to avoid resistance due to unacknowledged or even outright personal beliefs regarding immigration or ethnicity.
I have been through the handbook once, admittedly rather quickly, and I am planning to go through it more thoroughly in the coming weeks. There are a few pages I’d like to copy, as they make both good reminders and convenient planning assists.
For my next field experience journal, I want to visit classrooms again. I would like to how Ms. B teaches in her small pull out group, and I also want to observe Ms. C in the sheltered classroom again. If she has time available, I also want to meet with her and ask her a few questions about the mission of the program, and how she measures the success of the program.