Tasks Week #4

District: Brentwood School District

School: Northeast Elementary School

Teacher: Male

Grade level: Second

Field Experience

Day 1: March 9, 2011

Part II: Interview with the Teacher – Four Questions Answered

1• Please describe your ELL teaching experience.

            I have been educating Brentwood students for almost twenty years. The majority of our students are ELLs. About five years ago, I received my "TESOL" certification. Then, I "looped" from third grade to fourth grade. All of the students received ESL services. I also spent one year in a dual-language classroom and one year on  special assignment as a "Classroom Embedded Instructional Coach" for the bilingual classes.

2• What is your perception on ELLs in terms of their learning motivation and performance (especially in reading and writing)? What learning difficulties do ELLs usually encounter in schools? What is the role of family and community in helping ELLs’ learning?

            I really do not think that being an ELL has much of an effect on  learning motivation. Motivating students is my responsibility! If a child is highly motivated, it's my job to keep that "fire" stoked. If a child is not motivated, I will do everything in my power to become so!

            As far as performance- grrrr! We have moved toward this ridiculous notion that a child's standardized test score reflects his/her academic ability. It's both maddening and sad to me that our state's DOE doesn't know much about language acquisition. How can you expect a child to receive a score that reflects "English Language Proficiency" after living in this country for just one year! The great thing is, many of our ELLs beat the odds!

            I read an article that said the number one reason for failing schools was lack of family and community involvement in the schools. Family and community involvement improves academic and emotional success exponentially.

3• In your opinion, how do classroom teachers resolve ELLs’ learning difficulties? What

strategies do you adopt? Are they effective or not? Do you participate in on-going

professional training for teaching ELLs? What is your experience in terms of working

students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds? How do you make sure that

your teaching is culturally responsive? How do you go about reaching out to the family

and the community?

            I can really fairly comment only about the teachers in my building. Although the majority of teachers have not taken TESOL classes, their instincts are often successful. There is also a high level of communication among the staff. Lots of sharing.

            Luckily, my TESOL classes provided me with many strategies. Some good, some not. My most successful strategy is perhaps the easiest to do. Reading is reading! No matter what language you are reading. Get the right books in children's hands. Find out what they want to read. Get those books that they can read. Fill your room with as many books as possible. Watch what happens. A teacher's level of enthusiasm about reading must be somewhat over the top. To me, the use of environmental print is quite effective. I call it "reading our world". I send the children off through the halls to find real life examples of our word studies. I tell them to read signs, cereal boxes, video game boxes, etc. We have a pocket chart that displays the names of the students in our room- a great reference tool.

            It may sound nerdy, but one of my favorite things to do is read about how to become a more effective teacher.

            Respect for differences is how I live my  life both in and out of the classroom. I have my parents to thank for that one.

            I reach out to families in many ways. I give them my cell #, I invite them to spend some time with us during the school day, I will be inviting them to spend one weekend day with me at the library for about an hour and a half, etc. Very importantly, if a parent apologizes for their "poor English", I make sure to point out that I am jealous of them. They are speaking two languages, and I, only one.

            Our school does so much for the community.

4• If you have an ELL in your class whose culture you are not familiar with at all, how do you go about teaching the child?

            First of all, I find out as much as I can about it. I would pull out the smart board, and take the class of a virtual tour of his/her home country. Lots of visuals. I would try to find books written in their first language. I would send home a tape recorder with books on tape in English. Most importantly, I would use the other students in my class. I have no doubt that they would embrace him/her immediately and be more than happy to guide him/her.