Over the vacation, I finally finished a book I had been reading for several months, off and on. In my first semester of teaching, I was drawn to the English language learners in my classroom for some reason and gained a special interest in helping them, as I expressed in my post on the QHQ technique. Perhaps it was because I could tell that they were extremely smart, but simply could not express their ideas in English. Or perhaps it was because I have always been fascinated with foreign cultures and their relationship with the USA, since growing up with one American and one foreign-born parent.
Whatever the reason, I began seeking out ways to help improve my classroom practice so that they could learn better. I discovered a book entitled "Teaching Science to English Language Learners," which seemed apt for the situation. Published by the National Science Teachers Association Press, the book focuses on theories of learning and gives valuable techniques that I have already begun trying out in my classroom.
I realized first and foremost that these students needed significant extra attention and in a class of 30 students, that is extremely difficult. I also noticed that they were very self-conscious about their speaking and didn't like to be called out in front of their classmates - as is understandable for teenagers. They often refused to share answers even when I had already checked their work for them, merely because they were too nervous to speak up in front of their classmates.
I arranged with two Spanish-speaking girls that we would have regular meetings, every Friday after school, to go over the material from that week. I also let them know that I was interested in improving my Spanish, so I would appreciate Spanish lessons from them. They were thrilled with the idea that they might be able to teach me something and began eagerly awaiting our Friday sessions, where the topics ranged from plate tectonics to new boyfriends to typical high school drama. I grew very close to these students and now am able to coax them to participate more in class.
Reading the book gave me additional ideas. I learned about something called "Funds of Knowledge," a fancy way of saying the knowledge that families and communities use in their every day existence. However, it is not simple cultural knowledge, but knowledge of complex subjects such as biology, history and language, only framed in an out-of-school context. The book encouraged getting to know about the students' home lives to understand this knowledge and bring it out into the classroom. With that in mind, I began trying to incorporate knowledge that students might have from living in the Caribbean, where many of my students were born. We talked about volcanoes and earthquakes that they had experienced and were able figure out, using plate tectonics, why those events occurred where they did.
The book also encouraged keeping the students' first language alive and promoting bilingualism. While many of the teachers at my school demand work in English only, I tend to agree with the book. These students are still learning English, so they may be unable to express complex ideas they have immediately. I encourage my ELL students to write in English first, but then to write in Spanish if they cannot express what they truly mean in English. Luckily for me, I can read and understand Spanish, so I can still grade them on their ideas. For me, increasing content knowledge is just as important as promoting language development.
The book concludes with a discussion of what equity means when referring to education. What do we mean when we strive for an equitable classroom? Equality, social justice and caring are not necessarily the best ways of promoting equity for our students. For me, I strive to provide the best education I can for every student, and if that means focusing harder on some students than on others, I say so be it.
Although I often struggle to help my ELLs, I also know that seeing them will brighten my day. They are so eager to learn, and now that they know I truly want them to succeed, they come running to greet me every morning, do all my work and are invaluable allies in the classroom. Teaching them is what all teaching should feel like.
