Teaching ESL

Currently, I am not teaching. I graduated with my B.S. in December 2009 and decided to go straight into the Masters program. While looking over the brochure about the add-on endorsements available, I started to picture which I would enjoy teaching the most and then I realized that I had always enjoyed working with the ESL students. My experience with teachers with ESL students in their classrooms have only been during undergraduate classes and student teaching.

In all experiences, the regular education teacher was unsure how to accommodate the students needs and in some cases just gave up. My first experience was with a little Japanese student who was in the "silent period" and did not speak any English. For my class, I was to tutor in any subject the teacher wanted and she chose Reading. From that experience, I can relate to teachers and that initial reaction of "What am I going to do? How do I meet the student's needs if I can't communicate with them?" As with all experiences I have had, the teacher was also just as unsure as I was. She said the student was in the pull-out program and during the rest of the school day just sat and observed.

My next experience with teaching ESL is when I student taught in a Kindergarten class. The teacher, like the first, was unsure of what to do with students who needed the extra help with learning English. However, the difference was that she seemed to not worry about accommodating the students and bringing them into the classroom community. The ESL students participated and knew English, but she continued to discuss the students as if they were never going to be on the same reading level as the others. Every day during reading, she would take different students and read with them. However, with the ESL students, she always made them review letters and numbers even if they could name each one with complete accuracy. One student continued to ask if they could read like the other students, but she would never let them. It broke my heart because the student wanted to read and was ready.

From my experiences, I know that I want to teach ESL. I want to help students I come into contact with to not have to experience what the students I have observed gone through. I would love to setup the classroom where all students feel welcomed and meet all of their needs. I think the students need to hear they are doing well and know they have a teacher who believes in them. Also, my husband and I have also been discussing traveling internationally with D.O.D.e.A. or going overseas to teach English. I believe knowing the methods and strategies to teaching ESL will help equip me to become a better teacher in general! I am excited to learn the methods on how to better teach ESL students and cannot wait to try them in my won classroom, whether it is in a self-contained classroom, pull-out program, or inclusion class!

I know that it will be challenging, but at the end of the day it will be the most rewarding to watch the ESL students progress and learn to communicate, write, and read in English. The little "AHA!" moments are well worth the challenge. I am excited to have my own classroom and teach ESL. I believe that they can bring such a wealth of culture and world knowledge into the classroom. :)