Blog 13

After doing my interview I realized that all my assumptions that I had about ESL turned out to be wrong. 

Key

·         A-active

·         P- passive

·         C-certainty

·         UC- uncertainty 

·         (Side Comments)

___________________________________________________________________________________

EXCERPT 1

M    Can you describe your students and how they interact with one another and how they interact with non-ESL students.

C     A My students are of various different cultural backgrounds. I have Haitian students, Chinese students, I have Portuguese, Brazilian, Spanish students. But the students that I pull out are students that are in two separate groups and they are from the same classes—two classes combined. For both group of students that I have so they know each other, they interact with each other. Some were in Pre-K class together last year. They…… can you ask me the question again please. *** laughs****(in this verse she tried her best to take control and dominate the question but then she needed the question repeated and she was not ashamed to ask)

M    ***laughs*** How do your students interact with one another and how do they interact with non-ESL students—so do they like stick together amongst themselves or do they talk to the non-ESL students?

C     They talk to all the other non-ESL students as well and they talk to each other when they are in class together. They get along pretty well together, you know they are five year-olds, they are kindergarten students so they tend to tattle and just have regular things that other kindergarten students who are not ESL students do. Even the ones who can’t speak English that well, they still manage a way to tattle. (MELANIE laughs)Or to tell me that something is wrong. They can figure it out. They can get their point across when they need to. (Here we see the teacher gives her students enough space to allow them to be independent and develop social skills on their won without her having to overlook their every move)

Stereotype/ Cultural Story: ESL students don't really interact with students that are not of the same culture or that are non-ESL students. 

They exhibit the same behaviors as the regular students and there don't seem to be any boundaries between the ESL students and the non-ESL students. The cause might be because the students are so young and cliques have not yet formed. They also have developed the mentality of being shy or self-conscious. They don't have a complete sense of self but more of a self-centered ego. One of my focuses was on why ESL students shun themselves away from the other students but this did not work with the age group that I did my research on.

This teacher's students interact with all of the other students. 

EXCERPT 2

M     How do your students overcome their struggles, do they ask you for help, do they look at someone else’s paper, or do they sit there until the teacher acknowledges them? So this can be in their regular classroom too.

C       Most of the students do copy and I let them, at the beginning. I let them copy because they are doing something, they are not just sitting there.. And when I know they can do the work as the year progresses, I tell them “It’s time to stop copying, I know you can do your own work and you need to focus on what you can do.” (She is allowing them to take control of the situation but she is still there to monitor how much control they are actually taking.)And yes, some of them do—each student is different. Some of them ask for help, and some of them will just sit there and cry. I have had both. So it depends on the child.

Stereotype/ Cultural Story: When students are copying their peers work, they are not learning.

This teacher actually allows her students to look at a neighbors paper. She thinks that it helps them get on track and not just have them sit there and be completely lost. However, when she thinks that her students are capable of doing the work on their own and have mastered the skill then she no longer allows them to copy. I found this to be an interesting concept because most teachers despise when students look at another student's paper but this can be helpful for a student who does not speak English.

___________________________________________________________________________________

EXCERPT 3

M    If a student doesn't have anyone who speaks the English language at home, does it make it more difficult for the student to learn the new language?

C        It can. Especially if there isn't anyone who can help the parents themselves. And help them translate and communicate with the school. We have that as well. It’s difficult for them to communicate with the school and teach them. But I always tell the parents to speak their language with the children because it reinforces what they have learned and they can understand their principals and the concepts better if they explain it to them in the home language “OHH, that’s what the teacher meant” if they’re talking about dinosaurs, whatever. The parents ”Oh, yes, I remember learning about dinosaurs in my home language—this, this, that’s what the teacher meant.” So it reinforces the concept. So I always tell parents “please speak to your child in your home language and don’t try to speak to them in English if you don’t speak it correctly.” Because that reinforces poor skills. “So I take care of the English and you take care of your language” that’s what I tell them. (She allows the parents to take control of the situation at home, yet they must follow her advice)

Stereotype/Cultural Story: If a student doesn't have parents who speak English they will not be able to succeed.

This teacher prefers for her students' parents to speak in the home language because she doesn't want her students to learn the improper way to pronounce words. I found this to be so interesting and something that not many of us actually think about. She prefers that the students only learn English at home while still being fluent in their home language at home.