Blog 22

**** Professor, I need help with not incorportating the results into the data analysis section.

ESL Classroom Struggles: Through the Teacher's Perspective

INTRODUCTION

"Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going." - Rite Mae Brown

            It always appears that a student is the one that faces the struggles in a classroom, whether it's learning a new lesson, the work that they are given, conflicts with  peers, or with their teacher. However, we don't hear much about problems that teachers face in their own classrooms. Taking on the role of becoming an English as a Second Language(ESL) teacher takes, passion, patience, and a strong understanding of a person that does not share the same cultural understanding as you. Having a student that does not speak the English language causes language barriers between the teacher and the student. In many cultures, students do not treat or look at their teachers the same way we do here, in America. In the 1997-98 school year there were 3.5 million English-language learners (ELL)enrolled in the public school across the nations. In the 2008-09 school year the number of ELL increased drastically to 5.3 million students.

            As most ELL students struggle in their mainstream classrooms, due to the language barriers, it is the teachers job to modify their lessons to accommodate that child's needs.        The most pressure is put on the teachers to ensure that the students are successfully learning and meeting the standards that the district holds for their teacher and students. What makes an outstanding ESL teacher is one who understands her students' emotions, and one who modifies her lessons and behavior to enhance her student's learning for them to become independent individuals socially and academically. Conducting an interview with an ESL teacher, an analysis is writing to explain the findings. The participant of the interview is a kindergarten ESL teacher, who has been teaching in their school district since 1996 and became ESL certified in 2001.  I have conducted an interview with this teacher to research how she deals with the challenges that faces and the techniques and behaviors she uses to overcome those challenges.

LITERATURE REVIEW

®I have not yet completed my literature review.. I will have this done by the end of the week. Please see blog post 21 as I have only gathered some information for complete this section.

METHODS

            An audio-recorded interview was done to collect the data for this research. I will be referring to the participant of this study as Jen. The participant is currently an ESL teacher for the district that  first began working at after graduating college with a bachelor's degree in education and psychology. She began working for the district 17 years ago and 12 years ago she received her master's degree in teaching English to Speakers of other languages (TESOL.)

            The interview was done in the comfort of Jen's own home. We chose a quit spot where there wasn't any noise and we both were able to take the time to focus on the interview and elaborate on the questions.  I used my cell phone to record the interview, which I made sure it was fully charged prior to when the interview began. Jen was asked a total of 14 questions which she was able to answer in less than 12 minutes. Although the interview was quite short, she gave great information and went into depth when explaining her responses.

® I wanted to add statitstics about the school district but I was unable to find that infmoration

·         how many esl students

·         do they come from low or high income families

·         how do they score .. are they a high or low district.

DATA ANALYSIS

Motivation/Understanding

M    So what inspired you to go into the ESL field?

J     I was an ESL student myself, and in my second year of teaching I actually taught a first grade and second grade combined class and I had all the ESL students for the second grade and first grade. The ESL teacher would come into my classroom, every afternoon during my literacy period and she would teach the ESL students in a small group instruction and as the year progressed I looked at her and thought “wow, that is really something I would like to do” especially since I had the experience of being an ESL student; I would like to give back and become a teacher to them.

         Here Jen shows that she was inspired by her experiences which led her to become an ESL teacher. She shows her respect for the ESL students and she felt that it was her duty to give back. She understands what is it like to be an ESL student, therefore she can easily relate to them. Having the experience of being an ESL student allows the teacher to easily adjust her lessons when her student are not understanding since she knows what it is like to face those same struggles 

M    Can you just tell me a story or just events with students who don’t speak the language, right out of a new country and..

C     Oh! Any of them cry. They don’t want to come to school. The student who I was just referring to, she came in last month. I met with her and the morning, her mother was there. She told her who I was and that I was going to come get her. When I went to go get her, two hours later, she didn’t want to come with me. (Melanie laughs.) No, I said, I was trying to express to her “remember your mom? I was here?” she was like “no, I’m not coming.” So then it was snack time and I went and got her snack and I said “let’s go. Let’s go to my classroom.” I held her hand and I brought her upstairs and I bribed her with a snack. And every day since she’s been fine. She even hugs me in the morning; she’s all smiles. So most of them don’t want to come with me, they don’t understand why they are leaving their classroom, the security of their own teacher and the students and coming with me. And once they get accustomed to it they’re okay.

         C shows how she comforts her students when they are not feeling secure. At first she had to bribe her student and eventually the student developed a relationship with C and now feels comfortable. C completely understands why the students don't always want to go with her but she knows that it's her job to comfort them and build a relationship with them.

 Lesson Modifications

J    Sure, it’s frustrating but you get by it. You know, you overcome it. Many times I say if they don’t understand the lesson, look at him, look at her, look at what they are doing. I’ve modified the lesson for this young lady because we are so advanced in the classroom right now in what we are doing. I’m practicing the writing with them on the topic—whatever the topic may be and she can’t do that. So im reinforcing phonics with her. I'm starting with the letter “A” and going through the phonics pages. “This is “A” this is the sound.” And I’m teaching her vocabulary, basically. So I have to differentiate my lesson.

         Jen talks about how she differentiates her lessons to modify for specific students. Many teachers can easily try to get by and make the student facing difficulties struggle and model the other students but Jen purposely made a new lesson for that student. Jen goes above and behind to ensure that her students are receiving the proper attention and learning that they should get.

Effectiveness of a positive attitude

J     I do a lot of observations of their skills and I know how to communicate with them with the one who have more English opposed who have less English so ill modify my vocabulary for the ones who don’t have as much English. We are actually coming up right now it’s only the one major evaluation at the end of the year. We are starting it next week and that’s the WIDA access --- W.I.D.A. Access. We are going to test each student individually at the kindergarten level with reading, writing, listening, and speaking. And we get the results next year in September and that will determine if the students have passed the ESL program. And the test is very difficult because the student—if they do not past the writing, they won’t exit the program. I also do a lot of writing with them so I could see a lot of writing and phonics and all the other worksheets so I see how they are progressing so I can tell how much they are doing and I reinforce those skills, as well, continuously.

         Jen is constantly observing her students and testing to make sure they are learning the skills and understanding the materials. She tests her students to see their progression which also allows her to see if they are learning the skills and are able to apply them. She doesn't express a negative attitude towards the W.I.D.A. exam, the exams that determines if the student stay/ goes into ESL, which shows that she thinks the exam is fair in evaluating the students.

RESULTS

LIMITATION OF STUDY

CONCLUSION

            Anyone can be a teacher, but it takes someone who is dedicated, committed, and truly understands their students to be an effective teacher. Throughout this study and through the data that was collected, we see what makes an outstanding ESL teacher is one who understands her students' emotions, and one who modifies her lessons and behavior to enhance her student's learning for them to become independent individuals socially and academically. Jen exhibits all of them characteristics as we see through the data that was collected. Overall a teacher must be able to connect with her students emotionally and understand their needs. A teacher should be able to easily modify and transition her lessons to accommodate the different learning styles of each student. Being an ESL student can be an overwhelming and stressful experience for a child, but if they have a teacher who is passionate and truly understands his or her students, then there is great a chance for that student to succeed.