I have spent many years working with ELL children and their families. My years in Head Start and Migrant Head Start became the beginning of my association with children and families whose backgrounds extend beyond the backdoor of America. They embody culture, values, and ideas that are critical in assessing who they are.
I have so often seen children from immigrant families feel the urgings from their parents to lose the “old ways” and become American so they can succeed. Immigrant parents often desire their children to trade their first language with their new second language, English. I am of course, speaking of Latino children.
Having another language other than English should be seen as a blessing. However, most families do not usually see it that way. Just today, I encouraged a student to write a poem for their mother in commemoration of Mother’s Day in Spanish instead of English, because the mother speaks, reads, and writes Spanish only. This particular student was adamant that they were not going to do such a thing. In fact, when I initially instituted learning a daily Spanish word for everyone in the class, my Spanish students seemed a little embarrassed even though the rest of the class were excited. The school year is almost at its end and the previous feelings of embarrassment have gone by the way side and the ELL children seem to feel proud to help the other students learn Spanish.
I continue to work at gaining an understanding of the many barriers these children face, developing an environment that will help them through their learning process, and learning how to recognize and support positive self-images for them. I feel that those points are important in helping such students feel worthwhile and included in their new culture.
Constructing the week one research chart, has helped me to understand the correct path for finding out all that I want to learn about my topic. I think I finally realize that I need to search deeper within the research field. Instead of reading articles that have some correct ideas, I need to direct my search to find qualified information. In order to make noted headway with my ELL students, it is essential to require supported evidence of what works best with those children and their families.
I am open to any suggestions that will help me find my way through this course and put me on the correct route in working with ELL children.
Thanks in advanced to anyone who has great ideas they are willing share!
1 comment:
Long ago (the late 1980s!) I was a 5th grade teacher in the Housing Projects known as Jordan Downs. The community was in a state of transition from a primarily African-American community to a heavily Latino community. I kept in touch with a handful of students and years later offered a small "scholarship" to one of my students who had been accepted to the University of California, Irvine (UCI). One day I got an invitation to his Latino-graduation event at UCI. Instead of the usual "ceremony", each of the students came to the satge and invited her or his parent(s) to join them. Almost all of the event transpired in Spanish. I was one of a handful of monolingual English-speakers in attendance. And then, one father came to the stage and tearfully told, in English, how he lost his first language. It was powerful to see what significance language brings to bind people together.
Two of my 5th grade students went on to become school teachers!
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