Top Takeaways from a Bilingual Classroom Experience

 

In my current placement, I have the opportunity to work with an entire period of students who are at the beginning of the English language learning journey. Many of them are from countries throughout the world and there are at least 4 languages spoken among the 14 students in the room. This experience makes me passionate about learning how to best support these students in their journey to assimilating to school in a new country in a new language.

So when I found an article on Edutopia called, “Supporting Newcomer English Learners as a General Education Teacher” by Sarah Elia, I knew I had to use it for my final journal entry in Methods 2.

When I found out that I would be placed at World Language Middle School for the semester, I was nervous. I took three years of high school Spanish, 20 years ago, but I was never very good and learning a new language. Would I be able to connect with these students? Would there be ways to overcome the language barrier? But in doing research and learning from my CT and those around World Language, understanding the same language is only a small portion of creating a connection.

So I combined my top 4 ah-ha moments with those techniques written about in the article to summarize my learnings from an impactful placement.

My Top 4 Ah-Has from my Time at World Language

1. Even repeatedly used skills may need to be reinforced or retaught – Every two weeks, students in Mrs. Wolfson’s classroom do a vocabulary form. Day 1 of the exercise, the same textbooks are passed out, the same worksheet format is used, and the same expectations are laid out. So yesterday, I was really surprised when a student asked me about how to use the glossary. At first I thought, as soon as I jog her memory, she’ll pick right back from where we left off. But then she raised her hand when she moved on to the next word. And the next word. Each time I went over, I attempted to remove some of the scaffolding I was using to guide her through the glossary, asking first questions like, does “R” come before or after “L” and then transitioning to “What is the next letter in the word?”. Finally, on the 4^th or 5^th word I said, “I’d like you to try it” while I stood there and waited to support if needed. This time, she didn’t need to ask again. But I was stunned at the amount of support this student (and several other students) still needed for this skill. This morning, I realized I had missed the greatest takeaway from that moment… these students are needing to process a tremendous amount of information at this point in their young life.  Not only are they responsible for learning new content in each of their classes, but it’s in a new language. Some students are learning new processes (like using a glossary) for the first time and the difficulty of that new skill is compounded if the English alphabet is also a new structure from their heritage language. There are 90 countries represented at World Language so many of these students are learning new cultural norms at school and in their community at home.  Some students are returning from a school interruption in their life, so the act of attending school could also be an adjustment. If a student is simultaneously experiencing multiple of these learning curves… that’s a lot to ask of anyone. Especially an 11 year old. So as a teacher, I need to remember that routines are critical and helpful, but that doesn’t mean that students won’t continue to need support even in areas that have been taught before. 

2. Lacking the skills to communicate can be very frustrating as the teacher.  - But understanding the student feels the same is key to maintaining a healthy perspective (and your patience). I saw that when students were asked by teachers to speak English, they were hesitant, possibly because they felt like they were being evaluated. But if you pair English Language Leaners who’s heritage language was different from one another, they started wanting to speak and practice their English to engage with a peer.

In the article, Elia writes, “I find it fascinating to observe teenage native speakers of English interacting with a newcomer ELL for the first time, completely unaware of how to engage in a conversation using a translator, visuals, and gestures, and gradually developing the skills to communicate.” With the right tools, and a little creativity, we can overcome any language barrier.

3. Pictures are EVERYTHING – and movement. Images and movement are a key element to bridging a spoken language gap. I saw so many lightbulb moments as soon as I pulled up a google image search for images for things like volcanos or beaches.

Elia writes, “Another strategy is to model using physical movements linked with spoken language. Think of Simon Says but doing actions along with the ELL or for the ELL as you try to communicate. Enable and encourage classmates to use facial expressions, pointing, gestures, etc., when interacting with ELLs. Although this method of language exchange is limited, it can help develop a lifelong skill of being able to connect with people of varying linguistic backgrounds. In addition, using physical movements with language can help with remembering new words.” A teacher who was covering for my CT told me the rule of 3’s…. when working on vocabulary words come up with motions that the students can relate. Have them say the word with the motion three times. Then say the vocabulary word and wait, having them repeat the word and motion before you do the motion three times. Then have them close their eyes and say different vocabulary words and have them do the motions related to the words. We used this a lot in our weathering, erosion, and deposition unit using movement to help students remember that weathering = breaking, erosion = movement, and deposition = dropping.

4. A smile is universal language – It took a few weeks for students who were native Spanish speakers to open up to me (since the aid in the room and my CT were both fluent in Spanish) but I continued to ask them if they needed help and smile when they walked in the room. One by one, students would start to raise their hand and not avoid eye contact with me when I walked over. Soon, they started looking for me when they needed help. A smile helps every student, whether they speak the same language as you or not, know you are there to support them. And that speaks volumes.