Meeting My ELL

J is a very sweet young man.  He was incredibly respectful and quite the skilled conversationalist despite the language barriers.  My “Me Poster” allowed me to show him my family, my hometown, my love of food, and my love of reading.  His eyes really lit up when I talked about my little boy, so I asked him plenty of questions about his family.  Even though I don’t know a thing about soccer, not to mention team Mexico, I think I showed him that I was interested in him, his interests, his family, and his country and language of origin.  I really enjoyed talking to a student one-on-one; the experience has definitely served to make me much more comfortable talking and interacting with students.

The most apparent reality that I have come to appreciate not only from my ELL but also from my classroom observations, is my intense need and desire to learn Spanish.  Following this all-consuming block process, I am determined to study Spanish and work toward proficiency.  I don’t see how it is possible to engage students, not only ELLs but also students who simply identify more with the culture and language of Mexico/Latin America, without at least a working knowledge of their language.  For example, today in Ms L’s English class, she was having the students think up adages, pithy sayings that communicate a moral or cultural value.  I noticed two students, who incidentally spoke perfectly good English, having a bit of trouble coming up with sayings in English.  I wished that I could remember some Spanish folk-sayings (I took a Texas folklore class last semester and we studied plenty of Spanish sayings).  It made me think toward the future, when I am in the classroom, I will want to come to class prepared with examples that all my students can appreciate, use, and benefit from.

I am really motivated to help, in my little way, to contribute to a school environment in which all students feel included, able to participate, and like the content is relevant and relate-able to them.  I think this is achievable with plenty of preparation, and a brush up of my Spanish vocab!