Reflecting and Defining Blog

Exercise 1.1
I teach ESL to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in Sachse, Texas. For the past four years, I have taught beginner Social Studies and intermediate ELA. This year I have been swindled into teaching an advanced theater class for the first time. I am also in charge of the ESL after-school program that begins on October 12th. It is for all students whose first language is not English. I organize the teachers to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-5pm. Students get help with their homework for thirty minutes and then they choose to do art, soccer, or computer for the remaining thirty minutes. This year I am also trying to incorporate a soccer team with the assistant principal. This will give ESL kids an incentive to keep their grades up and behave. I also coordinate the transportation for all students who attend.
I do plan the after-school program for the bilingual students. This does not require parental involvement, except a permission slip that allows their child to stay. This does, however, require a meeting with teachers to discuss rules of the program for the students and expectations of the teachers. I am responsible for purchasing what is needed for the program to continue. This is not something that I get paid to do, it was passed down to me from the department head, and I am glad to take it on. Many ESL students benefit from this program and the teachers get to see our students in a different light. The students are very appreciative and the teachers enjoy it. We go on a fieldtrip at the end of the program with all the students who have stayed consistently throughout the year. This year we are going to see the Grossology exhibit in Frisco. I am responsible for transportation and chaperones as well as collecting money and permission slips from students eligible for the trip. I am also in charge of planning the parties we have throughout the year and the events for those parties.
As an ESL teacher, my department is also responsible for teaching other teachers about the laws for our students. During staff development, since I am the only one who doesn’t care about speaking in front of others, I am chosen to tell the staff the difference between accommodating and modifying as well as how to recognize the codes of ESL students in their classes and what to do to help them in their content classes. The principal sets time aside for this every year during the week of staff development. My department passes out papers of LEP codes, accommodations, and suggestions for our students.
My department is outlined as follows….
Janelle Ball is the department head. She has been at Hudson for about 15 years. She teaches the newcomers all subjects except social studies. She is in charge of budgeting and overseeing the entire department. She is in charge of the ESL honor club. She is required to observe us in our class routine twice every six weeks. She also designs the ESL newsletter which contains information about the honor club, inclement weather, school information, teachers’ conference periods, and interesting things we are doing in our classes.
I have been at Hudson for 7 years. I have beginners, intermediates, and the 8th grade advanced students. I am in charge of the ESL after-school program and field trips throughout the year. I listed my duties above for the after-school program as well as the staff development day.
Judy Jaremski has been at Hudson for three years. She teaches the advanced 6th graders literacy. She helps with field trips and also helps coordinate the honor club rewards program. She plans for each six weeks where the honor club will meet and what prize they will receive for having an A in ESL and passing all of their other classes. Judy is also in charge of planning our birthday celebrations within the department. We celebrate each one with cake (queso for me because I am not a cake fan) and presents. If you are gonna work hard, you must party hard too!
Jessie Cordova is the ESL aide. Although Janelle is the department head, Jessie runs the department. She is the “behind the scenes” leader. She goes into the classrooms and helps the students with their content area classes. She sells blowpops for our fundraiser three days a week. She lets us know when we are low on supplies, she makes parent phone calls for us because she is fluent in Spanish, and she serves on our campus improvement team as an ESL liaison. She knows every ESL student and makes sure they are in the correct classes. She is a vital part of our team.
The most recent member of our department is Diane Strickland. She is in teaches the advanced 7th graders writers workshop because they take the writing TAKS. This is her second year with us.
We meet once a month as a department to discuss the future of our students such as student placement, parties, fieldtrips, parent meetings, and any school related news. Our department works extremely well together. We look after each other and are willing to help each other in any way possible for ourselves and the students. My assistant principal just told us that she doesn’t worry about us as much as the other department she is over because we are organized and do what we are supposed to do and we do it together.
Exercise 1.3
I have attended professional development for ESL teachers every year. This year before school we were put in a cafeteria and the head of the ESL departments in Garland for middle schools talked to us all morning about the ELPS and the TEKS and their alignment with each other. We sat and listened with little interactivity with each other. We have ESL meetings that are divided into subjects this year. For instance, I will attend a meeting with teachers that teach only ESL II. Here I assume we will discuss plans and interventions for students in our classes. Some of these meetings I find pointless, this year, hopefully they will be worth my time.
As an ESL teacher, our students have outside pressures that native students do not. Other than our monthly department meetings and a parent meeting once a year, we do not discuss the lack of parental involvement or the fact that our students complete less homework than the typical native English speaker due to different home situations. It is difficult getting support from a parent who is not familiar with the education system in the United States. We brainstorm ways to get them involved and have planned meetings that are closer to them so they are more apt to come. These meetings are still scarcely attended even when food is provided. We are in the process of coming up with a new way to get the parents involved in schools and letting them know what their rights as parents are.
I have been a mentor teacher for those new to Hudson. As mentor teachers we are required to orientate the new teachers to the school and the expectations of teachers in the building. We are there to answer questions they may have. I would go to some of the “rookie” meetings and then to the rookie celebration at the end of the year. In the meetings, different things were discussed such as classroom management, the importance of TAKS, and special education and ESL assistance. I did not have to facilitate any of the meetings. My job as mentor was to show up and provide support to my mentee.
As a teacher, we are always changing for the TAKS test. We attend meetings during staff development week where TAKS is discussed. The principal discusses the changes that are going to be made this year for our scores to go up. She lets us know how the changes will be implemented. For example, this year my theater class will only be held four times a week. The other day will be dedicated to 8th grade science because our LEP scores were so low. We are also getting Title I money this year that will be spent on technology for math and science as well as a revolving computer lab. We will see how these will be implemented into our school day.
As a department we have dedicated a scholarship that is given to an ESL or special education student in honor of a teacher who passed away from cancer. She was important to our students, so we want her legacy to live on in a scholarship that will further a students’ education, which was extremely important to her. We are making it possible for students to further their education with our help. We ask for teacher volunteers to read essays written by the students. We plan fundraisers which consist of broom ball games for each grade. Students pay $1 for each game. The money goes into a fund for the scholarship which will be given to the winner after they graduate from high school and are accepted into a school of higher learning. Our department is in charge of getting that money to the students for tuition, books, or housing.
The highlights are working with the people that I enjoy when planning the scholarship fundraisers, fieldtrips, and even planning for professional development. I enjoy what I do, so that makes it easier I suppose. What I do not like are the ESL meetings. I feel that interaction is low and when we do interact sometimes I feel it is not something that I would use in the classroom and therefore a waste of time. We will see this year if they are going to be any different than in the past. Hopefully!