ELL Weekend

I didn't think I'd get to post anything new this weekend...so I am glad I just made it in.
And I want to reflect a bit on why I chose the topic of English Language Learners to begin with.

Me- the English Learner
First of all- I was an English Language Learner. I went through the (unfortunately) typical experience of having other students make fun of me as I stumbled through the various obstacles of English phonology...

"Teesher, Teesher!" would come out of my mouth, to which many of my fellow students would taunt me with "Ha, ha, ha, ha- he said T-shirt, he called the teacher a T-shirt." A representative example. There were many, many more. In fact, there was one kid in particular who had made it a hobby to torment me every day with original epithets like "Beaneater" and "wet-back." It reached a point that I could no longer handle it. I didn't know what those words meant, but I knew they hurt and that other kids got pleasure in having those words hurled at me.

So one day I did something that I've never been proud of but that had to happen. I kicked another 1st grader's butt. Mind you, he was a very mean 1st grader but I didn't feel like fighting again for a long time after that incident.

Oh yeah- and I got expelled from the school.

And yet, somehow, over time, at the new school, I figured things out, I even lost my accent and I earned a little "F" in front of my name. I still remember my 4th grade teacher showing me her roster and a little "-F" notation next to it. I didn't know then, that was my new designation as "Fully English Proficient."

But, as I got older and more mature, I noticed that not all kids were this "lucky." (I still didn't know why I would have absorbed English faster than other ELL peers). In fact, in high school, I met many kids who seemed to be "stuck" in "ESL" classes, whom I never really saw except at lunch. I did not have any classes with them, and in fact, they had no classes with any other kids but themselves. Quite segregated. I didn't understand, but it didn't sit right. Other kids taunting them with epithets, and making fun of the way they spoke.

And I wondered if that could have been me.

Me- the teacher, educator, advocate...
So years later, when I finally decided teaching really was for me, I decided that I would be the kind of teacher I never had as an ELL, but more importantly, the kind of teacher that would be cognizant of the needs of ELLs- while not forgetting that they are students like everyone else and should be held to the same high expectations and academic and content standards. And just as important, set up a classroom environment in which we are ALL learning Standard Academic English- a language onto itself!

Anyway, weekends are good for reflecting, and I reflect a lot through my writing. It's important for me every now and again to remind myself of what it is that motivates me to do what I do both in and out of the classroom around ELLs. It can be a draining, challenging job given the current political climate here in the U.S.

But onward...a new week approaches.

Thanks for reading (and bearing with) my humble blog and today's flavor of musings!

CELDT- Time for a Close-up...!

Ok, so self-identified non-English speaking children are given the CELDT...now what...

The 4 domains of Literacy

Quick note on these. Everyone knows them already- they just sound more "academic" when described this way. They are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Coincidentally, each of these is assessed by the CELDT (although listening and speaking are combined).

The 4 Domains on the CELDT

So we have an exam broken up into sections by domain. Students are given a certain number of points when answers are correct. Raw scores are then tabulated, and then scaled. So they turn from a number that has less meaning to one that has more- one that compares the student to others based on a scale. While only the test publisher's score is official, many districts calculate the scale score because after all, we want to ensure this information will help teachers make informed decisions.

That's where the different levels come in.

The 5 Levels of English Proficiency

We start with the Beginner continue with Early Intermediate, then Intermediate. These three levels represent the "true" ELL. In California, it is expected that each student move one proficiency level per school year. So ideally, the kindergartner who starts as a beginner will be ready to leave ELL status behind by 3rd grade. Ideally. Beyond these three, we have Early Advanced, and Advanced.

And just to complicate things a bit, remember those scores? Well, these translate into a proficiency level in each domain. There is also an overall score that is calculated.

Next time: what does each proficiency level "look like?"

Who are our English Language Learners?

Where are ELLs from?

Our English Language Learners come from so many places around the world! They represent dozens of countries, some more well known than others, but for the most part, most have made their way to the United States with their families seeking a better life- and the right to good public education that goes with it.
Ahem, at least that is still the case here in California.

Without a doubt, the vast majority of English Learners in California are Latino- most from Mexico, but a Central American population has made its presence known in more recent decades. Obviously, their primary language is Spanish, and represents the major language that English learners must negotiate as they learn English. This is why there are so many "bilingual" programs that are in Spanish and English.
Hmm, another good topic for another day...

Next in line, depending on where in the state you are, whether you are in an urban locale or a rural one, the specific city (or even within the same city), you will find a variety of other English Language Learners. Vietnamese, Tagalog, Cantonese, Hmong and Korean speakers are among the next most numerous groups.

Trust me, we have many others.

My second year of teaching I had 12 countries represented and 11 languages spoken! If I remember correctly- hey, bear with me, it was 8 years ago- they were Portuguese (hailing from Brazil), Japanese, Mandarin, Hebrew, Spanish (from Guatemala, and Mexico), German, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Korean, Thai, and Somali (from Eritrea). Yeah! Needless to say, we all learned a few phrases from each other that year.
I wish I had digital pictures from that year to post!

Here's the stats on CA: http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/LEPbyLang1.asp?cChoice=LepbyLang1&cYear=2006-07&cLevel=State&cTopic=LC&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=Submit

Why should we care?

These children bring a vast wealth of cultural knowledge and traditions that may or may not dovetail with the "cultural responsiveness" of the U.S. educational system and so need even more time to adjust on that front. The fact that these students are expected to operate at a level of a native speaker, in the same timeline, AND be expected to be proficient in all content areas should be a cause to pause.

Don't forget...they are also learning English! And whose charge is it to teach it to them...? Ours! We'll get to the HOW of that, soon enough!