Anda di halaman 1dari 5

Experiences of an ELL Teacher in the Federal Way School District

Student Name(s) Jennifer Escobedo & Takiya Flowers

Interview Questions 1.What is the largest minority group that needs to be

taught English? Describe.

2. What is an effective way to communicative with a


student who doesnt know English and why?

3. What are some common misconceptions about second


language learning and why?

4.Do you think the NCLB laws focus on standards and


high-stakes testing has been beneficial to ELLs? Why or
why not?

5. What ELL program model is most commonly used and


what is a typical day like for ELL students in the
classroom?

6.What type of assessments do you or your school give to


ELL students and do you think they are effective? For
example, have these assessments helped you to learn
more about how you teach ELLs?

ELL Teacher We have interviewed the ELL teacher at Totem Middle School. He
is new to the ELL program and has only been teaching ELL for
Information about a year

He speaks English and Spanish

Received his masters from Seattle University.

He is originally from Texas but comes from a migrant/field worker


background so he moved a lot growing up.
Experiences of an ELL Teacher in the Federal Way School District

Rationale/Significanc It is important for us as future ELL teachers to collect information

e about what it is like to be an ELL teacher in order to be better

prepared and knowledgeable about when it means to be an ELL

teacher.
Experiences of an ELL Teacher in the Federal Way School District

Interview Report:

We were very excited to be interviewing an ELL teacher from the Federal Way school
district because both of us actually attended school in that district. Mr. Hernandez is a fairly new
ELL teacher and gave a fresh insight on the ELL program at Totem middle school. Due to the
hectic school schedule during the week of Thanks Giving, we were unable to meet in person so
we conducted the interview over the phone because that was Mr. Hernandez preferred method.
We truly enjoyed interviewing Mr. Hernandez and listening to his incredible experiences as an
ELL teacher and how he got to that career. Mr. Hernandez has a lot of experience with ELL as an
instructor and as a former ELL student himself. Mr. Hernandez was born in Texas to migrant
parents and moved around a lot due to his parents fieldwork. He spoke English as a second
language and struggled to get passed the language barrier in school. Thankfully Mr. Hernandez
had a great support system and was able to get through school and even attend college. Now Mr.
Hernandez has a masters degree and is a proud example of how an ELL student can strive in the
United States. He tells his students his story in hopes that they can see themselves in a better
light and understand that they to can make something better of their future regardless of their
first language. Mr. Hernandez enjoys his work and takes the time to improve his students
learning. He has recently incorporated science content in his teaching and believes content area
subjects are immensely important to teach ELL students, so they don't fall behind when
transferred into a general ELL classroom. ELL teachers like Mr. Hernandez truly make an impact
in the lives of their students because they know what its like and they are greatly dedicated to the
success of their students.
Experiences of an ELL Teacher in the Federal Way School District

Recoding of Interview with Mr. Hernandez:

1.What is the largest minority group that needs to be taught English? Describe.

Definitely the Latino population, our entire student body is made up of 34% Latinos
so they are the main minority group here at Totem.

2. What is an effective way to communicative with a student who doesnt know


English and why?

It depends on the language but in my classroom I'm working with kids from Somalia
and Egypt and I don't speak their language so I have to get creative when
communicating with them. Luckily, I get help from a great trilingual parent who
volunteers his time. He speaks Egyptian and Somalia so he is able to help bridge
the gap. I also use a lot of visuals, visuals, and visuals. They are incredibly helpful
because you can show the kids what you are trying to say. Recently, we have been
receiving a lot of children coming from concentration camps and they are part of the
SLICE program (students with limited or interrupted education). They are in middle
school but have kindergarten education so visuals are key when teaching them.

3.What are some common misconceptions about second language learning and
why?

The biggest misconception I have encountered is that people that are not
knowledgeable about what ELL is or don't understand ELL and tend to jump to
conclusions and think it is a disability rather than a language barrier.
Another misconception I have noticed is that people think ELLs are all Latinos, which
could not be further form the truth. I think it has to do with Americas views about
immigration to the U.S. because immigration is so closely linked with Mexico, people
think that ELL is also exclusive to Latinos.

4.Do you think the NCLB laws focus on standards and high-stakes testing has been
beneficial to ELLs? Why or why not?
I dont think it does, especially when they are coming into the public school system
so late in their life. This is a middle school but we get ELL kids with kindergarten
education so when you try to get them to take a test they are overwhelmed and
cant perform. They are not used to testing formats or the technology we use. Most
of the students haven't had any exposure to a proper education bc they are coming
from camps or move a lot so it is difficult to impose standardize testing on them.
What is the largest minority group that needs to be taught English? Describe.

5. What ELL program model is most commonly used and what is a typical day like
for ELL students in the classroom?
The model we most use is what we call Monitored Students which means we try to
prepare low level students for the general classes and once they reach about a level
3 we transfer them into the general classroom and monitor their work and progress
for about a year. Its also know as the Check and Connect program, which means
basically the same thing. We check in with the student and stay on top of their
grades to make sure they aren't falling behind. If they are falling behind we give
them tutoring and help them in any way we can.
Experiences of an ELL Teacher in the Federal Way School District

A normal day for a full time ELL student would be P.E. class; some sort of elective
class, and 3 or 4 ELL based classes.

6.What type of assessments do you or your school give to ELL students and do you
think they are effective? For example, have these assessments helped you to learn
more about how you teach ELLs?
Here at Totem we give the STAR exam three time a year, which tests their English,
language arts, and math abilities. We also use WELPA which is actually being
replaced by ELP 21. The draw back of these assessments is that we don't receive
the scores until the students are no longer with us so they aren't very useful to us.
We also have the SBACK that has replaced WASP, which is the basic Washington
state standardized test. I don't think they are helpful for teaching ELL because they
don't teach you anything at all they just used as requirements for you to teach
common core to your students

Anda mungkin juga menyukai