I have been teaching for almost 16 years, but I feel like I learn new things every day like I did in a parent meeting today. I am the "lead" ELL teacher at the International Welcome Center of my district, which basically means I am the jack of all trades. I do have an amazing TA, math teacher, counselors, and various other teachers that support the program, but I am in charge of planning it with guidance from administration. It is wonderful to make all of the decisions, but sometimes I miss things, which are often revealed when things come to a head. The students in my program are high school level, currently ages 14-18, and new to the country with limited English proficiency. We have 12 students enrolled and I love every minute with them...mostly! Some days I have more patience than other days, but overall I feel like our program is an amazing support for the newcomers in our district.
Over the past few weeks, we have been worried about one of our students who has been frequently absent and missing homework. He was really struggling and we decided to have a meeting with his mom. We work together with the families to make sure we keep everyone updated on what is happening at school. During the meeting, my student revealed that there are several reasons for why he has been struggling. Apparently, there are things I need to tell all students when they start in our program that are counter to what they are used to in their previous schools. So here is what I will tell them based on our meeting today:
1. No, we will not beat you if you don't bring in your homework. In fact, we will offer you after school tutoring and make sure you understand everything before moving forward. So, please come to school even when you don't have your homework done.
2. Yes, we want you to ask questions in class. You will not be considered stupid and we will not yell at you for asking even the most minuscule question. In fact, we will praise you for asking questions and we will think you are a good student.
3. Yes, we do need you to show all of your work on the math assignments. I know that you were required to just provide answers to your teachers before, but in our school, you will lose credit if you don't show your work.
So, in the future, I will make sure all of my students know these things so that may be a barrier to success in our program.
