"Hey ESL Teacher"

 Photo by Vanessa Jones

Yes!

That was the subject in a recent email sent to me.  The ESL teacher at my daughters school started a wonderful evening program at the school.  Family Learning Nights, you can learn English, Spanish, get help with preparing for your GED, get tutoring help for your child's homework.  D, the ESL teacher is also a master trainer for LVNJ and just a really cool person, and this idea he had is so fantastic.  When he sent the word out looking for help with tutoring I immediately signed up.

I haven't had a student to tutor for about 6 months, it has been a busy time in my personal life so I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the tutoring.  It was so difficult for me to drive almost 30 minutes to get to the tutoring sessions before and it was so inconvenient, and then my student rarely showed up, or if she did she was always late.  It clouded my experience.

But the thought of being able to tutor a student at the school which is just around the corner from my house, in the evenings when my husband can take care of the children.  And to know I am working with parents of my kids friends.  People in my community.  This idea completely appealed to me.

The thing is I had only ever done basic literacy tutoring, and the training I had for ESL tutoring was a year ago.  I told D I would tutor a student, thinking I can handle one on one.  Then I got an email from D the day before the first FLN:

"Brenda,

Would you be interested in taking a small group of beginning ESL students?"

Umm, PANIC!  So the LVNJ training mainly focuses on one on one tutoring, but we did touch on the small group training.  But like I said that was a YEAR ago!  How could I possibly say no though?  The parents wanted to learn, and I repeated to myself that first empowering thought I learned in training "If you can speak English, you can teach someone to speak English."  So yeah!  Yes I will take that small group, and I will do the best I can, I am totally willing and able!

The day came, and I poured over my training manual, and a great manual my boss J suggested and I went online and came up with a very basic lesson plan.  I did not know the level these students were at in their English speaking skills so I had to go on the assumption that they were very beginner.

I decided to start with a grid, and use the Repetition Drills I had learned and practiced in training to have them practice saying: "Hi, my name is," "I have three children," "I have two girls and one boy."  And I would have them introduce themselves and then their neighbor using the grid to help them.

I also found pictures of different scenarios on google, Talking to your child's teacher, At the bank, At the grocery store, and At the doctor.  I would poll the students and say: "I need help speaking English when I am..." and then I would show them each picture while saying what it was and then ask them to each pick a scenario they wanted to work on.  Then we would work on things you might need to say in those scenarios, using the Repetition Drill and the Response Drill.

So I had a plan and I was scared but hopeful.

I got there and started drawing out my grid on the board and then waited.  Then the students started showing up.  And showing up.  And showing up.  I had a total of 11 students that night!  Yikes, I am sorry but that is a large group in my opinion!

 Photo by Vanessa Jones

But I never skipped a beat, and I went through my lesson plan and oh my gosh the students were so awesome!  They were eager, upbeat and totally accommodating.  LOVE teaching ESL!

As I was gathering my things at the end of the class, one of the ladies said, "Thank you teacher!"  Heart melting!

Tutoring Is Not For The Weak at Heart

Yes I know it’s been a while since I have posted anything. Frankly I have been just too busy to do anything but the absolute necessary; sorry to say the blog was not absolutely necessary especially during the holidays.

I did get matched with a student, about a week after my last post. I was really excited when I found out, I mean I had been waiting for a while, but I was also really nervous. Let me introduce you to D: She is a young woman, 26, she was born and raised in the states and graduated high school with a special degree. So she is a basic literacy student which is what I requested after training. I really like her, she is sweet and energetic, and seems motivated.

We have met 4 times so far, first time we met in a coffee shop, I told her about my family and I asked her about her life and what her dreams in life are. She really wants to become independent and have a good job, and help to take care of her family. She signed up for an online course to become a masseuse, she has to finish by June 2011 or she will miss the deadline. Here is the reality, she can’t read the workbook. This workbook they sent is written on a college level and she is reading at a 3rd grade level. Also, the course she signed up for is to learn massage techniques, she won’t be a certified masseuse at the end of this course. I tried to explain this to her, but she is determined to finish the course and then look for a job after. I am still getting to know her so I don’t want to be too pushy. I am taking it week by week.

I decided to start simple; I pulled a book from the library called The Watson’s Go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis. It is a bit above her level, written on a 6th grade level. But it is a good starting point because the story is interesting for her. I had her read the first few pages at our last session. She did so much better than when she was trying to read that workbook. And she laughed at the story; I was so excited when I heard her laugh. Success, I picked a book she likes. I say that because the week before I had picked a book of Haitian folk tales for her to read (her family is from Haiti) and she was NOT impressed.

I have had her working on building her sight word base. I have a strong feeling that she might be dyslexic, and the best thing for her at this point is to just learn as many sight words as possible. It may not help with her writing, but at least she will be able to read more fluently. Words like Possibly, Discuss, Distribute, Explain, Diagnose, Describe, Negative are among the flashcards I created for her. We go over them every week, and I have her practice writing them as well. I am trying to follow the tutor training as much as I can but basically I am playing it by ear. I stressed about our meetings so much in the first few weeks. I read tons of manuals and researched ideas on websites, it is so much information to decipher and I usually have very little time to go over it all. So the best thing is to try what I have learned, if it doesn't work then I will try something else.

Some lessons I have learned so far:

1. Make sure you have a well defined lesson plan, but be prepared to change it, especially in the beginning. Some things you will just not be prepared for, like a grumpy student, in which case I found it is best not to expect too much from her. Or a late student which means not enough time to get everything done.

2. You can’t feel responsible for everything involved with your student. D suffers from sickle cell and has a hard time with the cold weather. She has asked me a number of times (sometimes actually whining) if I can give her rides to and from the library for our sessions. It is totally against the rules of tutoring the trainers gave to us; basically it is an insurance liability for them. I understand this and even agree with it on a cerebral level, but on the level of feelings which is where I operate most times it feels wrong. But I am, if nothing else, a rules follower and so I stuck to my guns. Having kids definitely prepared me for saying no.

3. Your student may disappear sometimes. Last week after a two week break for the holidays my student was nowhere to be found. Her cell phone had been cut off, the person who answered at her home phone said she was not there and she was not returning any of the emails I had sent to her. Then she just didn’t show up at our regular scheduled session. I feared the worst. I didn’t want to but I started thinking maybe she was giving up on the whole thing. But I kept emailing her and finally today she emailed me back and is going to be at our session today. It’s weird but I am sure she has a reason; I am just going to keep working with her regardless. We are all human anyway right?

4. Just because I like to read does not mean my student does, or ever will for that matter. I mean she had a hard time reading all through school, she has made it this far in life with only a basic knowledge of the English language, what makes ME think I am going to turn her into some avid novel reader. Still there is a small desire in me that she will one day want to read just for pleasure. I am a dreamer.

5. Like I learned in tutor training, when you are teaching the rules of grammar and spelling and pronunciation to a student, the best thing to say about the rules is: this rule applies until it doesn’t. These lessons apply until they don’t, that is what I am repeating in my head every week. Which can be exciting, because I am learning something new all the time and that is one thing I truly LOVE?

6. I am not perfect and neither is D. So perfection is not even a word in my vocabulary right now. This sets the bar low for me, so I can set it low for D, which is where it needs to be set right now. Baby steps are okay, and they will probably be tiny steps for a long time.
I am determined to do a better job with my blogging from here on out. I owe to myself and to D and it is honestly therapeutic which is definitely something I need right now.

PLEASE feel free to leave comments, I love them!

17%

You are standing in line at the bank, the older gentleman in front of you looks like any other citizen. Clean cut, dressed well, he even smiles at you kindly. He gets to the teller and holding his bank book and a check he tells the person, “I forgot my glasses again, could you please fill out this deposit slip for me.” The bank teller knowingly smiles and kindly agrees. What are the possibilities that this man didn’t forget his glasses, but in fact cannot read or write the English language and so has developed coping skills to get through life. The statistics show that 17%* of adult residents in NJ (out of a total population of 8,707,739) are without adequate literacy skills, so it is pretty likely. To me this is staggering.

The story changes only slightly if they are an ESOL adult. Maybe at their job and at home they can speak their native language, but out in the community the majority of the time they need help communicating their needs. These adults are not numbers; they are the people we meet every day, parents or grandparents of friends, neighbors, the young man who delivers your lunch every day, maybe even family members.

It is easy to be angry and say why? Why has no one helped them? If they are understandably too ashamed or afraid to get help, what will happen to them? When I first read the statistics I was overwhelmed and felt somewhat in despair for our state. But when I became a volunteer with LV of Union County, the numbers ceased to matter. I learned that the adults who come to these programs are looking for help and they have a name and a history, and that matters. If you are their tutor, it becomes all about them, making sure their voice is heard above all the noise fear and shame has created. Maybe the illiteracy numbers don’t go down because you helped one person learn to fill out their own bank deposit slip, but that person’s life has become easier, and maybe they have pride and determination to go further.

I finished my tutor training two weeks ago and it was one of the best trainings I have ever been to; well thought out, and full of great examples. I don’t mean to gush, but all of the trainers were so understanding and caring and honest. I learned so much, not just about how to teach an adult, but what it takes personally. I have developed a greater respect overall for tutors and trainers and anyone in this field who is trying to make adult literacy a priority.

I haven’t been matched with a student yet, but I know I will get one. With 1 in 6 adults in NJ needing help, there is bound to be someone who needs me sooner or later. Of course this brings on a whole new set of fears and questions. What will I say to them when I meet them for the first time? Will they be as scared and unsure as I will be? How can I make them feel comfortable and let them know I don’t feel sorry for them, I am proud of them already for coming forward and being a part of the solution? I am eager to find out the answers to these questions and to share them with everyone I know. Stay tuned!

*Estimates of low literacy developed by the National Center for Education Statistics for the U.S Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. Their website: http://nces.ed.gov/naal/estimates/Index.aspx