English Language Learners -a Perspective

Educational alphabet soup.  We have ESOL classes (English for Speakers of Other Languages)  The students in these classes have now been christened ELL (English Language Learners).  And they are classified, by number of years in this country and their language proficiency, as LYA, LYB, LYC….  You know, sometimes I wonder about people who actually earn a living coming up with this alphabet soup and shoving our children into it.  Really.  "And what do you do for a living?"  "Why I sweat my brains out all day coming up with different letter combinations to further subdivide and conquer the students in our schools…."

During my planning period today – I didn’t feel like planning.  So I went and sat in one of our 8th grade ELL Language Arts class.  (The course formerly known as English – before everything had to sound so grand and important.)  They were reading essays they had written about living in the US.  These students are the newest to the country – they’re the LYAs.  Their command of the language is very ridumentary, but I am so impressed.  With just a few months in a foreign world, I very much doubt I could accomplish so much in so little time.  Not only learning a new language and all the usual middle school subjects – but learning an entirely new way of life.  No easy task – any of it.

So, I’m sitting and listening.  My heart is going out to these children.  I love the US because ….. I can live with my family and go to nice parks and not spend too much money.  I can buy a cell phone to talk to my family back in Cuba and send them clothes and money.   I can buy a PSP.  I can go to a nice school.  I can go to a nice school like this and learn from my favorite teacher, Ms. Brown.  I can come to school and learn to cook in Ms. Wolf’s class and learn English from Ms. Brown.

Hey!  He said one reason he was glad he was in the US was because of my class!!        MARAVILLOSO!    I’m so glad I didn’t feel like planning today.