Stuck Between Other and English

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

I teach in a suburban school district that is changing every year. Our Superintendent now labels us as an outer urban school district. Regardless of our label, the school is diverse in all ways. I teach English at the freshman level. One of my classes is an SSL class, which stands for sheltered second language. Basically this means that the students who are non-native English speakers have graduated from the class where they are taught bi-lingually. But even though they have made it through that class, they are far behind their native speaking classmates and need A LOT of extra help. Thus, they are put into this SSL class which is smaller and has a teacher (me) that is trained in using different techniques to teach them. These students are auditory and visual learners. They need pictures and they need auditory reinforcement a lot. They also need to learn the complexities of English by being engaged in their subject matter. I am expected to teach this class the same things I teach native speakers. There is no funding for helping materials. Some of the materials taught are Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey, both are incomprehensible even to native speakers, so can you imagine how daunting they are to non-native speakers. I have chosen these two books because they fit in with some of our units themes. I can teach many of the same concepts, but instead of focusing on deciphering the language, we can actually focus on skills if I use Esperanza Rising and Pictures of Hollis Woods. The kids in this class are eager to learn. I want to be able to help them, but it is so hard when there is no money to buy materials that are at their level. Often these kids are borderline on State tests (tests that determine whether they graduate or not), I know that if I could get some materials that are more on their level, I could help them get over that borderline score and pass. It is not about the difficulty of what you read and teach, but the ability of the students to take the skills and apply it elsewhere. If I use these materials, I can teach them the skills.