Reaching out to Immigrant Students

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Reaching out to Immigrant Students

• Ada Sepulveda
• ESL Teacher BPS

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A teacher without compassion has no business
teaching immigrants in this country. Life is hard
enough here. George Ross, Retired ESL Teacher
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Overview

• My role as a teacher of immigrant students
• My philosophy as an ESL teacher
• Units on Cultural Sensitivity, Democracy
• My aspirations for my students

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Telling the Students About Myself

• An Immigrant who can relate
• Moved to Boston from Puerto Rico more than 20
  years ago.
• Had to get used to living in a new country
• Learned a new language and culture
• Faced some of the challenges they face
• Spanish speaker
• Language learner
• Can communicate with parents
• Can learn more about the students

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Challenges for Immigrant Students

• New language
• Learning and literacy gaps
• Having to work in addition to studying full time
• New cultureAmerican culture and youth culture
• New family
• Homesickness

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Students from the Dominican Republic

• Largest immigrant group in the BPS
• What have I learned?
• Sociability/Group Oriented
• Cooperativeness
• Social interactions in the classroom
• Immigration historyfamily, interrupted schooling

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Students from the Dominican Republic (cont)

• Why is this information useful?
• Opportunities for socializing and working
  together
• Opportunities for helping out
• Scaffolding lessons
• Being sensitive to their homesickness
• Warm weather
• Food
• Language
• Friends and relatives

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Why Are We So Important?

• Students many challenges
• Parent issues
• Language barrier
• Disconnected from available services
• Long work hours
• Students come to us
• They spend more time with us
• Level of comfort

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How Do We Help?

• Finding out about community resources,
  after-school activities or summer programs
• Assisting in job-seeking
• Helping with decision-making
• Writing letters of recommendation
• Being good listeners

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Demonstrating and Encouraging Cultural Sensitivity

• ESL teachers represent society
• The messages I want to transmit
• My classroom as a safe haven where students can
  take risks
• Both cultures can live along side each other

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Home Country Project

• What is it?
• An oral presentation of a poster board with maps
  and artifacts that represent the students
  country
• What is to be gained?
• Student
• Students feel proud to teach others about their
  countries
• Learn about many countries
• Incorporate writing, speaking, art, and social
  studies
• Teacher
• Learns about students skills and cultures
• Establish correlations amongst cultures
• Conveys interest in the student and acknowledges
  their ability to make contributions.
• We end up with a beautiful display for the
  classroom!

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Teaching About Democracy

• Why?
• How do we practice?
• Taking votes in class
• Encouraging students to run for office
• Inviting speakers to the classroom
• Discussing related U.S. historical events

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Unit on Civil Rights Movement

• Study and discuss historical media photos
• Read and discuss Martin Luther King, Jr. speeches
• Students write their own speeches

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Unit on Civil Rights Movement Outcome

• Students learn that
• American history includes its share of struggle
• African Americans did not always have equal
  rights
• Racism is still prevalent in this country
• Students connect this knowledge to their reality
• They discuss personal encounters with racism
• They feel empowered and that they can make a
  difference

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Student Diaries

• Teacher
• Motivates students to write
• Does not judge for grammar or spelling
• Students
• Write everyday
• Decorate diaries and draw pictures
• Express themselves freely
• Write in native languages

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Student Diaries Outcome

• Students
• Write about their daily experiences
• Channel their emotions and ideas through writing
• Practice writing
• Develop their voice
• Teacher learns about
• Students writing abilities
• Students lives and issues
• Students culture
• Teacher conveys interest in students lives

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What Do We Achieve Through These Lessons?

• Foster love for learning
• Develop students voices
• Demonstrate appreciation for students cultures
  and individuality
• Instill pride in students
• Value students identities
• Provide forum to discuss issues relevant to the
  students
• Model respect for all