The ESOL level 1 teacher that I work with returns to the classroom tomorrow after a trip to France. I hope that she isn’t severely jet-lagged; apparently she touches down tonight and, when last we spoke, intends to get back to work the following morning. I have no idea if she plans to resume her tutoring sessions during lunch tomorrow, but part of me hopes she does. Lunchtime is really the only period we can chat about things, like students’ progress or any problems or concerns we may have, because she teaches during period 3 when I am leading the study group in the basic reading class.
Anyway, I have a proposal to make the teacher. After weeks of observing her classroom, I have determined that there are many students who are strong when it comes to vocabulary and, to a certain extent, grammar. However, these same students are not very confident speakers of English. I would like to start a program in conversation partnership, one in which native English-speaking students at the high school pair up with an ESOL student to help the latter improve his or her speaking skills. I envision the American students receiving “service learning hours” (what the county calls community service and which each student in the public school system is required to amass). To make things less awkward, after registering with the school and posting adverts all over campus, we can accept applications that include a short questionnaire so we can partner students with similar interests. That should help to start the conversation. Since the school has a open lunch policy wherein students can eat and/or hang out virtually anywhere during the period, I think that would be an ideal time for conversation partners to meet at least once a week.
Truth be told, as soon as I decided that I wanted to be an ESOL teacher, I devised this program for a future job post. But now that I am in the ESOL classroom, gaining valuable experience as just a volunteer, I see that if it were implemented here, it could get off the ground and potentially make big strides in student achievement. I don’t see the proposed exchanges between ESOL and American students as (forced) assimilation. Instead, I think they would more likely foster integration, a cross-cultural understanding and acceptance of similarities and differences between or among students. I hope the teacher feels the same way.
The Rumination Refinery 