1. Tutoring at Goshen Middle School

March 5, 2006

This semester I have been at Goshen Middle school in Miriam Miller’s ENL class with TESOL Methods. By the end of the semester I will have been there for 20 + hours, right now I have about 10. Being at the middle school is very different from the elementary schools, but I like it. I go in two times a week for the first two periods of the day (about two and a half hours.) First period has a pretty standard set schedule. I teach half of the class on Wednesdays and then on Mondays I often tutor two of the newer students. I just recently started staying for second period and with this class I don’t do much direct tutoring. On Wednesdays I go to the library with the class and then listen to individual students read. On Mondays I do whatever needs done. The ESL classes consist entirely of students whose first language is Spanish. This is a big change for me because growing up in state college there were almost not Spanish speakers, there was one Hispanic in my class of 650. I was at a couple ENL assemblies

My students Manuel, Yanini, Yajaira, and Lizbeth are lots of fun to work with. When I started with them Lizbeth said almost nothing. The only time she would speak was when I directly asked her questions, but as time has gone on I have seen her become more comfortable with English language, which is really exciting. I have seen great improvement in all of my tutees.

The past couple of weeks I have been reminded of how it feels to be the “odd one out” in terms of language. The Latino Coalition for heath came in every Wednesday for the past couple of weeks giving presentations about nutrition and healthy eating. The presentations are conducted entirely in Spanish with a few English words sprinkled here and there. Spanish is no problem for the entire ENL body except for one girl who is from Japan and me. Miriam translates for the two of us. It is a good role reversal for me and keeps me aware of what it is to not understand the language being spoken.