I got the opportunity to sit down virtually and talk to Mr.Short about
the ELLs in his classroom. Mr. Short is a 3rd-grade bilingual teacher at Mae
Smyth Elementary and teaches under the TBE bilingual program, also called the
continuum program at May Smythe. Mr.Short gave me an insight into his classroom
and how he ensures all his students feel comfortable and confident.
Wright talks about the
Transitional Bilingual Program as one of two models, in this case,
"90/10 model: Initially, 90% in the ELLs' home language and 10% through
sheltered instruction; home language decreases slowly and sheltered instruction
increases as students move up in grade level. Instruction continues in both
languages until the end of the program, even after students attain proficiency
in English" (Wright,2019,p.100). For third-grade ELL students at Mae
Smythe, bilingual instruction should be 60% English and 40% the student's home
language. However, in his interview, Mr.Short tells us that he typically
teaches more in Spanish at the beginning of the year and slowly builds up to
the required 60/40. His goal is to have all his students proficient by the end
of the year and ready for all English instruction.
I really enjoyed our interview because Mr.Short didn't only speak about
the bilingual program, but he went into dept about what a day-to-day experience
is as a bilingual teacher. He expressed the importance of knowing your students
and their capabilities to help them succeed.
From the interview, I could tell that Mr.Short
creates various opportunities in his classroom for authentic communication. One
of my favorite procedures that Mr.Short talked about is hosting family meetings
every morning. Students can talk about their life and experiences outside of
school during these meetings, and they are encouraged to speak in whatever
language they feel most comfortable. Hearing this reminded me of the Communicative
Language approach that we learned about in chapter 3. According to the
textbook, the Communicative Language approach has an "emphasis on
authentic, meaningful communication and learning as creative instruction" (Wright,2019).
Overall, conducting
this interview served as a great learning experience. Mr.Short talks about
relating to his students personally due to growing up as an ELL himself. Like
him, I was an ELL student, and as he spoke about his experiences with students,
I was able to put myself in their shoes easily. Although I am not currently
pursuing a bilingual certification, Mr.Short made me consider the possibility
of one day doing so.
Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for Teaching English Language
Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (Third). Caslon.
