Emily Moog

Tch Lrn 333

ELL/ESL Teacher Interview

ELL/ESL Teacher Interview

Education is a very complicated field. There are so many aspects to consider when
teaching children, the world-changers, and next generations of doctors, lawyers, nurses,
teachers, politicians, businesswomen, interpreters, and parents. People come from many
different backgrounds, cultures, and education systems, and we, as teachers, are required to
teach toward the differences in our classrooms. We are not to teach as if one learner or learning
style is correct. Instead, we should celebrate differences within our world and within the
classroom.
Leslie Moog, an elementary teacher of over twenty-eight years, agreed with these
sentiments in an interview that I conducted with her, focusing on the learning of ELL students.
These students are a specific group of people that may learn differently from other children and
should be considered when planning and carrying out an lesson. Leslie spent most of her time
teaching in a kindergarten classroom, working with students to build a foundation for what
learning within a classroom looks like as well as the basics of all subjects. She has had the
opportunity to teach many ELL students within her career as a teacher, averaging at least 20-
25% ELL students in her classroom each year. Her understanding of an ELL is, a student
It is very difficult to teach toward all students in a classroom and to take into account
how each student learns and what they do or do not bring to the classroom as tools for learning.
Leslie Moog stressed the fact that the hardest thing for her as a teacher is the differences that
each student brings with them into the school. When students enter kindergarten, they are
anywhere from barely five years old to almost seven years old. Many students do not have a
stable home and are enduring hardships that teachers will never know about, while others have
guardians that are fully involved in their lives. Some students come to class without breakfast,
having had a bad night of sleep, and do not have heat in their home. All of these aspects of a
child and what they bring to school, must be taken into account when teaching. But, you must
then add to all of those factors, the differences in learning and assistance that each student
needs. Some children will be ELLs, require an IEP, or test into special education assistance. All
of these students are learners and must be thought of on a class and individual level.
Mrs. Moog taught in a rural school in which many opportunities for ELL students were
available. First, parents have access to interpreters at any point that they are interacting with
teachers, administrators, or staff from the school. These interpreters, though mainly proficient in
Spanish,
Second, Mrs. Moogs school, Rochester Primary School, provides ELL pull out and ELL
push in for Spanish speaking students. There are no students within the school who fall outside
of the ethnic groups of African American, caucasian, Mexican/Latino or American Indian. Of
these students, the school only has students within the Mexican/Latino population who require
ELL assistance and help. Therefore, the pull out and push in programs are geared toward those
students. According to the textbook,
 Questions

1. What does your job entail?

a. Kindergarten teacher for 28 years. Subbing as well now.
2. Whats the most difficult part of your job?
a. Children coming ill prepared for kindergarten. Several kids are anywhere from
barely 5 to almost 7. Students dont have social skills with their peers, they arent
used to sitting for long periods of time, some cannot count to 10. Parents entertain
their kids and are used to media entertainment instead of one on one conversation
with parents. Several come without permanent homes who live with grandparents
or friends and move around a lot. Some are lacking good nutrition and heat in the
winter. Some kids are pre preschool in abilities and some are as good as first
graders in academics. The spectrum is so broad, so you have to cope with the
diversity of learning as a challenge.
3. What is an ELL?
4. What ELL programs are in place at your school?
a. Parents always have accessibility to interpreters when they phone the school and
when they come in. We have ELL pull out for reading, math, and writing as well
as push in ELL help. They are trying to get them to understand the vocabulary
enhancement. They are given input before a lesson is taught that gives them an
advantage over some of the other students so that when the teacher is introducing
a new topic, some of the ELL kids can actually answer the questions before others
because they have been pre taught the curriculum. A teaching on butterflies, they
would be introduced to the vocabulary of the stages of the butterfly development
and would remember those terms when it is discussed in the room. I have seen
that happen so often and its wonderful to see! Theres an early childhood
education where a person is hired to go into the community and seek out ELL
moms who have preschoolers and are taught how to educate their children at
home to give them games, puzzles and interactive toys to work with their children
for vocabulary to prepare them for school. They then have access to preschool
programs that they might not have known about before so that they dont just
show up to kindergarten. This is a federally funded grant that the teachers are on
who go out into the community. The ELL students are often tested for
standardized testing with an ELL speaking educational assistant so that they
understand what they are supposed to do for a test.
b. Do you agree with those programs? Why or why not?
i. Yes I agree with them because I feel they are effective in bringing the
ELLs more on board with the English speaking education. We are
teaching them in English, not Spanish. No double language speaking.
 c. Do you implement all of them? Do you exclude some of them? Why?
i. I implement all of them. We, as teachers, dont have a say in the programs.
We can talk to the assistants and tell them what we would like them to
help with the children and help the students learn. The school decides how
much time the assistants help with each student and in each room.
5. How have ELLs affected cultural competency within your classroom?
a. Much more discussion of holidays that affect the ELLs. Mexican holidays,
specifically. Even Mexican foods that we discuss and talk about in the classroom.
We understand that at Christmas time, the students families take extended
vacation to Mexico. I had that every year and had to honor that, but had to cover
the education discrepancy. We need to bring the hispanic community on board
with education in our area to make the families feel equal in the partnership of
education and have them come to social events such as open houses, math nights,
etc. We want their involvement.
6. What do you see ELL students struggle with the most within your classroom?
a. Conversation. It was a challenge for them to dialogue when answering questions
and discussing their opinions. Its noticeable during their think pair share times.
7. What are the hardest areas to help ELL students in?
a. Writing. Math is across the board, math was usually easier for them. Writing
makes use of conversation and goes hand in hand with speaking English.
8. What do you wish your school would provide for you in order to help ELL students?
a. They did provide a lot of help. More time for educational assistants who speak
Spanish to be side by side with the kids in the classroom to encourage
conversation alongside with what the teacher is doing. Simultaneously so that
they get more frequent chances to participate in dialogue with someone who could
encourage them. Theres a whole classroom of kids to ask questions of. Its harder
for kindergarten for think pair share to be productive when they are just starting
school. But, they do learn a lot that way.
9. Whats the most rewarding part of teaching ELL students?
a. They are hard workers. They want to please the teacher. They learned quickly.
10. What is the most common native language spoken within your school/classroom?
a. Spanish. About a quarter of the students are ELL. Most years, more.
11. Has teaching ELL students affected your views, politically?
a. No. I have been fortunate to work with families who are above reproach legal or
illegal. I have been able to vote for people who have helped students and families
within education.
12. What type of assessments do you implement in the classroom to assess student progress?
a. WaKids,
13. In your teaching experience, what have you found to be the best form of assessment for
your ELL students?
14. How do you manage a classroom of students who speak different languages?
15. How easy or difficult is it to work with parents of ELLs? In what ways?
16. What preconceived thoughts did you have about ELLs before working with them?
17. What is the one thing you wish you knew before you began working with ELLs?
18. What type of in-class activities do you find most useful for ELLs?
19. How prepared were you to teach ELLs when you first started teaching?