Kennedi Pellegrini and Amy Devito

The podcast hosts interview a teacher named Melanie Kiker about her experience working with English language learners (ELLs). Melanie has been teaching for 20 years and has worked with students who speak English as a second language. She discusses the benefits of being multilingual and talks about a student who only speaks Ukrainian and uses an iPad program for translation. Melanie also talks about the importance of providing appropriate resources and support for ELLs in the classroom. She mentions that her district believes in full English language immersion but acknowledges that it may not be the best approach. She engages with the community through a Heritage Day open house and relies on the school's ESL teacher for support and instruction. Melanie advises new ESL teachers to become familiar with translation technology for effective communication with parents and guardians. The hosts find Melanie's insights interesting and relevant to their own experiences and projects. Welcome to our podcast. I'm Amy. And I'm Kennedy. And today we're going to be going through our teacher interview. To start off, we're going to go over our first category, which is teacher biography and background experience. The question that we asked our teacher was in your own words, could you provide a brief overview of your background and experience as a teacher working with ESLs, including your name, the language, slash languages that you speak fluently in? In addition, could you describe any benefits of being multilingual in your role, specifically when working with English language learners? So her response was, my name is Melanie Kiker, and I've been teaching for 20 years. English is my native language. I took Spanish in high school and in college, but I'm not fluent. In the last few years, I've taught students whose first language was English, but who were not fluent English speakers. This year, I have a student who only speaks Ukrainian. She uses a program on an iPad to translate all printed material into Ukrainian. We thought this was super interesting because growing up, we didn't have anyone who spoke Ukrainian in our classrooms. And I also think it's pretty interesting because for my Genius Hour project, we're doing a lot of resources to communicate with ELL families. So I'm wondering if what her student uses is one of those, like, the talking points website that we have, yeah, or KUDO app that they're – like, there's so many different apps out there. So it is definitely very interesting. Yeah, that's awesome. Our second question in this category is, how long have you been working with ELLs in your classroom, and what inspired you to start a career in this field? Could you describe your experience working with diverse ELL populations in terms of their various languages and cultural backgrounds? Her response was, as both a special education and general education teacher, I've worked with students with various language needs throughout my career. By the time students reach sixth grade, many of them are in the monitor stage of their ELL education. I fill out an additional form with their report card to indicate any modifications I make in the classroom. Many students in my district are bilingual, with Russian being the most common second language. I honestly feel like that's really interesting because a lot of teachers in other school districts just group students – Students. Yeah, that have multiple languages or, like, are bilingual as, like, a learning disability because they're not – Yeah, that's not right. Yeah, and they're not picking up on things, but that's not their fault because they need the right supports. And I feel like that's a really good way to go about it. Yeah, and I think it's really good that she sent it out with report cards home. Yeah. So it's a conversation there too about what's being done. Yeah, I agree. The last question that we asked her in this section was, could you describe to us what a typical day in your classroom looks like when working with ELLs? What does the structure of your program look like in terms of learners' levels? So her response was, my district believes in full English language immersion. Students are only pulled to work with the ELL teacher at the beginning of their school experience for half an hour once a week. iPads are available to transcribe written materials. I feel like that that is just not enough for them to pick up on learning – The language. Yeah. There's a lot going through their brains and the fact that this is not at all similar to what we saw in the video that we watched in class. And it's like they're not putting in the effort to give them the right amount of time to learn English. Like, other schools, I feel like try to incorporate it more, but only a half an hour a week is very different from others. Yeah. At our placement, we watched kids, like, rotate like an open door with how many kids are getting pulled and it's for however long it seems like they need that day. Yeah, same as mine. Yeah. Interesting. All right. Moving into our next section, instructional strategies used in teacher's classroom. We asked Mrs. Kiker, what instructional strategies do you find most effective in teaching ELLs? Can you specify or elaborate on your lesson structures, use of technology, and engaging activities? So her response was, we have a translation program available on iPads. We use Google Translate as needed on the fly. Bilingual students will often translate for their peers. I provide materials and vocabulary ahead of all lessons. We thought it was super nice that she was aware and conscious of making sure that she's providing appropriate resources for those students. Yeah, I agree. I feel like it's good that she gives it ahead of time, too, for them to look it over a little bit so that they get an idea of what they might struggle with in those lessons. Yeah. And one of the things we talked about for our Genius Hour was bridging the gap. So having students who will translate for their peers, I think, is really awesome that they're aware of what needs to happen for their peers. I think peer involvement is definitely a huge thing that helps them. Yeah. It was very nice to hear. Another question that we had for this section was, how do you support ELLs in developing their language skills? This including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Are there specific strategies or approaches you implement for each skill area that you find to be effective? Her response was, I provide extra support and conferencing to support students as they gain proficiency in the English language skills. That's definitely something that I feel like most teachers should implement, for sure. Because conferencing – getting that one-on-one time with them so that they feel comfortable with you is, like, very important for their… Yeah. It builds that relationship between the two of them. So if they were to be struggling, they'd be able to come up to her and be, like, I need to talk to you about what's going on. I agree. For sure. That was very good. The last question that we had in this section was, could you discuss the instructional models and approaches you take advantage of to support your ELLs, such as the sheltered instruction? Do you feel these models benefit your students? Why or why not? Her response was, I follow my district's model of total language immersion. I often question if this is the best model, but I do not have any control over it. I thought that was super interesting because it's showing that she's actively thinking of how this could or couldn't be benefiting her student. It's just unfortunate that she doesn't have control over what's happening. Yeah, definitely. I feel like school districts definitely think they know the best. Yeah. And if teachers have their own opinion, it doesn't necessarily matter in the long run. It's more so what the district wants. Our next section of questions is teachers' advocacy for ELLs, including community connections and professional development. As an advocate for ELLs, how do you engage with the community and foster connection with families? Can you share any specific inactivities or activities you've incorporated in this regard? So her response was, every year we host a Heritage Day open house where students and families share their heritage and cultural traditions. It's a time for students to research and reflect on their family history and celebrate the cultural diversity of our school. I think that's pretty interesting because I had the same thing at my school where we had a multicultural day, and we could make food, dress up, whatever connected to our culture, we could just bring into school. And then there were classrooms set up. Yeah, that's awesome. They can bring that immersion almost and celebrate it in that way. Our school didn't do anything like that other than, like, bringing in food for your language that you were taking, and that was it. But that's awesome. Yeah. What types of professional development opportunities do you pursue to better support the needs of ELLs? How do you ensure your teaching practices remain current and effective? Her response was, I rely on information shared by our school's ESL teacher to provide support and instruction for my English language learners. I thought that was super interesting because it shows that it really relies on one person's job, and hopefully that they are doing it correctly because it would heavily impact that student. Yeah, I feel like a lot of the pressure is definitely on that teacher, and they should be the ones that know it, but also I feel like other teachers should also be able to provide information. Almost working like a team. Yeah. I agree. The last section that we had for Mrs. Kuyker was advice for new ESL teachers. So we asked her, what advice would you offer to a new ESL teacher who are just starting their careers as a teacher? Are there any key strategies or insight you wish you had known when you began working with ELLs that you now know? Her response was, I am not an ESL teacher, but I would encourage new teachers to become familiar with translation technology, especially when communicating with parents and guardians of students learning English. I very much so agree with this. Yeah, I think the Genius Hour definitely helped us to see the importance of it, but you were doing it in your project. Yeah, our question is literally about communicating with families, and there's so many resources out there for teachers and for just anyone who wants to translate or learn languages, and I think that's really important for teachers to make sure they are incorporating when they are communicating with parents and families. Yeah, so becoming familiar earlier is definitely a good thing. All in all, I feel that our questions with Mrs. Kuyker and interviews through her really aligned with what we were working with in class and learning about either in class or in our Genius Hour project. Yeah, I agree. I feel like her answers were mostly what we have learned about, what teachers would go through, especially in these situations. I do think it's a little disheartening that the districts aren't as supportive and that she doesn't have that control over how she can help her ELLs. Yeah. But overall, I feel like they do a pretty good job at helping them out. Yeah, and I really enjoyed getting to know another perspective of it being in the real world and not just videos. I agree. And again, I'm Kennedy. I'm Amy. Thanks for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed it. Bye! Bye!