Holding Conferences with Parents of English Language Learners

It's conference time again and I wanted to repeat this blog about holding conferences with parents of English language learners.

The increasing population of linguistically and culturally diverse students in our schools poses a challenge for classroom teachers who need to communicate with their families. Parents of English language learners may not be familiar with the practice of meeting with their child’s teacher and do not know what is expected of them during a parent-teacher conference. Many classroom teachers do not know how to communicate with parents who do not speak English and who are not familiar with U.S. school practices. The goal of this blog is to help you hold productive parent-teacher conferences.
Conferences with parents of English language learners (ELLs) require preparation. First, you need to determine whether a translator is needed. Many parents do not speak English well enough to understand what you are saying so it is important to the success of a conference to contact a translator for parents who need one. If your school does not provide translators, ask parents to bring a bilingual family member. Siblings, or worse yet, the child herself, should never be used to translate for the parents. When a translator is needed, the meeting time should be lengthened to ensure that there is enough time for the teacher to provide information and answer questions. Assemble samples of the student’s work to share with parents. Have a solid understanding of the student’s current English proficiency level and prepare to provide samples of this during the meeting. Try to schedule the conferences so that both parents can attend. In some cultures, the father must be included since no important decisions are made without his agreement.
You want body language to reflect a receptive attitude. Walk to the door of your classroom to greet parents as they come into your room just as you would greet guests in your home. Do not greet them from across the room behind your desk. Don't make assumptions about the parents’ name. The U.S. custom of birth name, then family name is not universal. Learn how names are used in the cultures of your school. Children may not have the same name as their mother even though the mother and father are married. Korean and Chinese women do not take their husband’s name but retain their own family name. Children from Spanish-speaking families may have a given name followed by two surnames. The first surname is the father’s family name, and the second one is the mother’s family name. Some parents will hyphenate the double name. Others will Americanize their names so you need to ask what name they want to be called.
There are diverse cultural norms about whom it is appropriate to touch in different cultures. Although many people have adopted the Western manner of shaking hands, in some cultures this manner of greeting is not appropriate. Asian women, for example, do not generally shake hands. A male teacher would not touch or shake hands with a Muslim woman. People from Thailand and India greet each other by clasping their hands together. When in doubt, wait and see if the parent offers his/her hand first.
Consider the physical set-up of your conference space. A face-to face setting may be too confrontational for parents of some cultures. Arrange chairs so that your body is at a 45-degree angle to the parents. Place the parent between yourself and the translator.
During the conference you should speak in short uncomplicated sentences and stop so that the translator can translate for parents every few sentences. If you do not stop speaking every few sentences, your whole message will not be conveyed. Do not use educational jargon. Avoid speaking directly to the translator. Include the parent in the conversation. When you ask the parent questions, give the translator time to talk to the parents.
It is imperative for you not to misinterpret parents’ meaning if they don’t make eye contact. In the U.S we feel that someone who doesn’t look us in the eye is untrustworthy. People from some cultures consider making eye contact confrontational. Sitting at a 45-degree angle to the parent helps minimize the amount of eye contact.
An important area for misunderstandings is in the attitude of different cultures toward time. The U.S, Canada and northern European countries see time as being highly structured, logical, exact, and sequential. We are monochronic. People from South and Central America, Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries, Asia, Middle East, Southern Europe and Africa like to keep their time unstructured. They are polychromic. To a monochron, time is exact and being late is both rude and disrespectful. To a polychron, the time set for a meeting is just an approximation. If parents arrive at a meeting 45 minutes after the appointed time, it is because arriving up to 45 minutes after the designated time is not considered late.
When parents are actively involved in the education of their children, those children are more likely to make good grade and test higher on standardized tests. They will attend school more regularly, be less likely to drop out. This is a worthy goal that teachers can strive for when they have effective conferences with the parents of English language learners.

10 Tips for Testing ELLs in Content Area Classes

The ELLs in your content area classes probably range in English language ability from the beginning stage of language acquisition to the those who are fluent. As ELLs become more proficient they will be able to participate in some of the testing done in your content area classes. Here are some hints for modifying assessment for these students.

1. Have students role play to show understanding of a topic. Group ELLs with native English speakers.
2. Instead of writing a book report, have students show comprehension of the book by role playing the plot, making a cover, or designing a book mark.
3. Allow ELLs to consult their book or notes during a test.
4. Provide simplified study guides and limit assessment to items on the guide. Only key vocabulary and concepts should be covered.
5. Allow students to answer essay questions orally.
6. Have students compare and contrast concepts previously taught in class.
Use a graphic organizer with information already filled in. Review the information in class. Have students study the information on the organizer at home before the assessment.
7. Have students fill in a modified outline, story web, chart, graph or timeline. Provided some of the answers and have students fill in what is missing.
8. Reformat the test so that test the type is larger and there is more white space.
9. Simplify the language of essay questions or break them into manageable parts. Read questions aloud modifying the language of the question.
10. Complete class projects in cooperative groups and grade ELLs on their participation in the group.

Education Nation and English Language Learners

I am writing this blog after reading an article by Ellen Galinsky in the Huffington Post about Education Nation and how it was demonstrated that children were not being put first. When speakers were asked why the U.S. fell behind many thought it was because we were complacent about the U.S. supremacy in the world. We didn’t, says Galinsky, put children first.

I am not at all surprised that children were not put first. Just look at the way we are overwhelming them with standardized tests and telling them they are only as good as their test scores.

Throughout Education Nation, there was a focus on student achievement as seen by scores on a standardized test. The importance of student engagement was totally ignored according to Galinsky. I agree with this observation. Children whose eyes are bright with excitement and are engaged in learning may become extinct. We are now seeing children who are anxious, nervous and even physically ill each time standardized tests are given. This is even more evident with our English language learners who are double tested each year. They are required to take standardized tests designed for English speakers and then a test designed to measure growth in English language acquisition.

Another facet of education that Galinsky feels was ignored during Education Nation is preschool education. How can a national forum for education reform ignore our preschool population? Galinsky doesn't mention that economists reviewing the Perry Preschool Study and other longitudinal studies have found time and again that children with a great start stay in school longer, have greater earning potential, less placement in special education, lower likelihood of incarceration or dependence on welfare. How can we narrow the achievement gap if our youngest students aren’t part of this discussion? According the Karen Nemeth, author of Many Languages, One Classroom: Teaching Dual and English Language Learners, "The great thing is that investing in high quality preschool education not only benefits ELLs, but elevates the chances for success for all children who participate. It is a win win situation if there ever was one."


Education Nation also told us that public schools are failing and that poor teaching and unions are the cause of this failure. No one mentioned poor school leadership. I think new teachers need mentoring during their first three years of teaching. This mentoring is usually done by administrators. If we have poor teachers in our schools it is because an administrator did not take the time to work with those teachers. Most mentorship programs are weak and only last for a year. Were the new soon-to-be poor teachers given honest evaluations? Or were they sugarcoated? Did principals follow up with unannounced visits to the classroom to see if the new teacher was actually making progress. Did he look to see if the students in this teacher's class were engaged and enthusiastic about learning? A teacher who is not engaging students during the first three years should not be given tenure. If a poor teacher is given tenure, than there is a principal some place that has not done his/her job. Who suffers when this happens?.
The children!

Celebrating My First Year on Twitter

Recently, Shelly Terrell, the co-founder of EDChat, invited me to present at the Virtual Round Table Language Online Conference on October 8th. The theme of this conference is "Language Teaching and Technology." Ten years ago I co-founded everthingESL.net with my son Charles. This inspired an interest in technology and the possibilities of using it with my students. Last year, I decided to join Twitter because I was Conference Chair and VP of NJTESOL-NJBE and a member of the Board, Cassy Lawrence, suggested that we feature technology at our next conference and establish a presence on Facebook and Twitter. I realized that my knowledge of technology was out-of-date.

I decided that I needed to understand the Web 2.0 technology that was going to be featured at our conference. I joined Twitter and it wasn't too long before I discovered Tom Whitby and Shelly Terrell and their amazing Educator's PLN (Personal Learning Network). I followed many of the educators that participated in #EDCHAT and started to build my PLN. I looked up every technology reference that I didn't know and investigated a wide variety of Web 2.0 applications related to education including a large number of blogs, classroom Wikis, Delicious, Prezi, Wallwisher, Google Docs and voicethread.

The best part of this journey, however, turned out to be the contacts and friendships that I established on Twitter. It is amazing to me that I can communicate with educators all over the world. In January 2010 I wrote my first blog, everythingESL. NJTESOL-NJBE now has committee meetings on Chatzy. A colleague and I had a proposal on using technology with English language learners accepted at the N.J. Education Association's yearly conference. Last June I co-founded #ELLCHAT with Linda Hahner. A few weeks ago, I gave my first webinar Myths of Second Language Acqusition. And in a few weeks I will be presenting at my first online conference. So I thank you Cassy, Shelly, Tom and Linda for contributing to this outstanding year of professional growth.

Sensitizing your Mainstream Students to Needs of ELLs

Do you want your mainstream students to accept and help the new learners of English in the lunchroom, on the playground, on the bus, in their neighborhoods? Here are some ideas to make your students sensitive to the challenges the newcomers face.

Cooperative group work
Have students divide into groups of 4 or 5 students. Have them discuss the following topics.

* Who has moved and changed schools? Where did you move from? How did you feel the first few days? What was different in your new neighborhood? How did you handle being without your friends? How did you make new friends? What did people do that make you feel welcome in your new school. What did you wish some would have done? What should the teacher do?
* Who came here from another country? What country? When did you come? Could you speak English? How did you feel? How did you make friends? What helped you learn English.
* How many of you speak another language? Can you teach us to say hello? Count to five? Why is it good to know another language?
* How many of you have traveled to a country where English is not the main language? How did you feel when you couldn't communicate? Would you like to learn another language? How long do you think it takes to learn a new language?

Have each group of students present a short summary of what their group discussed and what conclusions they reached?
Reverse Roles

Rearrange the students again in groups of four or five. Have them discuss the following: Imagine that your parents have to move to Japan. You have to go to a Japanese school because there is no American school near your new home.

* Would you want to go? What would you want to take with you? Who are the people you would miss?
* Do you think you would have trouble learning Japanese?
* Who would you talk to if you were the only one in your class who speaks English?
* How would you make friends with kids who didn't speak English?
* How would you feel if the other students laughed at you if you made mistakes when you tried to speak Japanese? How would you feel if you couldn't do any of the work?

Brainstorm with your how they would feel if they were newcomers in the United States. How would they want the students in their new school to treat them? How would they be able to communicate with their classmates.

Establishing a Bully-free Environment for ELLs

The information for this article is based on a chapter in Authenticity in the Language Classroom and Beyond: Children and Adolescent Learners entitled Sticks and Stones: Preventing Bullying in the Elementary School by Joann Frechette and Judie Haynes (TESOL, 2010)

There are many types of bullying. Physical bullying is comprised of actions such as hitting, pushing and punching; verbal bullying includes name-calling and teasing; and emotional bullying consists of behaviors such as excluding someone from an activity. The ELLs in the suburban school where Joann Frechette and I taught were often the victims of verbal and emotional bullying. Their parents were not likely to report verbal or emotional bullying to the school. In my experience ELL parents did not appear to recognize the emotional damage that bullying can cause in children. They often expressed that this type of bullying is a normal part of growing up. Furthermore, ELLs who were victims of bullies were usually reluctant to draw attention to themselves. They were not only embarrassed to talk about their problems with bullies.

Staff members in my school district received training in an anti-bullying program adapted primarily from the book, Bully-Proofing Your School by Cam Short-Camilli (1994). We called our program We Respect ALL People (WRAP). At the heart of the WRAP program are various strategies that students employed to deal with bullies. From the beginning we wanted to make sure that the English language learners in our school were included in the program. We found that they needed extra practice with some of the strategies, and that they felt more comfortable talking about their experiences in their ESL class. So, we decided to reinforce the WRAP strategies as part of the ESL curriculum.

Even though ELLs do not often assert themselves while an actual bullying incident is happening, they will usually bring the problem to the ESL class. There, the ESL teacher teaches assertive language that ELLs can use with bullies. As the students gain more confidence through practice, they are more willing to stand up to a bully. Building community and encouraging classmates to be of assistance to each other goes a long way in helping ELLs avoid problems with bullies.

There are many long-lasting effects of bullying for the victim. Children who are bullied have low self-esteem and tend to be anxious and insecure and are often lonely and depressed. it is important for ESL teachers to work with classroom teachers to ensure that ELLs have a bully-free environment in school.
Reprint of blog published in June, 2010.

What Language should ELLs Speak at Home?

It's the beginning of the school year and many teachers and administrators will be meeting with the parents of English language learners. This is an excellent opportunity for school administrators and classroom teachers to encourage parents to speak their native language at home. It is much more beneficial for children to hear fluent native language with a rich vocabulary than it is to hear imperfect, halting English. When ELLs learn academic concepts in their primary language, it will help them acquire English. Let's see an example of an English language learner, Isobel. and her family as they try to integrate English into their home life.

Isobel's family is from Costa Rica. Her parents speak some English and are literate in Spanish. When Isabel's teacher told them that they should speak English at home, her parents became distressed. They tried to speak English with her at the dinner table, but their conversations were stilted. Isobel's parents no longer felt comfortable asking her about her school, classes, and homework in Spanish. They stopped discussing books and the television news with her. Although the family reverted to their native language at the dinner table after a week of hesitant English, Isobel felt ashamed of her native language. She wished her parents spoke English.

What Isobel's teacher and parents did not know was that by reading and discussing stories with her and by encouraging Isobel to share her school experiences in Spanish, they were giving her experiences in their native language. Informal conversations like these are critical for Isobel because they will help her establish values and discuss ideas that she is not ready to learn in English. Eventually, what she learns in Spanish will help promote her English proficiency. The concepts and skills that students learn in one language will transfer to the second language when the learner is ready.

Students who are literate in their native language have many skills to draw on when they learn academic English, even when the writing system is different. It is more difficult to teach a concept in English if the student does not know it in native language. Once students grasp the underlying literacy skills of one language, they can use these same skills to learn another language. For example, 10th graders who are literate in Spanish will understand the underlying process of reading in English. Older students will be able to transfer skills such as scanning, selecting important information, predicting what comes next, and visualizing to enhance comprehension. Younger children who are literate in one language will know that printed words carry meaning, that words can be combined into sentences and paragraphs, and that certain letters stand for certain sounds.

So when you meet with the parents of your English language learners, be sure to encourage them to speak native language at home.