A test may instruct students to compare and contrast something. Well, what does that mean? We have some of the same issues with their homework. We do send home their math worksheets in Spanish and English if the parents request it.
It's the best indicator of how much academic language they are acquiring. Occasionally, you have kids who all of a sudden get on a real learning curve and you just pour everything you can. It's amazing, they soak up so much.
There were five kids when I started and it was more of a tutoring program.
As we are teaching we are very respectful of their learning styles and their culture. They are more circular learners, learning a little bit of everything at once. We are more linear learners. We learn one thing completely and then move on to the next.
We're all in this together. They are all our kids.
We teach the vocabulary that teachers are teaching in the classroom to ELL students a few weeks ahead of time. Its known as 'priori-teaching,' which is a huge part of our teaching.
We work very diligently with families. We have a very good family-to-school connection, lots of respect both ways. And we try to have our parents learn what American public education is all about. What they've experienced in other countries is quite different.
