Final (Part 2) ELL Teacher Interview Final Draft

Olivia Forsberg

TCH_LRN 333

December 04, 2018

 For my ESL/ELL teacher interview I had the pleasure of interviewing my fifth grade

teacher from my hometown, Wenatchee, WA on November 26, 2018. Her name is Marta

Guerrero and she currently teaches at Lincoln Elementary School which is located in Wenatchee,

WA. Guerrero’s school email is guerrero.m@wenatcheeschools.org and the school’s phone

number is (509) 663-5710. Guerrero has been teaching second grade for the past couple years

and in this particular year she has many ELL students in her class. She has been working with

and teaching ELLs in her classroom ever since she began her teaching. It was very interesting

and insightful to hear what she had to say about some certain topics that I brought to attention

throughout the interview. Guerrero made many important points about what works best for her in

the classroom when having to teach both ELL and native english speaking students.

One of the first important topics that was mentioned and kept getting brought up

throughout the interview was the importance of visuals when working with ELL students. When

I asked Guerrero what were some key teaching strategies that she implements in the classroom,

as well as how does she work with kids who know little to no english, she simply responded by

saying she uses a lot of visuals. With whatever key vocab that the class will be learning about, it

is important to make sure that there is always some sort of visual to connect back to those certain

vocab words. Guerrero has realized that the students usually know what the vocab words are

when the teacher associates a picture to that word. The students are able to make connections a

lot more easily this way. The topic of visuals was brought up again when I asked the question of

what advice would she give to a 1st year ELL teacher to help them get through their 1st year. She

responded by saying “use visuals as much as you can” (Guerrero, personal communication,

November 26, 2018). She goes on to say that it becomes easy to assume that kids can speak
English. It is also easy to assume that they understand what you’re saying. This becomes easy

because the older that the students get the better they become at tricking the teacher. The

students don’t want the teacher to know how much they are actually struggling. They don’t want

to feel as if they are the only student that doesn’t know what a certain word means. Providing

visuals will ultimately help all of the students benefit from it because it gives them access to

information in a different way. She made the point of saying “anytime that you can use a certain

type of a visual, I would say do it. A lot of the time we just go by the book we’re reading and

there is not a lot of visuals. If they don’t have the background they aren’t going to be able to

make connections with those things. But if you provide some kind of visual so they can connect

the meaning to what they’re reading, then you’re already giving them a head start” (Guerrero,

personal communication, November 26, 2018).

The topic of visuals and making teaching more than just reading out of a textbook made

me think of when we learned about the different strategies for modifying textbooks and

informational materials. Materials for grade-level curricular were not made with ELL students in

mind. Some of that information must be modified in order for it to be accessible for ELL

students to understand. There are many ways to modify text in textbooks such as, “outlining,

using graphic organizers, rewriting the text in simplified english, and reading it aloud with

students, pausing to paraphrase, explain, or provide examples to help ELLs understand the

meaning” (Wright 2015, pg. 266-267). It is also suggests that teachers are able to give instruction

in and use different textbook aids such as, “the table of contents, the index, chapter titles and

section headings, outlines and questions, chapter summaries and review sections, glossaries, text

boxes and highlighted areas, text organizers, and graphics and other visuals” (Wright 2015, pg.
266-267). It is up to the individual teacher to make sure that they are making the right

modifications to certain textbooks or lesson plans. It is crucial to accommodate what all of the

different students need in order for them to understand what is being read aloud or taught in

class.

Another topic that was mentioned more than once was the importance of keeping the

students’ different cultures in the classroom. In order for this to be possible it must begin with

building relationships with the students. Guerrero said how she continues to build relationships

with her students is through different activities in the classroom. For example she did an activity

with her second graders at the beginning of this school year called “The Name Jar”. Which was

an activity where they talked about where their names came from. She had them go home and

ask their parents how they got their name and if there is any history with it, “the kids got to come

back and share their stories” (Guerrero, personal communication, November 26, 2018). This

activity not only helped build those relationships with the students but also with their parents

because got to be involved. This activity honored their culture and helped create a culture in the

classroom where the kids feel comfortable and proud to teach the other students about their own

family. I then proceeded to ask Guerrero how she approaches racial or cultural tension between

her students in the classroom. She went on to say that “if you bring it to awareness in a positive

way, then there is not a lot of tension” (Guerrero, personal communication, November 26, 2018).

She told me about a time when a few of her students stayed in her room to eat lunch with her and

there was a little girl that made an observation. She blurted out how she noticed that everyone

around her was mexican and she was the only american. Her comment didn’t even phase the

other students, they just looked around, agreed with her, and then kept eating. The little girl
didn’t say it in a rude way, in her head she was simply just acknowledging the fact. Guerrero

explains how it is constantly in her classroom, every single day, they acknowledge some sort of a

different language. Her look at this topic is that, “if you invite cultures into the classroom then it

lessens the tension. If you can be more proactive about it and present it in a more positive way

then there is less tension that happens between the students. I think when we ignore it is when

issues start to happen” (Guerrero, personal communication, November 26, 2018).

Luis Moll’s Funds of Knowledge concept relates to the importance of knowing about the

different cultures of the students in the classroom. This starts with the teachers learning about the

home life of the students as much as they can, “build in the considerable strengths that ELLs

bring with them to school, including their home languages, and the funds of knowledge they

have access to at home” (Wright 2015, pg. 15). Once the teacher is able to know more about the

culture of the student then there can be many more personal connections made. The teacher will

be able to have a better idea as to how to make the classroom an even more inviting environment

for each student.

I found many aspects of this interview very beneficial in more ways than one. Listening

to everything that Guerrero had to say including how she handles disrespectful parents, how to

build a comfortable classroom for her students, and even her views on standardized testing really

opened my eyes. There were many key factors that she brought to my attention and made me

think deeply about. One issue that she really made me change the way I thought about it was

standardized testing. At this point in my education I don’t really know too much about the ins

and outs of standardized testing but she helped change that, “standardized testing is probably the

worst way to assess ELL because you’re only giving them one mode, you’re only giving them
access to information one way. In any classroom you’re going to find a variety of strategies;

visuals, pictures, color coding. You have all of these different ways so that students can access

text but then you’re only assessing them in one way. That is probably the worst thing that you

can do for students in general but especially ELLs” (Guerrero, personal communication,

November 26, 2018). Hearing what she had to say really helped me look at standardized testing

purely from the teachers point of view instead of a students. This helped me have a more

educated opinion about it. In class we watched a video about an ELL child that didn’t know

english but that was the only language that the standardized test was given in. He wasn’t allowed

to have anything or anyone help him. Watching that video made me so sad because the student

was trying his hardest but still he was set up to fail if he wasn’t allowed to have any help with

translating while taking the test.

I will use all of the information that I learned throughout this interview to help me

become a better teacher overall but especially with ELL students. I will keep the different

activities that Guerrero told me about in mind while I am creating my own lesson plans for my

students. I will remember what she said about how to keep the classroom a comfortable place for

each and every student. I will remember everything she told me about keeping culture alive in

the classroom and to make sure I am acknowledging the culture of each student. I will make sure

that I teach every student to keep their own culture alive and to not be ashamed of it no matter

what. Having racial or cultural tension in the classroom as always been a fear of mine, especially

because of this society that we are in right now. I will use the advice that she gave me whenever

I am placed in a situation that involves that sort of tension. I learned a lot from this interview and
I am still learning more and more each day about how to make sure my future classroom is a

welcoming place for students regardless of their ethnicity.

 References

Marta Guerrero (personal communication, interview, November 26, 2018)

Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, and

practice (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Caslon.

 Appendix

1.) How do you work with students who speak little to no English? What are some teaching

strategies you implement in the classroom?

2.) What is the most challenging aspect of working with ELLs?

3.) How do you build relationships with your students and their parents?

4.) How do you handle disrespectful parents?

5.) Do you know of any ELL programs at your school? What ELL programs are offered at your

school? How many ELL students are in those programs?

6.) What type of assessments do you use to evaluate your students’ learning?

7.) Do you have different teaching styles for your ELLs and your native English speaking

students?

8.) What learning challenges do ELLs most often struggle with?

9.) Do you believe having some sort of relationship with the student is important or should a

teacher just be direct? Why?

10.) What is the most rewarding and difficult part of your job?

11.) How do you build a comfortable classroom for your students?

12.) How has teaching ELLs helped you grow as a teacher?

13.) What advice would you give to a 1st year ELL teacher to help them get through their 1st

year?

14.) How do you approach racial or cultural tension between the students?

15.) How do you feel about standardized testing? Are there special accommodations for ELLs?

16.) Are there any advantages to using technology in an ELL classroom?