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English as a Second Language Chatboard

What do you enjoy about being an ESL teacher???

by manzana

Oct 4, 2010

Hi, I'm a Spanish teacher at the middle school and high school level. I have an interested in becoming an ESL/bilingual teacher. I was wondering what you like and dislike about being an ESL teacher? What are the pros and cons?

view previous comments

hst Also be aware that teaching ESL can be a very different experience in different places. I love teaching ESL. The students are wonderful, most make a lot of progress, it's rewarding because you know it's something that is really going to help them. But the majority of the "pros" mentioned by PsyGuy are untrue where I am:

On 10/10/10, PsyGuy...See MoreAlso be aware that teaching ESL can be a very different experience in different places. I love teaching ESL. The students are wonderful, most make a lot of progress, it's rewarding because you know it's something that is really going to help them. But the majority of the "pros" mentioned by PsyGuy are untrue where I am:

On 10/10/10, PsyGuy wrote: >> 2) Lesson planing is easy. Its really just one lesson plan > with different levels of difficulty. The content isnt really > anything difficult. Most admins think copying words out of the > dictionary is a viable lesson.

I totally disagree with this. I am responsible for teaching reading, writing, listening, speaking, language arts and literature to my students. In one day I and the other ESL teacher may be teaching the names of foods and descriptive adjectives to the beginners, prepositional phrases to the level 2's, persuasive writing to my high Intermediate's and analysis of Emily Dickinson's poetry with the advanced students. I have levels 2 and 3, the other teacher has levels 1 and 4. It's definitely never "just one lesson plan with different levels of difficulty" for either of us.

> > 3) You get a certain amount of "slack" ELL's are by definition > special populations and so its expected that you will have > lower success rates then say the main stream ELA teachers.

Not for us, because I'm at the high school level where our students have to pass CAHSEE - our ELL's have to meet AYP as a targetted subgroup in English and math - our ELL's have to meet AMAO targets etc. Lots of pressure, lots of scrutiny over "low success rates".

> 4) Maturation issue: Most people outside ESL believe the old > "It takes 7 years to develop CALP (Cognitive Academic Language > Proficency)" which makes a great excuse for just about > anything.

Also not true where I am. The general public has never heard the "seven years to develop CALP" thing at all. They HAVE heard of the "one-year immersion" initiative as a result of legislation ten years ago. If I tell someone that my students have been studying English for five years, whether they are a teacher outside ESL or a non-teacher, I'm more likely to hear "well what's taking them so long? That's such a shame."

> 6) Smaller class sizes (usually), and easier grading. Really > all you need to do is make everything pass or fail. >

NO pass or fail for us. Letter grades, grading based on ESL standards with some ELA mixed in, mandated tests which must be included as part of the grade. Class sizes vary. They have been small for the past several years, but a few years ago I had 42 in one class.

Anyway - my point is simply that there is a lot of variation. What is true at one school, or even true one year, may not be true at the next school or at the same school the next year. There is also a lot of pressure to improve ESL programs and that can lead to frequent changes.

Oct 16, 2010

It means .. On 10/15/10, ll wrote: > > > > On 10/10/10, PsyGuy wrote: >> >> >> >> 6) A lack of immersion can make retention and natural language >> formation difficult. This is especially true in large native >> language communities. >> > Hello, I am curious to know what this means. Thank

In a n...See More

Oct 16, 2010

Kat Hats off to HST. You pretty much told my story. However, I am THE ESL teacher and I do all the paperwork as well as plan for five different classes. I love what I do, but it by no means is a one-stop lesson plan on varied levels. I teach five different preps, and within every prep Level 1-5 learners with grades 6-12 possible. Believe me, in my dist...See More

Feb 16, 2011

susan "2) Lesson planing is easy. Its really just one lesson plan with different levels of difficulty. The content isnt really anything difficult. Most admins think copying words out of the dictionary is a viable lesson."

Maybe the content isn't difficult for native English speakers, but ELL¡¯s need formal teaching process and environment. ESL...See More

Feb 19, 2011

Mona Hayden A non-native English speaker is a great candidate for an ESL teacher! What a special talent, to be bilingual! I am certified to teach ESL students at middle school, high school, and adult levels, and it is so rewarding because these students are very motivated to learn English for obvious practical reasons. I enjoy teaching them because they make g...See More

Mar 23, 2011

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