Observing an EAL teacher

I have been volunteering in both kindergarten and subbing in the pre-K classroom, so when the EAL teacher come to get some of the students to work with, I asked if I could go and observe. I wanted to see what it was like; I also had just taken a master's course which was on teaching students who are English Language Learners, so I wanted to see how they were connected.

Observations of ELL or EAL students:
I observed the EAL teacher working with two kindergarten groups; one group was with two students who were inexperienced in English and the other group was of three students who were speaking English, but were choppy. In the first group (the smaller group), the EAL teacher read them a book called "I went Walking" by Sue Williams. Once she finished the story, the students were to draw a picture of the animals in the story and color them. After finishing their coloring, they were allowed to play with the animal figures once they asked for each animal using the correct English word. It was amazing watching them process the words in their minds.

During the second lesson (the bigger group), these students could speak some English, so she had them introduce themselves to me. They were to tell me their name, where they are from, what pets they have, their favorite things to do, etc. I even introduced myself to the students, they were laughing when I said I was a long way from home! :) When they spoke, they had to practice talking in full sentences and keeping eye contact when they spoke to someone. After they all introduced themselves, they then played the Sight Word Bingo game. It is very similar to the one we use in the states. A little side note for teachers, they use LAKESHORE to order most of their supplies in the younger grades. I love LAKESHORE!

Talking with the EAL teacher:
After I finished observing the teacher working with the students, I then asked her a few questions about her lessons. She said all of her lessons are: based on a story or literature, they focus on basic words, and at the end of the lesson, she always allows the students to do activities with the new vocabulary words they were working on. I found that she repeats what the students say wrong, but correctly (in a secret way: "I be going" for "Oh I AM going there, too.") When she is working with EAL students, she uses animation and talking with her hands or using symbols like sign language (I am thinking - while point to your head).

One of my biggest questions I had for her was do you need to know the same language in order to teach them to be English speakers and she told me, "For younger students, it doesn't matter if the languages are the same. For older students it is more difficult, but you don't have to speak the same language." She also stated that when learning a new language you learn more quickly when everyone around you is speaking that language...you adapt to your environment. I can attest to this because when I am around Jan and the kids they speak English with me and I am not learning much Serbian, but when I am home from school and talking with Nena, she speaks very little English and I pick up on a lot more Serbian when I am talking with her.

One last thing, the EAL program is very similar to what is done in the classrooms here, but they are getting extra practice with speaking English. It is very similar to the reading, math, and speech help we use in the States.

I had a wonderful day finding out about EAL teaching and EAL students, I really enjoyed being in the EAL teacher's room for a day and I learned TONS. Before I met with the EAL teacher, I was thinking there is this key to working with EAL students, but there is no key or secret. The students just need more practice. Working with an EAL student is very similar to working with a student who has difficulty in speech; you just give them time to respond, do not speak for them, do not allow other students to talk for them, and keep eye contact until they are finished. These are what I have learned through working with the EAL teacher and different students both here and in the States.