Addressing Cultural Differences in the Classroom

1
Addressing Cultural Differences in the Classroom

• Amy Talley

2
Our Essential Questions

• Who ARE our LEP children and where do they come
  from?
• How do I find out who my LEP kids are and their
  proficiency levels?
• How can I meet their needs?

3

• What do all these acronyms mean?
• ESL? ESOL?
• ELL? LEP?
• NOM?

4
Who are our English Language Learners in
WSFCS and where do they come from?
5
Take a guess!

• How many languages do you think are represented
• in the WSFC schools?
• At the high school where you will be
  student-teaching?
• How many LEP students are
• In the WSFC schools
• At the high school where you will be
  student-teaching?

6

• WSFCS in 2014
• 12,502 NOM students out of 54,000
• 6,231 LEP students
• 100 languages

7

• High School Number of students- number of
  languages 2014
• Atkins 10-2 (Chinese, Spanish)
• Carver 68-4 (Arabic, Portuguese Creole, French,
  Spanish)
• East 68-5 (Arabic, Chinese, Chinese Cantonese,
  Kru/Ibo/Igbo, Spanish)
• Glenn 120- 10 older data
• Mt.Tabor 48-5 (Arabic, Filipino, French, Shona,
  Spanish)
• North 109 4 (Arabic, Hindi/Urdu,
  Marshallese/Ebon, Spanish)
• Parkland 154 3 (French, Spanish, Xhosa/Zulu)
• Reagan 18 5 (Chinese, German, Marshallese,
  Russian, Spanish)
• Reynolds 125 12 (Arabic, Chin, Chinese,
  Italian, Karen, Kayah, Kishwahali/Kwa/Kitendo,
  Nepali, Punjabi, Spanish, Filipino, Yoruba)
• West 64- 8 (Arabic, Chinese, Cantonese, Korean,
  Spanish, Swahili, Filipino, Vietnamese)

8
WSFC Demographics

• The top 5 languages are
• Spanish-11,143
• Arabic/Egyptian/Lebanese/Syrian-214
• Chinese-142
• Kayah/Karenni-114
• Vietnamese-100

9
Important Acronyms

• ESL English as a Second Language, an ESL
  student receives ESL services because they scored
  below proficient in the English language on a
  language test.
• ELL English Language Learner
• LEP- Limited English Proficient
• NOM-National Origin Minority

10

• OK, so Im going to have some LEP students at my
  school and maybe in my classes. But I am the
  ____ teacher. That has nothing to do with me.
  That is the ESL teachers problem!

11
So, you thought you were just going to have to
teach social studies/math/science/literature?

• Remember that no matter what subject you teach,
  you are teaching your students language on some
  level. It may be just academic vocabulary, but
  it may also be that students are learning the
  course content in their second or third language.

12
So how are our LEP students performing?

• LEP Gap Data 2014 By School.pdf

13

• Laws Affecting English Language Learners
• T/P/S
• Work in groups of 3. Each member reads and
  highlights a portion. Come together as a group
  and share the significance of your legislation.
  How will this legislation affect you as a
  teacher? Then, lets share as a big group.
  Which laws are most important?

14
Student Rights

• At this point in time, in accordance with federal
  law, students do not have to provide any proof of
  legal status to attend US schools.
• All students must fill out a HLS upon registering
  for school. If there is another language listed,
  they are given a language test to determine their
  language proficiency.
• LEP students are given the choice to receive ESL
  services. They may waive services.
• All teachers are required to modify instruction
  and assessment as needed for LEP students.
• The ESL program is federally mandated to prevent
  discrimination practices in the retention and
  grading of LEP students. Retention of an LEP
  student should only be considered if academic
  difficulties are not related to second language
  acquisition.

15
WSFC School Policy

• School Classroom Teachers Classroom teachers
  with LEP students are responsible for making
  their classroom instruction accessible, even for
  students at a beginning level of English
  proficiency. EXAMPLE. Classroom teachers are
  responsible for familiarizing themselves with the
  WIDA standards and their students levels of
  English proficiency in order to differentiate
  their instruction and to make modifications.
  They are also responsible for assessing students
  in such a way that does not discriminate against
  them on the basis of their language proficiency.
  Such accommodations for state testing must be
  well documented.

16

•  ESL teachers are supposed to be responsible for
  teaching the language of the content (WIDA
  standards. www.wida.us).  
• The mainstream teacher is supposed to be
  responsible for teaching the content while
  supporting the language simultaneously.   This is
  the ideal.
• David Sisk (ESL Coordinator, District Level)  

17

• OK, so now I know that I need to try to meet the
  needs of my ELLs. Ill just have a look for
  foreign sounding last names on my roster and
  start modifying/accommodating!

18

• Connect with ESL teacher/contact person.
• Dont wait for them to come to you.
• How can you be proactive in figuring out WHO your
  students are?

19
The first step to being an effective teacher
is getting to know your students.

• Questionnaire
• Brainstorm questions for your possible
  questionnaires. Please add to my list!

20
Other ways to get to know your students

• Talk with other teachers, guidance counselors,
  community groups.
• Incorporate journaling, family interviewing when
  possible.
• Ask students privately if they would like to
  share information about their home
  countries/cultures that pertains to class.
• Invite students to stay after for tutoring.

21

• Well, at least I wont have to worry about my LEP
  students EOC scores. Surely they will be exempt
  or will have to take a modified EOC!

22
WSFC LEP Procedures

• Identification How will I know who my LEP
  students are and what modifications they need?
• Testing Accommodations Accommodations Form

23

• Modification/Accommodation forms are done by the
  LEP committee in the school, then they are to be
  shared with all teachers that have contact with
  the LEP student.  We have asked the ESL teachers
  to make sure they are sharing the forms or
  information with each teacher because they are
  responsible for making sure the student receives
  all mods and accommodations due to
  them---liability issue if not followed.  The
  student is not really able to use the testing
  accommodations unless they have received them in
  the classroom throughout the year.
• Ann Talton, ESL Lead Teacher (WSFCS)
• Grading (see handout)

24

• OK, so I have no choice. I have to change the
  way I teach to cater to English Language
  Learners. It is their legal right, but why is it
  the RIGHT thing to do?

25

• Lets talk about how it feels to be in a
  situation where you do not speak the language?
• Have you ever experienced an ineffective language
  teacher? (Dont mention names!) What made this
  teacher ineffective? How can you avoid the same
  situations with future students?
• Were there any cultural misunderstandings?
• Situations that made you feel uncomfortable?
• What made you uncomfortable/more comfortable in
  foreign language settings?
• First, we will talk about specific teaching
  strategies and ways to modify. Then, we will
  talk about cultural differences/stereotypes.

26

• Examine the can-do descriptors. With a partner
  from your cohort, choose a topic that you will
  most likely have to teach. Plan appropriate
  assessments of this topic for ELL students with
  different levels of
• proficiency.
• Can you see how these documents could be helpful
  to you?
• IDEA Talk to your ESL teacher. Write your
  students names on these documents and refer to
  them often!

27

• Now lets think about planning INSTRUCTION so
  that students can successfully meet our
  assessment objectives.
• More Than English  Teaching Language and Content
  (Dare County)  http//morethanenglish.edublogs.or
  g/resources/weblinks/

28

• SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP LEP STUDENTS
  think about your own experiences learning another
  language
• Read over the handout, Instructional Strategies
  to Assist LEP Students.
• Choose the three most important suggestions. Do
  you have any others to add?

29
Reading with the LEP student

• Reading is important in all classes and can be
  especially challenging for the LEP student.
• Use pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading
  strategies

30
Pre-Reading Strategies

• Activate Prior Knowledge discussion, graphic
  organizers, pre-tests, interesting
  photograph/image
• A hands-on activity or demonstration to get them
  interested
• Pre-teach vocabulary
• Give them an outline of what they will be reading
• Show images from the text they are going to read
  (Cortázar)

31
While-Reading Strategies

• Give students guiding questions
• Have them fill out a graphic organizer while they
  read.
• Highlight the text for them. Shorten the text.
• Paragraph summaries Give them summaries, and
  students match summaries with corresponding
  paragraphs.
• Adapt the text. Select supplemental materials.
• Consider allowing students to read in their
  native language?

32
Importance of Group Work

• Many students are more comfortable working and
  communicating with peers in small groups.
• Make your group assignments clear.
• LEP students will need language structures.
  Consider giving them specific questions and
  language support.
• Help all students learn polite ways of working
  cooperatively. You could post polite ways of
  asking questions, asking for clarification,
  requesting more details and explanations.
• Brainstorm group and partner activities
  Roundrobin, roundtable, Jigsaw, Numbered Heads
  Together, Interviews, Information Gap, PMI (Plus,
  Minus, Interesting) about an issue, role play

33
Writing Strategies

• Word Walls, vocabulary posted and referred to
  frequently
• Focus on content and meaning over grammar and
  form
• Dialogue Journals
• Mini-lessons based on mistakes you see in their
  writing
• Peer editing

34
How could you modify

• A lecture?
• A reading assignment?
• A project?
• A paper or any type of writing assignment?
• A quiz?
• A unit test?
• A group assignment?
• A science experiment?

35
Now, lets talk about stereotypes.

• Why is it important to know about cultural norms,
  even though each student is a unique individual?
• Diversity Situation Analysis

36

• http//www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/Page/1169