I made the comment that some teachers that I have worked with in the past would automatically assume that Lucy is a "slow learner" because of her quiet demeanor. Meanwhile, she speaks and reads fluently in Chinese and is also learning English and German at the same time which is quite a feat.
Today, the teacher I work with asked me to pull a few kids to work with them on adding three 2-3 digit numbers with borrowing. She told me which children needed help and included Lucy in this group. Before the kids came to me, the teacher reviewed their math homework and gave them a quiz containing 4 multi-digit addition problems with regrouping.
Lucy was the first to finish the quiz, it took her less than a minute, and she got a 100%
Why is it, then, that her teacher identified her as someone who would need my assistance? I think it is really important to recognize that just because a child is acquiring English does not mean that they will struggle in all subject areas. Math especially, is an area where they may shine because numbers are more universal. Sure, when it comes to reading and writing in English, she may need extra help, but obviously, Lucy does not need additional support for addition because she proved herself to be a rock star!!!! For the sake of her self esteem and confidence as a learner, I think it is very important to differentiate between the times when she truly does need support and times when she can succeed on her own. I was a little disappointed that her teacher continuously puts her in my group (because she needs extra help), when clearly, there are times when she doesn't.
She.is.not.slow!
She.gets.it!
Now that I am in a world where most people speak a language that I do not understand at all, I can totally relate to other people assuming that I am dumb because I do not have certain skills and understanding in their language. This does not, however, mean that I lack those skills and understanding entirely. I am just not able to communicate what I know because there is a language barrier. I always want to keep this in mind when it comes to my teaching and ELL students.
It is easy to make assumptions about students who are new to a language and to consider them in need of extra help. Yes, we do need to teach them with certain strategies to help foster their language acquisition as well as growth in their content area knowledge, but why are they always considered as students who are lacking something when, in fact, they are so far ahead of the game in the sense that they speak not one, but two languages. As far as I am concerned they are at an advantage and will be so much better off in the future because they will have the ability to communicate and share understanding with more people than monolingual individuals.
On behalf of all the Lucy's out there, I would like to say You go girl!
4 comments:
You are so right here, Katie! Students like Lucy are pushed to the side and often suffer in ways that are not always apparent. To always be put in the group of students that may be struggling with a concept alters the confidence that the students have in an area in which they may be dominant.
Your story about Lucy makes me think about the student at another school in my district that is referred to as the "African" kid. Just because he is not literate in English does not imply that he is not literate in his native language. We have to think more globally about the cultural capital that students like Lucy bring to the table and embrace it!!
Such a beautiful post!! The school that I teach at have several students that speak other languages such as French, Japanese, Vietnamese and Koran. (Of the ones I know!) It's amazing to see them blossom into the English language and yes, they are typically the brightest ones of the bunch! How I'd love to be able speak other languages!!
You go girls! (both of you)
Hopefully your understanding of her situation will help her!
Great post! You are right on, girl!
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