I Love Me Some ELLs

For those of you who are not in the education world, ELL stands for English Language Learner. I have the privilege of spending some extra time with a few of my students who fall under this umbrella or who have been a member of this category in the recent past. I truly cherish my time with my after school crew.

There are few things so satisfying to a teacher as when a child has a "light bulb" moment. These are the moments that make me say, "I LOVE my job".

Some of my favorite teaching moments occur in the after school hour with my little groupies. BeLieVe Me, my room becomes especially BRIGHT during this time.

Here's an example from this week that I think will shed a bit of light on what I'm talking about...

Mrs. Bailey: So remember whenever you see any variable x, y, z, n...whatever, all you have to do is plug in the number given to you for the variable....so if they say x=10, just plug in 10 wherever you see an x.

Narrator: This mini-lesson goes on for five or so minutes. Mrs. Bailey and the students complete several examples on the board...plugging in numbers for various variables to solve the equations. At the end of the interaction, Mrs. Bailey, thinking that everyone has gained full understanding of this type of problem, but wanting to quadruple check CoNfiDentlY asks...

Mrs. Bailey: Any questions?

Narrator: One student with a bit of a PuZZleD look on his face looks up at her and says...

Puzzled Student on the Verge of a Light Bulb Moment: I think I get how to do it, but I'm just wondering what exactly do you mean by PLuGGinNg iN?

Narrator: A now PuZzLeD Mrs. Bailey pauses for a moment with wide eyes as she realizes that she is in the midst of her own PeRsoNaL light bulb moment...

She wonders how these students pick up as much as they do in her fast-paced classroom of 27. She wonders how many expressions she uses on a daily/minute basis that keep them from understanding. She wonders how many times she doesn't stop and ask, "Any questions?" to clarify and how many times they don't stop to ask "what exactly do you mean by...?"

Recovering from her moment, she SmiLes gingerly and attempts to shed light on the plug analogy...

outlet:three-pronged metal thingie as variable:number

After a small bit of clarification, all five students, seemingly in one accord, let out an "Ahhhh"! Looks of puzzlement are replaced by looks of CLaRitY and CoNfiDeNcE.

As the students pack up their things Mrs. Bailey watches them in AmaZeMenT. She ponders anew how it is that these students who NEED so much manage to TeAcH her more than they could ever know. She smiles and waves goodbye, grateful for yet another personal LiGht BulB moment brought to her by her most HuMbLe students.