Many well-meaning teachers lower expectations for English learners as a way to compensate for the disadvantages some of these students experience including poverty and level of English proficiency. Thought of as pobrecitos, or poor little ones, teachers might be reluctant to “push” students for fear that they don’t have what it takes to succeed, and they don’t want to set English learners up for failure. It is fine for teachers to empathize with some of the difficult situations many of our English learners face, but these students need to be challenged, not pitied.
How does a teacher know how much to push a student who is still acquiring English?
The answer begins with getting to know your students. Once a relationship has been established and you’ve gotten to know each student, then not only will you know how much to push and when to pull back, the student will be better able to communicate when they are feeling overwhelmed or ready to do more. It all starts with building relationships.
Celebrate success. Students typically don’t make huge gains at any one point; progress is made through incremental successes. Celebrate each success no matter how small. Let students know you’re proud of them: “I’m proud of you for sticking with that math problem until you figured it out” and “Way to go! You worked hard on that essay rewrite.”
Make learning goals clear and transparent to students. We encourage teachers to post the content and language objectives of each lesson and review them with students. Let them know what they are going to learn and why it is important. Transparency is one way of pushing student achievement by letting them in on what will be learned. That way it becomes a team effort with shared goals.
In a class I observed recently, the teacher really pushed her English learners — and inspired me to write this post. This third-grade class was in a high-poverty, urban school with nearly 50% English learners. Nonetheless, the teacher’s attitude was one of high expectations for all students. The content objective posted on the board was, I am learning about early migration to the Americas. Language objectives were, 1) I can explain details to others about Paleo Indians’ lives and 2) I can write sentences, correctly spelling new words. Around the room were charts displaying word banks, sentence starters, and the alphabet for those newcomers who needed a model.
Students were working in composition books, editing their writing from the previous day. Each student’s book had a sticky note with comments from the teacher. For example, a student had written, They are going to eat a rabbit and throw the rabbit in a pot so it could be cooked and for them to wear the skin. It is cold there. On the sticky note, the teacher provided two possible connector words, she modeled correct sentences, and encouraged him to write more:
- because
- the……so it can be cooked. They can wear the rabbit skins to keep warm.
- Please explain more about what you see.
As students worked at tables, the teacher circulated amongst them offering suggestions and encouragement:
T: We’re correcting sentences. C’mon students, push ahead!
T: Why are we doing this?
S: We’re learning about what happened in the past, new words.
T: How do we use the new words? (A student responded by reading a sentence with a new word in it.)
T: You’ve got your commas in there. Good.
T: This sentence started with a capital. Great.
T: Students, push ahead. We don’t have time to waste.
At one point, when an English learner asked a question, the teacher went to the Verb Chart which had the following columns: Present, Gerund, Past, Future. Nine words from the unit were listed along with their various forms. She pointed out the past and future tenses of hunt for the student.
It was clear that the teacher knew her students, what they needed to work on, and how to challenge each one to do his/her best. Although she had a kind demeanor, there was no coddling of pobrecitos by this teacher. She set high standards and expected students to reach them. There was a palpable energy in the room as students worked diligently on their writing.
What a privilege it was to watch a teacher take on the work of educating English learners, not skipping over their errors but instead pushing them to reach their full academic potential.