Teachers’ Strategies to Teach New Students 

Some English teachers from Liberty High School are monolingual, teaching to kids with no English based in November 2021. Many students around the world are attending school without speaking English. 

English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers must teach the same subject to kids that do not speak English as native English speakers, but how? ESL teachers must come up with lots of strategies to teach and it will be more difficult for them if students are not English speakers. Most English teachers from Liberty High School use a translator app to translate questions and answers to make the class clear. The common languages in Liberty High School are Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, Nepali and Wolof, teachers should know their techniques to start their days.

Teachers are seasoned and they know how to help students. They come up with strong strategies to ensure that their students are learning the most interesting part of the course. According to Ms. Burd, an ESL English teacher, “When a student arrives to class for the first time, I give them a writing assessment where they write about their life in the past, present, and future. This gives me an idea of their English level and how I can best help them.” She also tries to give her best to sit with students who need extra support, and give them extra time. This is a really effective way to help new students with no English, so they can hold themselves accountable.”

The most likely reason for students not learning English  is that some of them are not interested in learning English because sometimes they do not need it yet, so teachers apply other strategies to help them. According to Ms. Preda, “There are some of the students who have little interest in learning English, I asked them what are the easiest ways to learn, give them a lot of help in their class work or if that does not work I contact their parents to ask them if they know their child’s skill, so they can learn faster.” She also spends more time with them repeating the classwork, so that they understand better and the students can fulfill their assignments. This is the motivation that keeps teachers teaching to kids that don’t speak English. As teachers, they learn some of the new methods and get new skills on how to deal with new kids, so teachers can still have the motivation of teaching to new students.

Another reason that teachers’ should come up with many strategies to teach is that sometimes teaching new students can be stressful and enjoyable at the same time. Overall, as teachers and students, they are learning something from each other. Here is an example from Mr. Kassim, an English teacher from Liberty High School. He said “For my first day of the school year with my new students I make a lesson for everyone, so I can know who has a little high level of English and who really needs more support from me because each students have different way to learn, it help me to enjoy teaching because I know what to do with everyone in the class”. He also makes two groups of students separating the high and low level of English, so he can dedicate his time to each of them. Finally he creates two different lessons, so that everyone can achieve their goal. This is a sophisticated strategy, everyone should learn step by step to get to the point where they will hold themselves.

Based on reading , teaching to kids that do not speak English can be hard, stressful and also exciting. Teachers have the goal to deliver the highest education to the kids, even though they have to work more than just being a teacher, they work hard to provide students the best education, so they can be successful in life.