F.A.Q.

Where does the title of your blog come from?

A teacher affects eternity:
he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Adams

Why do you say you are an 'Emerging Bilingual' Teacher?

On August 5, 2014 Sarah from There's No Place Like Second Grade posted the following on her facebook page:

"instead of referring to students as ELLs/ESOL/ESL, refer to them as "emerging bilinguals."
Students are, indeed, becoming bilingual -- and that term does not preference one language over another. I like that it values the language they already have, instead of emphasizing what they lack (English).
How do you feel about that term?"

Well I loved it, and will persist in using it from here on...

What is ESL?

ESL stands for English as a Second Language.  My students all have another language spoken in the home.

Other Acronyms: 

ELL = English Language Learner.  The students who are in an ESL class or group.

ESOL = English to Speakers of Other Languages.  Another course name.

LEP = Limited English Proficient. A detestable term used by New York State.  My students are not limited! 

Why did you want to teach ESL?

I always knew I wanted to be an elementary school teacher.  When I was in High School I went on a Mission Trip with my church to Nicaragua.  There was a young woman there teaching English to the church that had sponsored her trip to Nicaragua.  She gave a presentation to our group about how knowing English really gave these people a leg-up in the job market.  I knew I couldn't live in a foreign country to teach English (homebody, close-knit family, picky eater!), but the idea of teaching English to people who don't speak English intrigued me.  I did an internship my senior year of high school in an ESL class and I loved it.  From then on it was full steam ahead for a degree in ESOL.