Teacher Voices for ESL

survey responses and advice from experienced teachers

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class whole of students sitting at desks and teacher up front

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash.com

Experienced teachers were asked to take a survey about their experience serving English Learners (ELs)/Multilingual Learners (MLs), including newcomers (recently arrived to the US students), to understand what can be improved in supporting teachers and students. Here are some of the results and tips:

How prepared did you feel to teach/support students whose first language wasn't English?

From the choices of rating 1-5, the outcome was 3.57.

From Experience:

What challenges did you face your first year with an ELL/newcomer and what would you have changed from that experience?

“As a new teacher, I didn't feel like my college classes prepared me with strategies for differentiating so I made a lot of it up as I went. I tried to use peer students to help translate content, used lots of visuals in my instruction, and worked with interpreters to have conversations with family. I learned that ML learners come to us with a variety of academic and personal lived experiences, and that I needed to rely on a lot of resources to help me learn what I didn't know as a new teacher. I think my biggest take away was the power of building relationships with families.
I wish I would have had more mentoring from experienced teachers and ESL professionals because I often felt lost in terms of what to do for my students - I was frustrated that it didn't seem like i was able to do enough to differentiate and support them. I couldn't always speak the home language either - I wish I had asked families for help with this because I think I could have learned some basic conversational phrases at the very least that would make my students feel less isolated in the classroom. I do think my students knew that I cared about them, but I sometimes felt overwhelmed that I wasn't doing enough.”
– Paula J, elementary math

“Having a similar background of moving to a different country and learning English as an additional language, I could empathize with how challenging it must be for my newcomer students. Knowing their cultural backgrounds was essential, as it allowed me to connect with them on a deeper level, build trust, and create a learning environment that respected and valued their experiences. I found that this understanding helped me accommodate their unique needs, and adapting my teaching approach to support them effectively has been crucial.
I could have been more culturally responsive by incorporating their cultural elements into my teaching. I think I was more focused on helping them embrace the culture here, rather than valuing and integrating their own cultural backgrounds into the learning process. It's important to support them in maintaining their cultural identity while also helping them navigate and embrace a new culture.”
– Joowon Lee, Higher Education Literacy

“I was overwhelmed and ill-prepared on how to communicate with, teach, and socialize students who were newcomers. It was most frustrating that I thought (somewhat falsely) I had to teach the curriculum and assess learning for these students in the same way I did for my students whose first language was English.
When I started teaching in 1985, I wish I would have had resources in my district where I could have accessed greater understanding and training. Today, there are so many more resources for teachers. Today, I definitely would acquire an ESL endorsement."
– Jacqui Carnes, 2nd - 4th grade

“One challenge was talking to them or teaching them and they didn’t understand any English. It’s nice that no matter where you go, math is a universal language. However, if they have never seen certain content before that’s what is difficult.
I use subtitles when I teach. All of my ELLs speak Spanish, so when I teach I put Spanish subtitles on. However, it doesn’t always translate correctly, and I have to make sure I slow down so they can read it and then write down what I’m saying. I also use the translator app on my phone or laptop to communicate with them. I also started learning Spanish specifically math vocabulary so I can try and help them the best that I can!”
– Courtney Wattles, high school math

“We received a newcomer last year with significant needs. She came from a Refugee Camp in Thailand where she received specialized support. She is nonverbal and confined to a wheelchair. She came in with a wheelchair that did not fit her. It was all hands-on deck to get her the support she needed. Fitted for a wheelchair. Check hearing and eyesight. Evaluate for needs and supports in a U.S. school. She’s come along really well with the right supports in place.
It would have been beneficial to know beforehand the extent of her needs. She showed up one day and we needed to rush to get contract workers in to see her. She also needs a puree diet, which needed to be approved by a medical professional and sent to nutrition services. None of that was done. Also, had to figure out diapers and wipes for her. It was a lot of scrambling.”
– anonymous, SPED 6th - 8th grade

Strategies that help:

Create a safe place where students feel represented
Use technology to your advantage
Don’t be afraid to ask for help – talk to your ESL or SPED teacher
Celebrate every accomplishment
One-on-ones with students and small groups

“Don't make assumptions. I think it is important to get to know as much as about our newcomers' families, culture, and experiences from the get go. Even if language is a barrier, finding ways to make content visual, bring in familiar contexts, and differentiate to provide access to the content is important. We are sometimes helping students develop language, academic content, and learn the educational/local culture all at the same time, so having patience and grace also matters. I would advise new teachers to identify their supports- ESL teachers, college professors, families, etc. - as early as possible to help give them ideas so they don't feel like they have to have it all figured out on their own. I wish I would have had the chance to see a really good teacher in action too- what do they do to engage their newcomers and build on their assets?”
– Paula J, elementary math

“Utilize the apps and digital resources available. Any information sent home needs to be sent to families in the language they are most comfortable with.”
– anonymous, 1st grade

“Having the resources available to teach vocabulary or finding the time to create resources needed to support student's communication with adults and peers.”
– anonymous, 2nd grade

“Before working with newcomer students, I would advise a first-year teacher to focus on learning about cultural responsiveness and the challenges faced by students who are adjusting to a new country and language. Building an understanding of their cultural backgrounds is key to creating a supportive classroom environment. I would also recommend seeking out resources on effective strategies for teaching English as an additional language (EAL), as well as developing flexible teaching methods that accommodate diverse learning styles. Being patient and open to learning from students’ unique experiences is crucial.”
– Joowon Lee, Higher Education Literacy

“Reach out to your ESL teacher in your building - ask many questions and seek resources to best support your students who are newcomers. My ESL teacher was wonderful and helped me so much! We were very lucky to have a full-time ESL teacher in my building, and she went above and beyond to support our students.”
– Jacqui Carnes, 2nd - 4th grade

“I don’t work with very many newcomers. Most of my students have been her for 2 plus years and have been redesignated to special education. My advice is to seek opportunities to understand culture. It’s truly fascinating to learn about the culture of students. It creates such a unique bond, too, when you show that you’re interested in their culture. Interpreters are your friends! I’ve been so grateful to have amazing interpreters throughout my years in education. It truly makes the home/school connection much more seamless when you have a strong interpreter.”
– anonymous, SPED 6th - 8th grade

“I would highly suggest a vocabulary notebook, photos of the vocabulary, a newcomer sentence stem guide to communicate needs with visuals. The ESL teacher was in my class to support writing. She helped me so much in sharing/modeling how to integrate content in a way that it would be accessible to English learners in class.”
– anonymous, 2nd grade

“More one-on-one help is going to be needed, but they are willing to put in the work! Just because they don’t understand what you are saying, doesn’t mean that they don’t know the content. You will learn a lot of new things with ELL. Also, don’t be afraid to ask them questions about their journey and what they went through. A lot of my students love telling me, and I get to know them and try and relate my content to them that way!”
– Courtney Wattles, high school math

“Celebrate every accomplishment. It doesn’t matter how small; the acknowledgement of success is huge. Share the good news with others around the school, too.”
– Victoria Krupp, ESL Teacher

Support for teachers:

More plan time
Preparing for parent interaction and conferences
How to find the resources to help parents or their families (translations, documentation, after school aid)
Requiring or providing seminars/conferences about EL training

“I think providing more plan time for teachers to be able to gather the resources needed because grade level content does not provide opportunities to grow from a beginning English speaking level.”
– anonymous, 2nd grade

“Knowing what I know now, I wish my ESL teachers would have come into my classroom to co-teach and model effective teaching strategies for me as a new teacher as well as provide some tools and resources to help me out. They worked with my students, but not with me, if that makes sense.”
– Paula J, elementary math

“There isn’t really a lot of time to collaborate/plan with ESL teachers or paras. It was mainly a discuss issues or concerns if they came up. They would come to parent-teacher conferences occasionally”
– anonymous, 1st grade

“I first freaked out because I was like how am I supposed to help them, but they gave me ways to help them. They also gave me posters that I could hang up to help them. I then went to a mid-Tesol conference with ESL teachers to get more ideas to help my students. Our school also ordered everyone EL excellence every day, which is super helpful!”
– Courtney Wattles, high school math

Lastly, I asked the teachers if an Intro to Teaching ESL/Multilingual course before teaching would have been beneficial and if they should require it for new teachers.

Many mentioned that it would have prepared them greatly and better supported their students when there was a language barrier, and they agreed that requiring this course would best support future teachers. As a future ESL teacher, I think all this feedback is very helpful in continuing to learn and showing how teaching isn’t just lesson planning; we need more education on creating those class communities and accommodations with explanations behind them.

“As a teacher of pre-service teachers, I definitely think taking an Intro to Teaching ESL/Multilingual course before teaching would be highly beneficial. As our classrooms become increasingly diverse, serving students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, this should be a required class for a teaching degree. It would benefit future educators by equipping them with the knowledge and skills to effectively support multilingual learners.”
– Joowon Lee, Higher Education Literacy

“Absolutely, yes. It is a class that I have always wished I would have taken, along with Special Education courses, as neither were required in my program. I felt very underprepared to support the very diverse needs of the students in my classroom as a new teacher and could have greatly benefited from learning effective teaching practices to provide access for all of my students. I've learned more about being a culturally responsive teacher since coming to UNO seven years ago than was ever modeled or explained for me in my 15 years working for OPS, which is disappointing.”
– Paula J, elementary math

“Absolutely! It actually should be a requirement to better prepare new teachers. Every teacher will at sometime in their career have an EL/ML student. In addition, the skills and strategies to support EL/ML students are best practice for all students.”
– Jacqui Carnes, 2nd - 4th grade

“I do think it would be beneficial. I didn’t get much in terms of ESL instruction until I got my endorsement in it. This was several years into teaching. I will say that I would rate my preparedness at a 1 prior to getting my endorsement.”
– anonymous, SPED 6th - 8th grade

Links to resources for teachers with ELL students or who just want to learn more about an inclusive classroom:

I want to give a huge thank you to all the teachers who took my survey and supported me throughout my project and research on ways to support ESL teachers and students. It means a lot to me for taking some time out of your busy days and learning your story for us future teachers to learn from!

If you are a current teacher who would like to share feedback and tell your experience with ELL/multilingual students, you can add your response to the survey here so I can update and provide more information about these resources. Thank you!

Teacher Voices for ESL

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