Beyond the ESL Classroom

Contributed by Christopher Goodnight

When I first began last year as an ESL teacher, I only thought of the position as any other teaching role. I would serve my students and teach them what they needed to know. However, after I attended a conference later that fall, I realized an ESL teacher is much more than just teaching a curriculum and helping students understand vocabulary.

At that conference, I realized the role of an ESL instructor as more of an activist for not only the students they see everyday, but also the parents and their home lives. I heard and saw teachers speaking of helping families get resources, partnering schools with businesses, and becoming leaders in family engagement activities. That is what got me thinking out of the box of what I once thought being an ESL teacher might be. 

Since then I have created a few family engagement activities of my own that have so far been successful. Here are some tips and ideas for things to do to get families more engaged and to see the school as a community center.

Since then I have created a few family engagement activities of my own that have so far been successful. Here are some tips and ideas for things to do to get families more engaged and to see the school as a community center.

1. Call your local community college and ask if they offer English as a foreign language class. Most of the time these classes are free for non-English speakers. We were able to work with the local community college and asked for an instructor to come out to our Elementary school to give the classes! Even though the community college is only a 15 minute drive, most of our parents would not make that drive 3 or 4 nights a week to attend a class. We were able to bridge that gap for parents and offer the classes right where they are. At our school, we converted an intervention room into the Adult English Class. We currently have level one and level two classes with around 18 students in both classes. We are hoping every year to add on another level.
   
2. Design workshops that parents would attend. Even as adults, we need education. We hope that our students are lifelong learners and we have to help provide that opportunity as well for our parents. Give out a survey with a variety of topics that would be of high interest to your community and parents. This could be anything from reading tips, to financial awareness, to even what is bullying. Allows the parents to select the workshops they would attend. Form a calendar of what workshop would be offered and the date. Ask experts on the topics if they would be willing to come in on the date assigned and lead a discussion group that would educate parents. 

3. Offer a parent meet and greet with your EL students and parents. Lead a discussion on what their students do in your classroom and give suggestions for things they can do at home that would continue their learning. Provide websites, applications, and any other useful pieces of knowledge that would benefit a family outside the school. This could also be a time to give tips on math or reading strategies. You could even do a grade level breakdown of how each grade teaches math/reading.
   
4. Look for other opportunities in the community that would benefit our families. When you sit and think of ideas, it only takes a phone call to see if someone would be willing to partner with you. We have thought of calling out the mammography, getting cheap haircuts from the local community college cosmetology department, hosting a yard sale, having the police department come and talk about the do’s and don’ts in specific situations, and many more.