So as you know, this past week I went to Chicago to translate at the parent-teacher conferences. I was placed in a 2nd grade classroom, with Mrs. Casper an African-American teacher who has been teaching for over 30 years and is close to retirement. I believe that they specifically placed me with this teacher to translate because she spoke with a thick accent, and many times she used African American venicular. I can she why this was a good choice, because for all of the parents that I translated for, it seemed that they did not understand a single word she was saying. She was a very inspiring teacher and she had much to say about what school is like in CPS. She has been working in Mexican communities throughout much of her experience and she says that she truly enjoys it, although she described to me many of the struggles she faces due to low funding and lack of materials. Even with the limited resources that CPS educators face, her classroom was full of color, with products of the student's learning displayed on all of the walls. I translated for 30 conferences, only 3 parents felt comfortable speaking English the entire time.
I had many questions to ask her what she does to aid the students who have limited English proficiency, and she had much to say. First of all, I would say that 99% of the students spoke Spanish as their first language. Also, about 95% of the parents who came in also had limited English proficiency as well. This means that the learners are spending the majority, if not all, of their time outside of school speaking Spanish. I asked Mrs. Casper how the limited English of almost all of her students effected her implementing lessons in the classroom. What she explained to me was interesting: she said that they do very basic stuff with a focus on developing their literacy in reading and writing. She explained that her goal is to build their vocabulary in using the language, and wants the students to focus on phonetics as well. When I asked her what she does to differentiate instruction for the students who do not even speak English at all, she explained that she just has to use big motions, or that the students will have a peer explain it to them.
There was a very interesting case of one student, whos mother was concerned because her daughter had never taken ESL classes in the past, due to the fact that there was no room and they were full. The mother seeked to get her extra help in building her skills of using English, although there was only one program that she could attend after school, however she could not attend this tutoring session because she has other priorities after school. I felt so bad for this girl, her mother was so concerned that she did not understand anything that was going on. I asked the mother if she had any older relatives that speak English and she said unfortunately no. I then asked if her daughter listens to English music or watches English tv...she explained that pretty much everything is in Spanish. I then suggested that she lets her daughter watch English tv and listen to English music, because the more exposure she gets to the language, the easier it will be for her to start understanding what the teacher is saying.
One of the things that I wanted to focus on was the concern that the parents had for their students learning. Since this was a second grade classroom, of course the parents were concerned with how their students were doing, however if this had been a highschool parent-teacher conference, I feel that there would be a much greater difference in attendance and concern for their childs learning. The majority of the parents were not really concerned with if they were doing well, pretty much every single parent asked if their child was behaving and if they talked to much.
As I said before, I found Mrs. Casper to be very inspiring. She was a very wise and experienced teacher who showed great passion in her teaching. I asked her what made her decide to stick in Chicago. I then explained that many people view teaching in CPS as a challenge, especially due to the lack of resources and the bad rep of the behavior of the students. Her response was very sincere and she said that she herself, as well as all of her children and their children, attended CPS. She told me that she could get a job working in a suburban area, with plentiful resources, and with well-behaved driven school- but that she prefers to work in CPS because it is much more rewarding. She said that her job is not easy, not in any way shape or form, however she wants to give these students the education that they deserve because she wants to make sure they succeed.
Overall, it was a very rewarding experience, and even more so it was interesting to see what the conferences were going to be like in this 2nd grade classroom in Little Village.
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