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Brendan Deery

The assignment was simple. Punch in by 8:02 AM, Monday through Friday. Retrieve scantron attendance forms from the cubby marked Deery. Check for a text from Jess the coordinator for the daily schedule. Walk to my class and fill out the scantron. I can’t use my laptop, but I can read all the books I want. If the students don’t make too much noise or hurt each other, I did my job. The teachers usually leave a worksheet. I pass them around and write the ‘Do Now’ on the board. This was about the extent of my teaching until late October of this year. My substitute teacher job had up until this point been glorified babysitting and I was in a lull. A new assignment and a new crop of students reminded me of why I am going to Hunter in the evenings in the first place.

Late October, Jess called me into her office and offered me the fifth period vacancy. I had no idea what the class was, but reported dutifully, scantron in hand. English as a second language. The students are from every corner of the globe and not a single student speaks any English. I have no curriculum and no real guidance or even a para. It is simply me. I cannot be more elated. Quite simply, I have really enjoyed getting to know these students. I’m even considering continuing with a second certification in ENL sponsored by the DOE. The students are the true reason I love it so much. To give you an idea of why I am so drawn to this new career I must share the stories of two of my favorite students.  

Bastian is fourteen years old and from the foothills of Guatemala. He grew up near a river and worked with his father and brothers in cultivating coffee. He worked long hours and rarely went to school. An uncle of his went to Texas for work and made a little money to send back. When his uncle moved further north to New York City, he found more stable work and sent for his nephew. Leaving behind his mother and father must have been the most difficult thing imaginable. He now lives with six others in a cramped apartment in Jackson Heights. He wakes up around 6:45 every morning to get to school. He usually works shifts as a dishwasher off the books at night. Bastian is one of the bravest people I know, and he is only 14! I am certainly not old, but at 26 I am nearly double his age. With such a strenuous workload, I make sure not to burden him with arduous homework. I want to make a welcoming and comfortable environment for Bastian. In such an alien world, one would expect Bastian to lose interest in my class. I am just starting and often second-guessing myself, but his enthusiasm has been reassuring. He is constantly calling out words in broken English, always with a toothy grin. He is the reason I don’t mind coming to work every day.

Aadya is from the suburbs of Dhaka. The capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka is a pollution-choked city of 21 million people. Life is hard in Dhaka for many people as many labor long hours in textile mills. The low-cost clothing we are so familiar with today is so cheap because these workers are paid so little there. Safety protocols are lax and horrific injuries are commonplace. Aadya’s mother specifically worked for a company that Aadya insists makes H&M brand clothing. Aadya helped her mother raise her little sister and often missed school as a result. Aadya’s father and mother concluded that Aadya needed to be sent to live with an aunt in Jackson Heights, Queens. The aunt works at a traditional Bangla restaurant and loves Aadya deeply, but she is rarely home. Aadya has been in the USA for three months and is often frightened to be alone in such an alien environment. Every day she wakes up early to make lunch with her aunty, and two weeks into teaching her she patted me on the back as the class flew out at the bell. In broken English, she said, “Mister here for you.” In her hand was a delicious banana flower croquette. It was absolutely delicious, and she is another reason I don’t mind coming to work every day.

Now Aadya and Bastian are both learning new language learners. Aadya has a slight advantage in that the foremen in the mill spoke some English and the television in Dhaka often carried western films and shows. She is familiar with some words but is shy about speaking. Bastian had little exposure to the language before immigrating to Queens. He is the opposite of Aadya in that he loves to show off new English words for his buddies from Guatemala and Honduras. Now, to educate two very different students, I had to take a step back and consider what I am doing in the classroom. I am trying to be deliberate and implicitly model my language acquisition lessons on the Stage Theory Model. So first I introduce visual stimuli. For instance, every day I write the day and month on the board. I write it in a different color every day. While the visual stimuli of the day and month is the same, I like to challenge the students to tell me what color it is in English. If the students are not listening or paying attention, I simply cup my ears and tell them ‘loud!’ This usually works and this ‘choral reading’ should be entering the students' short-term memory. I like the students to say it back to me aloud because if I simply say it myself alone, they might forget it. Cementing these basic phrases is my goal. Whether it’s ‘my name is blank’ or ‘I am from blank’ I am asking them to repeat the phrase over and over in English to inculcate long-term memory acquisition. When the children are saying a new word for the first time, you can see in their eyes they are playing with the word; trying it on for size. For me this is the best part, watching them feel the word, the way one must make subtle movements of their lips and tongue to create sounds alien to their native language. Repetition helps settle the students into the new language.

I must admit I am overjoyed to have so much free reign. The administration has yet to fill the post and I am free to make my own curriculum. At this point, I have them making fifty flashcards every class. First, the visual and oral stimuli of the English word list. We say each word together over and over. Next, they write the words on flashcards. Finally, we translate the word into their home language and write that word on the back of each card. Here we can see the original temporary stimuli becoming long-term memory through repetition. Creating word lists and sticky notes in English plastered all over the classroom is helping turn every inch of the classroom into a learning environment. Aadya is making fine progress and Bastian has completed more vocabulary cards than any other student. I honestly love being an ENL teacher and thinking more critically about information acquisition has allowed me to better aid, my students.

All referenced works refer to article 4a.Visocky-Memory-2pp.pdf. (n.d.).

Hi Brendan!

Thanks so much for sharing this with me! I sincerely appreciate it!

It is obvious that you care for Bastian and Aadya. I am happy that they have made this maiden journey in the classroom pleasurable for you. I hope it continues.

I raise several points above that I hope you consider.

To reiterate some, do you think it is good to have as little support as you seem to be getting? Although you seem to be thriving (good!) could it be insufficient for others (bad!)?

How should we be motivated to teach? If the students solely motivate us, what if they change from year-to-year? What happens then?

How should we support new speakers of English? Language is so complex. I wonder if there should be more formal training by Hunter or the DOE.

I am happy you have grown to enjoy being an ENL teacher. I really enjoyed teaching math at the 8th Grade level without formal training. Should we allow early teachers to drift and move around from subject to subject at the beginning of their careers before finalizing their specialty?

Thanks again for all! I am happy that Bastian and Aadya have you to support them! Enjoy your time with them!

Dino

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