ESL

I enrolled in school. Out of the two options I considered, I took the safe route. I entered the wonderful world of secondary education – the cool high school teachers, if you will. This choice really should not come as a surprise to anyone. I often take the safe route – I have a fixed mortgage rate, a couple of jobs “just in case”, rarely break the law (and even then not intentionally), and even pay attention to the balance in my checking account (although I do adamently refuse to actually balance our checkbook – I blame the Internet).

Due to the fact that I already have a graduate degree, I petitioned the program to accept some of my previous credits. By doing so, I skipped the first two courses in the program, which placed me in course regarding teaching English as a Second Language. Class started two weeks ago. I am doing well in it. I am pleased to say that I added the class to my life without compromising time with others or my work. I never really considered ESL before, as at the college level I do not run into too many students with difficulties speaking English. In fact, if anything, I find that that the ELL students tend to be more motivated. In an effort to overcome their perceived deficiencies, ELL students often write better than my typical students because they work on sentence structure, run spell check, etc. I suppose my perspective is biased though due to the fact that I often teach upper-level courses. Perhaps those students struggling to master English just do not make it to my class. I do not know.

At any rate, my course has taught me two things thus far:

1. I really enjoy being in school. I mean I REALLY enjoy it. I like thinking. I like the assignments. I like having to write. To be honest, the only thing I am not a real big fan of is interacting with my peers – primarily because I perceive most of them to be lazy and am not challenged by my interactions with them.

And

2. I like teaching at the college level. Prior to looking into the progression of laws affecting ELL learners, I never considered the manner in which legislation directly impacts the classroom at the elementary and secondary levels. It is true that I must abide be certain laws as a college instructor. For example, I must maintain confidentiality. Also, it seems to be frowned upon when an instructor sleeps with a student (unless already tenured of course). With that said, college instructors are not burdened with worrying about teaching to a test. If a student does not pass a final or graduate on time, that is his or her burden, not the faculty’s. Of course, I am invested in student success, but it seems it is different. I may present information in any manner I please. I have the freedom of scrapping my plans regarding how to present a particular topic any given day if I am not in the mood to do so in that manner because I am not held accountable to submitted lesson plans. I may vary the text I use with each quarter. I can leave campus right after class to grab a coffee because I ‘feel like it’. I can do pretty much anything (within reason of course). In the college setting, I am limited only by my creativity and time. I have no administration breathing down my neck. I do not have to partake in parent-teacher conferences nor am I concerned by curriculum night.

Although I still do not know where life will take me, the experience of becoming a student once again has led me to better appreciate my lot in life. It has also clarified my true passions once again.

We’ll see where things go….