Scattered pieces of candy littered my desk along with a misplaced sombrero. It was the end of the school year, and we had just had a party to celebrate. My brain was like the left over food and party paraphernalia. Scattered and disorganized. But I wanted to treasure each and every moment I had with my ESL (English as a second language) students and families. Sitting at my desk, I immediately started piecing the year together.

Hello 

¡Hola!

    The year started off with going through the list of students enrolled in my class and writing down their birthdays on the blackboard. I would be teaching a DBE (developmental bilingual education) classroom. This class would be a substitute for the mainstream language arts class. My goal was to transition the children to embrace their ability to be dual language speakers. Even though the United States is becoming more culturally diverse, my students were mainly Spanish-speaking.

    My goal was to create an inviting environment for these elementary-aged students. I marked everything in the classroom with English labels. Then I went around and wrote the names in Spanish. Rather than have the students write labels, I did it because not all of my students can write proficiently in Spanish yet. This is a frustration-free zone. After the creation of reading nooks (with each student's name), I chose books for each child based on what might interest them and fit their reading levels. I put snacks out, just in case!

    When the students entered the classroom that first morning, the chairs were in a circle around the room. I asked the students to play a get-to-know-you game and explore the classroom. After, we looked at and then discussed a wordless picture projected on the T.V. Later, I had the children draw their own wordless pictures and stand up and share them with the rest of the class. Not all of the kids liked this activity, but they tried it anyway. I made sure to double-down on verbal affirmations.

First...second...last.

    Over the next few weeks, I noticed that not all of the children were completing their homework assignments. That's when I decided to contact the parents. Many parents were working often and did not know how to support their students while others did not understand the assignments. Through these connections, I was able to help each family feel more comfortable asking me for help. In fact, some of the parents were gracious and volunteered to help me in the classroom.