The Many Faces of ESL at Woodrow

What an honor it is to have such great kids to teach. I wish all teachers could experience teaching young people who are so eager and willing to learn. Many of these children come from poor backgrounds and have many obstacles to overcome to be successful in this world. But they press on and do their best to better their lives and the lives of their families by learning as much as they can as quickly as they can.

ESL Students Enjoying Samba Dance Lessons Before School

Ms. King, one of our wonderful dance teachers, started teaching our ESL students how to dance Samba before school.

Two Faces

http://www.uwc-usa.org/podium/default.aspx?t=123265&rc=0

Two Faces
By Jose Mendoza Rodriguez ’10 (Honduras)

Can you imagine having two identities? Can you imagine being one person in a moment and becoming a
different one in another moment? That is the situation that I am in. I call these two entities “English” and “Spanish.” It is interesting to be two persons, especially if you like them both.

I come from Honduras, a small, tropical country in Central
America which is made up of Spanish to its core. Now I am
at UWC-USA, where English rules my tongue.

One thing that I have realized is that conversations in English
are different from those in Spanish. It means I have to be a
different person in English and in Spanish. It is hard to switch
between those two.

I became aware of that when I was talking with some
European friends. The topic of that conversation was soccer. A
friend was criticizing Barcelona, my favorite team. Suddenly, I
said, “No, man, el Barça le gana a todos los de la UEFA Champions
League este año.”* It just came from my soul.

It is interesting to live in this non-Spanish environment. Although many people talk in my
language, most of my closest friends can only communicate with me in English. It is true that this
place is for English speakers, but it has also taught me that my language is in my heart.

*Translation: Barcelona beat all of the UEFA Champions League this year.

(NOTE: Picture is from three students in my ESL class, not the author.)

United World College, New Mexico

http://www.uwc-usa.org/default.aspx

Last summer many teachers from around the world went to I.B. training at United World College in Montezuma, New Mexico. I was so impressed with the students I met who were staying on during the summer to work during the trainings. They come from all over the world to complete their last two years of high school. Their tuition and room and board are free. Many come with little skills in English, especially in speaking English. But they are highly motivated and within two years most graduate with an I.B. diploma. I was a bit concerned since our campus is planning on becoming an I.B. school, but after meeting these students, I was encouraged to realize that many of my ESL students can also be successful in the I.B. program.

I.B. = International Baccalaureate Diploma program (Did I spell that right? ha)

Welcome

Thank you for visiting my blog. I am on old teacher (ha) who is trying to get up-to-date in technology. This is my first attempt to try something other than sending e-mails. I want to create a format for my ESL studnts at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas, to communicate