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First Day (lots of tears)
I started Kindergarten approximately 1 year after moving to the United States. I was thrown into a classroom, where I did not know any English, but was held to the same standard as my peers. The first year of school was a tough one. A lot of my time was spent in the principal's office, crying for my mom, because there was limited communication. My experiences included 90% of the time in the classroom surrounded by only English, and 10% working 1:1 with a teacher that spoke my native language. -
Moving Schools
After Kindergarten, my family decided to move schools, because the ELL program at the school that I went to in Kindergarten was getting shut down and new school was absorbing other schools ELL programs. This, once again was a tough transition. Lots of tears. My brother and I had to initially join a class that was called "pre-1st" grade. This was because our English was not good enough to continue. In a few months we got out because of math scores, and transitioned to 1st grade. -
Graduation
In 2nd grade, I continued through the ELL program. Eventually that same year, I was able to graduate not only from ELL, but also Title (which assisted the lack of reading skills that I had prior). This year was the year that I finally began to understand the English language. School became a lot easier in a sense of understanding, and I began to transition into becoming a fluent English speaker. -
Middle School
Middle School is when I finally started exceeding in my academics. There were less resources available for me as a Native Russian speaker, but this is when I finally got a grasp on education in the United States. There was also a lot more diversity that I noticed within the education system. There were a lot more kids that I knew that also spoke Russian as their primary language. They were also kids who had gone through the program that I went through. We shared similar experiences. -
High school
In high school I took Spanish and French as third languages. During this time, I struggled learning a new language. Even though it was seemingly easier for me compared to my classmates, it still brought me back to my first days of school, not knowing how to navigate. I remember how formal each of the languages was. It brought me back to learning English, and how I learned everything formally, through an education system, and how difficult it was to navigate the language. -
English and teaching
This is the day that I subbed in a classroom with an EL student. In my experiences, learning English and being submerged in an environment that is primarily English is tough. This is when I experienced it from the other side. Watching the child navigate the system was a humbling experience. I worked with the student through many avenues, such as pairing him with other native Spanish speakers, through the use of technology, and simply through connection. -
Present Day
Through my experiences learning English, Spanish, French, and working with an EL student, I have learned what works and what doesn't. I learned that it is important to be able to connect with each student, to be able to make them feel safe in the environment. I learned that technology could be a 100% effective solution, when it comes to individual learning. I also learned that learning English while working on making connections and navigating the system takes time.