By Kim Hilsenbeck.
Middle school is rough. For students in Leticia Maynard’s class, school in general can be even more so.
Above, ESL teacher Leticia Maynard helps Simon Middle School students in the New Arrival Center. Non-English speakers in her classes this year hail from Vietnam, Cambodia and Jordan. She also has students from Mexico and Columbia. Maynard said her own background as a non-native speaker is a plus. (Photo by Kim Hilsenbeck) |
Her students, in sixth through eighth grades, are ESL, or English as a second language students.
Imagine getting around in a new country, a new school, a new group of people and not speaking the same language. That’s why Maynard works to help her students integrate not only into middle school life, but also life.
For example, on Day 1, she said she starts with the basics.
“We begin learning social phrases, we teach them how to get around the school,” she said. “They learn ‘may I go to the restroom,’ ‘may I have a pencil?’”
She pointed to laminated strips of paper hanging on a nearby cabinet, each with a phrase and a picture of an object.
“They have a visual so they can put it together just so they can survive the first days of school,” she said. “I teach them about our culture here at [Simon].”
It’s all part of the New Arrival Center at Simon Middle School. Previously, only Lehman High School had such a center. But Hays CISD opened one at Simon this school year to address the need, especially with students coming in from more than just Spanish-language countries.
Maynard, a native Spanish speaker who has been teaching for 11 years, has 24 students in her ESL and language arts classes.
The day’s lesson was prepositional phrases. Pairs of students shared iPads loaded with an app called Near Pod. Once signed in, they reviewed prepositions. They had to draw the phrase.
“English, English,” Maynard said to a room buzzing with mostly Spanish chatter that rarely died down for more than a few seconds.
“Remember, English, no Spanish,” a student called out in a sing-song voice.
The first sentence on the Near Pod program was, “I ran across the gym.” After drawing, they took turns reaching it aloud. Maynard said the visual helps them connect the action to the words.
What makes her a good ESL teacher?
In addition to intense instruction using research-based strategies such as Strategic Instruction Models (SIM), Maynard said her background is also a big help.
“I’m very passionate especially because I was an English language learner,” she said.
At age 8, Maynard and her family moved from Mexico to Los Angeles, California. She lived on the outskirts of Compton.
“That was very challenging. I was identified as a child that might need special education services. It wasn’t until fifth grade until I picked up the language.”
At the time, the school system did not offer ESL classes.
“I picked it up by – I had to be very independent and motivated,” she said.
To an extent, Maynard said TV played a part in her social education.
But once she mastered English, things seemed to fall into place.
“I was a straight A student, graduated with honors, got accepted to St. Mary’s University,” she said.
How does Maynard communicate with students’ parents? It’s not as difficult when students hail from Columbia, Mexico and other Latin, Central or South American countries, she said.
“Now that the new arrival center has students from Cambodia and Jordan and Vietnam, it’s become more challenging. We do a lot of – it’s very much like teaching their children. We do a lot of pictures, descriptive language, very basic language, pretty much like social language when we communicate with the parents. Most of the time, the parents have some English.”
She said it’s rare to have students from southeast Asia, adding she had a student from the Philippines about two years ago.
Maynard said she and her colleagues at Simon also use programs such as Google Translate and Babblefish to assist in translation efforts.
Teaching English to students can be tough if they’re not getting the practice at home.
“This year, we did try to get them in contact with the Kyle [Learning] Center,” Maynard said.
The center offers ESL classes for adults; it’s a general class that teaches the English language, regardless of the student’s native language.
At the Simon New Arrival Center, Maynard said she loves seeing the students understand.
“I know I can communicate to these students in a way that they understand the material and make them successful,” she said. “I’ve had several years of success in this program.”
She added that the New Arrival Center provides level of comfort but the students themselves are also driven to succeed.
“Even though I have created a safe environment for them to practice their English, they are highly motivated to learn because they all want a better future. They, like me, know that education is the pathway to a brighter future for themselves and their families.”
