My Roots as an ESL Student

 

I am Hmong. Actually, let me rephrase that. I’m Hmong American. My dual identity and experiences have been the driving force that has led me to what I do today, that is, teaching English to ESL/ELL students. Growing up, I was an ESL student until my sophomore year in high school. My mom spoke little to no English, and my pops spoke enough English, albeit still “broken” English that I can randomly boast to my friends (also from the same background) when we get into the classic game of childhood one-upmanship: “Well, you know what? My dad speaks English. Beat that.” Coming from the ESL community, I understand the hardships and struggles that many students in this community face (low-income, first-generation students, racial discrimination). Thus, one of the reasons why I decided to become a teacher was to help these students and community thrive in academics and life.

 

Early Years of Teaching

 

I remember when I got my first teaching gig. It was 2016. I had just graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor’s degree in English Education with an emphasis in literature. I knew I wanted to teach immediately because I was too daunted at the idea of continuing a higher education, mentally fatigued from academia, and also missed the GPA requirement to apply for a teaching credentials program or master’s program. One of my colleagues from my undergraduate program mentioned the possibility of teaching abroad because of its minimal requirements. I did one search on Google—something along the lines of “teach English abroad.” I remember one of first links was a company called, EF (Education First). I clicked the link and looked at some of the different locations around the world it offered teaching positions. I was intrigued with China because it was always a place full of rich history, and it always reminds me of my all-time favorite childhood Chinese action-comedy film—Shaolin Popey. I applied and about a week later I received an email for a Skype interview. Fast-forward five months and I was living in a different country teaching English for the first time to students ages 3-18 in Shanghai, China. It felt exhilarating because I now had a foot in the door and was ready to begin the first chapter of my teaching career. I was there for fifteen months until my contract ended. In my first-year teaching English as a foreign language, it was challenging. Truth be told, I didn’t had a clue what I was doing most of the time. Although my undergraduate degree was in English Education, it didn’t really prepare me to teach English as a foreign language, so I went into my first year of teaching like many teachers in their first years—learning on the go. One of the biggest takeaways from my first-year teaching was the importance of keeping students engaged and motivated since I struggled mightily with student participation. I realized that I was lecturing too much, which often led to many students staring at their pencil cases. As a result, I began minimizing teacher talk and focused on incorporating more pair and group activities to promote active student participation—something I remain mindful of when designing lesson plans

 

 After returning home from China, I felt like I hadn’t gotten the experience of living abroad out of my system. There was still one country I’d always dreamed of visiting: Japan. I looked online and searched for a couple companies that offered English teaching jobs in Japan. Similar to how I applied to EF, I clicked  the first link and applied to a company called, Interac. I was hired and started teaching in Japan a year later. I was placed in a small coastal city called, Hitachi. Unlike Shanghai (at the time I was living there, there were over 24 million people), Hitachi was much, much smaller. I taught English at an elementary school and junior high school during my two years in Hitachi. During this time, I didn’t realize how much I have grown as a teacher. I did feel that I was becoming more of a teacher through the interactions and the a-ha moments from my students in class. In retrospect, I think what really helped me developed as a teacher were the teacher observations from experienced teachers and the feedback that I was getting from them and the professional developments. I remember asking one of the teacher educators from the company to come observe my lessons. After he observed my lesson, he gave me different ideas and activities on teaching the topic, which to me was profound because before this, I was already in my second year of teaching in Japan and at the same two schools. I was doing the same activities that I was doing the year previously without much modification, and his advice made me realized that if I wanted my lessons to be more effective, I have to be open to trying out new things and really making myself think of different ways to approach a topic.

 

When the Student Is Ready, the Teacher Appears

 

There’s a saying by Buddha, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” This quote puts the responsibility of learning on the student. However, life is a bit more complicated than that. We all come from different backgrounds and have had different experiences. In my first-year teaching English in the US, I was at a school that was considered a “rough” school due to the student demographics. Most of my students were ELL students who like myself, came from low-income families and were first generation students. Some of my students have had a rough life. For example, I had one student who lived with his 19-year-old aunt, because his mother was going through drug rehab and his father was locked in prison. For this student, how can he ever be “ready” when his life is already in shambles? So, as a teacher, it’s my duty to help these students pick up the pieces and put them back together, so they can become “ready.” To do this, teachers need to create a safe and welcoming environment for these students, which is something that I have always prioritized. This means smiling and being kind to students, and this extends beyond the classroom. For example, playing and chatting with students during recess can have such a positive impact on their lives. By attending to students’ affective needs and building rapport, teachers help them feel ready to learn—and only then can their intellectual growth begin and the teacher truly appear.

 

The Turning Point

 

After teaching at a public charter school for three and a half years, I felt that I wanted to become a better teacher for the type of students that I had. I felt that I didn’t really know how to address their intellectual needs, so I decided to enroll in a master’s TESOL program. Throughout the TESOL program, I have taken courses that have helped me with specific strategies to help ESL/ELL students such as pedagogical concepts (orienting, instructional paraphrasing, predictability, activity building, and relevance). Another gamechanger was learning about backwards design. In a backwards design approach to lesson planning, the objectives are the first and most important element of the lesson plan and everything else follows. Since learning about backwards design, I always begin a lesson plan with the objectives and go from there. This has made my activities more effective and meaningful compared to how I was designing lesson plans before.

 

What’s Next?

 

 I am still learning to be the best teacher that I can be through my TESOL program, colleagues, and professional developments. Another area that I need to improve on is research. Although I am still a novice researcher, I look forward to improving in this area, so I can hopefully share my findings with people who share similar interests. Throughout my TESOL program, I have learned and become enamored with translanguaging due to my experiences as a student and teacher, which I hope to contribute to this field. Looking back at my first year of teaching, I have come a long way. I am proud of my accomplishments and growth as a teacher, but I am still hungry to learn and improve.