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Home : 2003 : January : 11

ESL
By Julianne

It's unfortunate schools don't provide more money for educating the students who need it the most. I teach a regular first grade class in a central city school where about 3/4 of my students are classified ESL. You would
be using your skills if you ended up with a regular classroom like mine. But, have you looked into how much supply money and materials would be available to you as a regular classroom teacher? I'm betting you would find those funds low as well. Almost every new teacher I know has spent "mega bucks" equipping their classroom. The first couple of years are costly to nearly all of us.

After that different teachers spend varying amounts depending on how much money is allocated to them by their district and by how much instructional stuff they feel their class needs. My own state spends the LEAST per pupil of any of the 50 states so I feel the crunch more than most. But I don't spend tons of money on my class anymore. I try to be creative and conservative. When I do spend my own money I try to make the purchase something durable that I will use over and over.

The idea of approaching the businesses in town that hire your students' parents is a good one. Don't confine yourself to one business, though. Your hispanic families buy groceries, cars, and clothes, attend church and eat out. They go to Walmart and Kmart and all those other "marts". They go to the dentist and the haircut salon. Anyone who does business with your Spanish speaking families might be willing to donate to the cause. After all, their future employees and patrons will be your students. Grants are also a possibility. Our school has applied for a grant to buy some English/Spanish readers. The grant would purchase $6000 in badly needed reading materials.

Finally, remember your colleagues are often willing to help you with those "teacher made" materials. You won't have to go it alone. You already have contacts, it seems, in the area. So if you decide to take the job you can hope to use those contacts to create materials appropriate for your situation. My partner and I spent one whole year sending everything we did through district mail to a new teacher in another school. All we did was make one more copy of everything we made for the kids, attach a sticky note telling how we taught it and then stuffed a month's worth at a time into an envelope. Maybe someone would do that for you. Good luck. ESL students need dedicated teachers who understand their unique challenges.