Reply to Teachers, would you still recommend the profession?

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "Teachers, would you still recommend the profession?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To the ESOL teachers here--did you start in that field or move from a classroom? Also, do you all have your own classrooms or do you work with the classroom teacher in their classroom? I think the logistics of teaching make a big difference. Managing 26 kids every day all day is asking a lot. I always thought that if I could just have a small group would make all the difference.  I do NOT think that most starting teaching right out of school today can actually do for the next 40 years. Today, it's a job that too intense to do it for that long without burning out. [/quote]

I'm the first ESOL teacher who posted here. I did the JHU ProMAT program and was a career changer. I did not major in education. I actually had planned to be a social worker/therapist which has served me well in teaching. I was working in that field when I decided to become an ESOL teacher.

For many years I shared a small classroom with 2 other ESOL teachers and we did mostly pull out groups and it was chaotic. Then our building got an addition and I got an office/very small classroom. There's enough space for a kidney table and one small trapezoid table. Our program model used to be mostly pull out small groups, but then the ratios changed and I had too many students for it to be logistically possible to be able to pull out students around  whole group lessons, their reading group times and interventions if they were receiving them. A few years ago we went to a mostly plug-in/pull-aside model, so I'm teaching mini lessons to groups of 2-3 students within the classroom. They rotate to me kind of like a center. I bring all of my materials with me and had to buy a variety of baskets/bins to find one that worked for storing and carrying my stuff from room to room.  Sometimes I have table space and sometimes I sit on the carpet. I pull out my newcomers to my room.

I really thought that I'd hate the plug-in model, but I actually think it's more effective in the long run. For pull-out, groups were scheduled every 30 minutes, and the transition time alone to bring a group back and pick up a new group would take part of that time. Then students had to settle down from the transition and if we were lucky we'd get 20 solid minutes of instruction with 5-6 students in a group. The schedule working depended on everything running like clockwork, which is next to impossible. Sometimes I would go pick up students and the teacher would have started reading groups late and they'd ask me to wait just a few minutes so they could finish up. In theory that's no problem, but when that happens multiple times a day it has a domino effect. Also, every time kids changed reading groups I'd have to redo my schedule to accommodate their new times and make sure my groups were evenly balanced. With plug-in I have a lot more flexibility. I have a schedule of when I see each child, but being in the classroom allows all of our time to be used for instruction, not travel and transition, and if the teacher is running a few minutes late I can adapt on the fly. Flexibility is key.

I will say that having my own office/room is a game changer. I have ADD and I could never concentrate when I was sharing a room. When I had lunch or planning there would be other groups going on at the same time and so I wouldn't be able to get anything done. I would have to wait until everyone else left to get any work done.  Now when it's my lunch time or when I have planning I can shut my door and focus. It's a big part of the reason I'm hesitant to move to a different school. It's pretty much unheard of for ESOL teachers to have their own space. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics