Blog 7

As an ESL student in elementary school, I found this chapter very interesting. It made me think back to those classes to compare and contrast the styles of teaching. There were probably more similarities than differences.
I was in ESL classes from kindergarten to third grade. My first language is Spanish. Like Danling said, the teachers allowed us to use our native language to learn the concepts and at the same time helped us learn the English language. Using our native language to learn was definitely helpful because we did not really know how to communicate in English. I remember teachers telling us to try to talk in English when we thought we we were able to do it, but it was fine to speak in our native language. I think this is important because it allows students to feel comfortable in the classroom and gives them a voice instead of making them feel uneasy or embarrassed to speak another language.
When the teachers felt that the student was confident enough and fluent in English, they prepared the student to transition into an all English classroom. I finally got out of bilingual and ESL classes when I entered fourth grade. It was evident that those classes really did help me because at the end of that year, I was reading at a higher level than the students who had been in English classes the whole time. I am grateful for what my teachers did for me in the ESL classes and proud that I know more than one language. And I do not plan on stopping there.