I have worked with ENL students in my Kindergarten class for the past 5-6 years. I agree with Gonzalez' quote that "They’re doing twice the job of everybody else in the class, even though the result looks like half as much." It is a remarkable process to witness a child learning English over the course of a school year. They are not only mastering Kindergarten skills, such as interacting appropriately with peers, counting one-to-one, and writing letters - but they are doing all of this while learning how to communicate in another language. When a child's family visits the classroom, and I hear the child speak fluently in their native language telling their parents all that we are learning, then the child switches back to English to speak to me - I am always amazed and humbled by the amount of work they do.
Many of the strategies that Gonzalez describes are ones that I have learned from my ENL co-teachers over the past few years. Two of the strategies I use most often is "make it visual" and "utilize group work." Visual aids benefit everyone in the class, and students learn more language from their peers than from me! I also use sentence frames when we do our Morning Circle discussion. It helps give all students an opportunity to join in. One strategy that I am consciously working on is learning more about the cultural background of my students.
Many of the strategies that Gonzalez describes are ones that I have learned from my ENL co-teachers over the past few years. Two of the strategies I use most often is "make it visual" and "utilize group work." Visual aids benefit everyone in the class, and students learn more language from their peers than from me! I also use sentence frames when we do our Morning Circle discussion. It helps give all students an opportunity to join in. One strategy that I am consciously working on is learning more about the cultural background of my students.