Yes, I can see how the quote Gonzalez cites can be relevant. Not only is the student expected to perform like all the other students in the classroom, but they may be also coming from a different country, educational background, where English is obviously not their first language or even second or third language. So this student ends up doing twice the amount of work, but with only half the results of the other students in the class... Some of the strategies I already use are the following: make it visual, building in more group work, communicate with the ENL teacher, pre-teach, learning about their cultural background. Especially as a social studies teacher, I love learning about the cultural background of my students... their history, religion, language, traditions and customs, even trying some of their food. I find this method very successful in regards to getting to know my students, making them feel comfortable, and building a relationship with them. I definitely want to get better with even more engagement and interaction with our ENL teachers regarding these students in my classroom. Any tips or strategies, etc. that they can offer me would of course be helpful. Also, the importance of pre-teaching information. Obviously not assuming that these students know what I'm talking about. Since for many of them United States history is brand new to them... I hope to get better and more comfortable and confident with these strategies in the future to make my classroom an even more welcoming environment than it already is! =)
