ESOL Reflection

I interview Theresa Kaufman from Winters Mill High School, Department Head
of ESOL program. She has been teaching ESOL at Winters Mill for a number of years.
Questions with responses are below:
1. What is the overall goal for the ESOL program at WMHS?
Students are in the ESOL have two different overall goals. The first is to be
successful in ESOL classes and in regular classes (Science, Math). Also we as
staff members what to have the students belong to the school. To many times
we see the students come into WMHS and start to segregate themselves. We
want to make sure they are feeling comfortable in their sounding.
2. In order for a student to qualify for the ESOL program what
requirements do they need to meet?
When the student is enrolled into the school, if English is not their first
language or spoken at home they take a test to place a student on to a scale
from 1-5. 1 being the beginner and know little English, 5 being they are
fluent. If they are rated a 5 they are not part of the ESOL program for very
long.
3. What does the ESOL curriculum consist of teaching?
We are very lucky in this county because it is a free flowing curriculum. We
focus on reading, writing, listening and speaking by teaching content in
different units such as careers.
4. Do you have any concerns about the curriculum or updates you
would make?
In order for the students to successful in the other classes we need to the
students to make a connection to the curriculum so we try to look at where
the students are going in school and base our units on the class and by
students. There is a possibility that the students in the same class are on
different objectives.
5. When students come into the school and finish testing how do you
come up with individual goals?
Individual goals are set by the ESOL supervisor in Carroll County. We take
those and meet them the student they best match. They could are on a level
or Needs Support, Minimal Support, and Independent Support.
6. How do you measure the goals?
In order to measure the goals we give a standardized test the students yearly
in January. The second way we monitor the students is using quarter
assessments. In their everyday classes we monitor the assessments and
overall grades to see where they fall. Constant communication with their
teachers helps if there is not another ESOL teacher in the room.
7. What are characteristics that a principal should look for when
employing for ESOL?
When hiring for this position the principal needs to look at how the potential
staff member looks at teaching ESOL. It is not just teaching a language you

need to teach it through content. They should be able to relate it to the

students so it sticks and becomes relevant in their other classes. Also they
should have the understanding of the culture backgrounds. Each ESOL
student is going to have a different background they bring. They should have
a sense of that.
8. How can principals best serve the program to meet the students
needs?
Our program has an open door policy where we welcome any administration
into our classroom. When they come into the classroom they show our
students they are involved in their learning and they start to become familiar
with our program. They also start to feel like they are part of the school.
They see students who have communication with administration and they
notice they may not be the athlete or SGA president however when they visit
they feel important and part of the school.
9. Any other comments about the ESOL program?
I feel that we have the best job. Has teachers we say it is a great feeling
when we see students make progress but in the ESOL room we see how
quickly students learn a new language and content. We make a bond with
these students we support them in every way possible they become very
thankful. They are also communicating how thankful they are for learning or
the little support systems we create.

Since starting my career I have been very lucky to have many different types
of ESOL students in my room. I have had as many as five in my room this spring. I
have personally seen the growth of the student in a short time. They are kids that
surpass my expectations every day. I have also been able to experience thee
gratitude they show when they understand a subject or they get that extra help.
I have complete professional development to work with ESOL students
however this interview opened my eyes for the expectations from ESOL with
administration. Sometimes we get so busy that we forget about the programs that
run themselves. ESOL in Carroll County runs itself in the school, the Supervisor does
the observations. To hear her talk about the principal getting involved in the
classroom and the open door policy it puts their job into another perspective. When
we as Americans think about learning a language we think about the traditional way
we were talk from a Spanish, German, or French teacher from a book or teaching us
by listening, reading, writing, or speaking it. When looking for a possible position it
is very important in ESOL that not only does the person fit in with staff but can look
at ESOL in a content way not just a language. They should be able to teach content
on careers and not teach the English language.
Overall this interview has helped me understand what they are looking for in
department but their curriculum. At first I was like every other teacher thinking they
are teaching another language. However I got a great insight on what and how they

teacher the language. Also I learned what they are expecting for administration to
do to help their program be successful for the students and staff. Lastly I learned
why students were getting pulled out of classes. As a teacher the passes always
said test, however these students are not only taking our normal standardized
testing but they are also getting test to see where they fall on the ESOL scale every
year to see what accommodations they receive.
After the interview I was involved in getting an interrupter for an ESOL
student. This interrupter process was a lengthy one. This process was never
explained nor did I know how it worked. As I was working through it I noticed not
many other teachers who how to do this process as well. One thing administration
could do with this process is inform teachers how this process works. At Manchester
Valley, they have now put the information on the dashboard which is a website
with all the answers located.