My journey into teaching began just a decade ago, but the changes that have occurred in that time boggle the mind. I began as a bilingual special education middle school teacher, the permanent hire after a long chain of subs. That year, without direction, curriculum, or supplies, ESL class was a short student film. “Cops and Robbers” was not destined to win any awards, but the students were engaged in meaningful learning. Over the past decade, self-contained classrooms have given way to inclusion, a strange amalgam of blessings and curses. With wonder and ambivalence, I was spurred by changes in the profession to begin my PhD in 2007. I’ve learned that change can be abrupt and difficult, but also that with change comes potential. Our challenge is to capture that potential and channel it into opportunities for our students to ride the waves of change without being drowned in the process.
Tabetha Bernstein-Danis
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA
(PhD Student/Teaching Fellow)
Related Resources..
Reading in the Dark: Using Film as a Tool in the English Classroom
Author(s): John Golden
John Golden provides a lively, practical guide enabling teachers to feel comfortable and confident about using film in new and different ways. The book makes direct links between film and literary study by addressing reading strategies (e.g., predicting, responding, questioning, and storyboarding) and key aspects of textual analysis (e.g., characterization, point of view, irony, and connections between directorial and authorial choices).
When They Don't All Speak English: Integrating the ESL Student into the Regular Classroom
Editor(s): Pat Rigg, Virginia G. Allen
Rigg and Allen have compiled a collection of essays by notable figures in English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching and research who outline principles and techniques for working effectively with language-minority students in the classroom. Contributors include Jean Handscombe, Carole Urzua, Anna Uhl Chamot and Michael O'Malley, and David and Yvonne S. Freeman.