ELL teachers, aides supporting families in creative ways during closures

Amid COVID-19 closures, schools across Yuma County have improvised in a variety of ways and subjects as teachers, students and parents navigate foreign territory that, until March 15, remained unmarked. Better known as distance learning, this territory has introduced a unique set of challenges and benefits alike, particularly for families of English language learners (ELLs).

To bridge the language barrier that’s become seemingly wider since school closures began, district ELL teachers and instructional aides are serving as interpreters and navigators by translating communication and providing small group instruction while also guiding parents through the technology and apps their students are using in their classes.

“All parents are struggling at home and trying to find a balance, but then we have language and technology barriers on top of it, so that was huge for our parents that they were able to provide that service for them,” said Salida del Sol Principal Sheila Mendoza.

While parents are working through reading, writing and arithmetic with their students at home, many are also maintaining their day jobs, which can pose its own challenges. To better accommodate these families, instructional aides like Salida del Sol’s Liz Perez are making themselves available outside of their normal work hours.

“We have a lot of parents who are still working their 9-5 jobs,” Perez said. “I often take calls after five and six o’clock, because they need me to be there for them. I tell them, ‘Let’s not wait till tomorrow, let’s do it now’ and I walk them through the things they need help with right then.”

Another way these educators continue to offer support is by customizing their lesson plans to meet individual needs, from videos and flash cards to paper-based phonics packets and hands-on projects. At Pecan Grove and Roosevelt Elementary Schools, ELL teachers are taking strategies from their classrooms, modifying the particulars and implementing them into distance learning.

“For students without iPads, I send QR codes with the paper packets so parents can scan them with their phones and have access to the week’s new words,” said Miriam Sullivan, kindergarten ELL teacher at Pecan Grove. “(ELL) teachers are uploading screen recordings to Google Classroom, (and) explaining in clear language how to complete the work and the expectations.”

Although the experience hasn’t been void of challenges, it’s presented a few benefits to compensate, such as the noticeable increase in parents’ involvement in their child’s learning.

“I feel my students’ parent support, communication and involvement has improved drastically,” said Julie Camacho, first-grade

ELL teacher at Roosevelt. “During our meetings, I notice that parents sit with the students, or are nearby.”

And although school closures have prevented Camacho and her students from convening the way they prefer, they’ve posed no hindrance to their ability to have fun and bask in the bright spots of learning. In each of their remote school weeks, one of the days is dedicated to exercising their English skills through creative and interactive avenues like show and tell.

“My students are eager to volunteer to be first and are learning to ask each other great questions,” Camacho said. “Although quite challenging at first, this has become a great learning experience, and I hope my students are learning and having as much fun as I am.”

According to Mendoza, by stepping up, these educators remain a pillar of support for both their families and their districts in uncertain times.

“Just watching them rise up to the occasion, we’ve seen some of them excel in ways we haven’t seen before,” Mendoza said. “They’ve been creative (and) they’ve just really gone above and beyond to do whatever it takes to meet the needs of the students and the parents.”