RACHEL NANCE
Teacher Support for English Learners
Salt Lake City School District, Utah

My first teaching assignment was working with English Learners (ELs) at the middle school magnet program for Salt Lake City School District in the fall of 2000. I had just graduated from the University of Utah with a teaching degree in Psychology and Teaching English as a Second Language. At Hillside Middle School I taught Newcomers (immigrants and refugees brand new to the US), “Level 1” students (fluent speakers, non-readers/writers), “Level 2” students (fluent speakers, limited readers/writers) and an elective course with ELs and native English speakers.

In the fall of 2004, I was hired by the district as the Professional Learning Facilitator. My current responsibility is to support teachers in understanding, assessing and responding to the academic needs of English Learners using The SIOP Model as a tool for instruction. In this capacity I have designed and facilitated professional development seminars and workshops for site principals, teachers K-12, academic coaches, paraprofessionals, Community Ed leaders and volunteers. These seminars develop educators’ skills to support students’ acquisition of academic English while they learn content. I have also facilitated conferences for the Utah State Office of Education and taught a graduate level course at the U of U.

During my years teaching ELs, I developed my own curriculum and assessments for all levels of language proficiency and worked to refine my instructional strategies to optimize the limited time my students had to become academically proficient. I strove to develop ways to support pre-literate twelve year olds that wanted desperately to graduate from high school in less than six years. And I endeavored to challenge students whose language proficiencies had leveled as they acquired compensation skills and disconnected from the dominant culture’s world of academics.

From these practical experiences and my time spent collaborating with the talented array of SLCSD teachers, I am beginning to deconstruct what quality instruction looks like for our ELs. To be the most effective teacher for English Learners, in a system that was not developed and is not maintained for them to succeed, is an overwhelming vision. But I know it is possible; I see pieces of that vision daily as I observe teachers, dialogue with students and listen to personal stories of both. I know from visiting with former students that some of them succeeded in the American school system despite their awe-inspiring obstacles. Some did not. I continue with this challenging work for those that did not succeed. We need to make it right.

Rachel's ESL Poem