I am a student running an ESL class in Hightstown, NJ w/ several
volunteers. The class meets weekly w/ 15 minutes of a teacher teaching
and 45 minutes broken up into conversation groups. Hightstown/East
Windsor is a suburban town in NJ with about 30,000 people. There is a
surprizing number of immigrants from Central America in this town.
Most of these immigrants work minimum wage jobs for 80+ hours a week
and send much of their paycheck home to their loved ones in need back
in Central America. Some of them plan on settling here, but most plan
on moving back home after sending a lot of money back. They seem to
live within a 3 mile radius of their home, only going to destinations
within the town to satisfy neccesities (food, western union, etc.).
They have a large enough spanish speaking community that they can ask
for the time of day, get directions, and ask a question in spanish.
Most of my students are showing up b/c it is a particularly convenient
time for them, so they are not neccessarily commited to English
fluency. What should I teach them?

Hello rbagel,

English is a second language for me as well, and although I started
learning English when I was still fairly young, I have some
unprofessional suggestions for you based on my experience that might
prove to be useful.

Try to integrate your student’s native language and culture into your
classes. If you show some interest in learning Spanish words and
sentences you will find that the students will open up more. For
example, If you ask what a certain English word is in their native
language, not only does this reinforce the words and sentences for the
students, but allows yourself to become more connected to your
students which will be beneficial to everyone.

I cannot tell you what to exactly what to teach your ESL students, but
am going to list you some resources, where you can get into contact
with other teachers and members of the ESL community. I sifted through
various websites and selected some solid, active sites for you. By
using the links below you will be able to get some ideas from other
teachers and students that will be useful in your unique teaching
environment.

Dave's ESL Cafe
Information: Unique and useful website, definitely the first place you
should try. You can join an online chat (eight people busy chatting
when I visited the website, post questions on the Discussion Forums
and you might also be interested in the "Idea Cookbook."
http://www.eslcafe.com/

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
Information: This website would be an excellent resource in the
classroom if you have computers with an internet connection available.
See their Tips for Teachers area.
http://www.eslcafe.com/

ESL Resources, Handouts and Exercises for Students and Teachers
Information: This website has many printer friendly handouts,
exercises and resource pages. See:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_caps.html
http://www.ohiou.edu/esl/teacher/

English Language Teaching: Lesson Plans and Activities for English
Teachers
Information: Solid websites with interesting lesson plans and
resources.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/

English-Forum.com has some useful resources, but in the teacher
section you will be able to get in contact with experiences teachers.
Try posting about your situation on the following message board:
http://www.englishforum.com/cgi-bin/00/messages/t/mess?view_records=1&ID=*&uid=pub

A webpage at the University of Saskatchewan has a multitude of links
where ESL teachers can get help:
http://www.extension.usask.ca/ExtensionDivision/credit/Certificate/Virtual_Certesl/help_for_teachers.htm

I hope that this is the answer you were looking for and that it will
help point you in the right directions. If you need any clarifications
on this answer, please do not hesitate to let me know using the
“Request Clarification” feature.

tisme-ga


Search Strategy: 

esl resources teachers
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esl
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esl community
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esl "help for teachers"
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english second language "spanish students"
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english second language "learning english"
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Hi rbagel

There are 28 free handouts available here:
http://www.esl.resources.tripod.com/

(Itīs an old website of mine, and so the e-mail is no longer valid :)

Good luck

THX1138