My Favorite Part of Volunteering

As a CLUES volunteer I had to travel across town in rush hour traffic to make it to my volunteer class on time. Driving through rush hour is no fun, especially considering the road construction on the 62/35W exchange. I would arrive to CLUES around 6pm tired and tense. When I got there, I’d have to quickly organize the worksheets, make copies, and gather materials together for my 6:30 class. The CLUES volunteer coordinator, Angela, was always very helpful, and she was good at checking in with the group of volunteers to make sure we had everything we needed. With her help, I always managed to prepare for my class in time, though I was usually a little flustered going in.

When I started to teach my small class of students, I began to relax and loosen up. As my students and I settled into class, my stress seemed to unwind itself. My class would usually joke around, and we had fun with the activities. By the end of class I seemed to have forgotten my own stresses/problems and replaced them with positive energy and optimism. Watching my students learn and knowing that I was helping them learn English, which is something essential to their livelihood, was extremely rewarding and it made me feel good.

The good feeling and energy that you gain from helping adults learn English is one of the things I enjoyed most about volunteering. In my job at the Minnesota Literacy Council, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with and hear from many literacy volunteers, and they have reminded me of this feeling. I’ve realized that many volunteers notice it. It’s neat to discover that this is something that many of us share as literacy volunteers.

Guest Blog Post: Beata at MLC Arlington Hills

My name is Beata and I have been volunteer teaching ESL classes at the Arlington Hills Learning Center since September 2010. A few months ago my students and I were talking about Halloween in the United States and one of my Spanish speaking students shared with me that the word for haunted house in Spanish was called Casa de la Bruja. I repeated this phrase a couple of times in my mind. It seemed easy to me and I thought I memorized it but by the time I got home that night I had already forgotten it.

These were only a few new words and I couldn’t believe I didn’t remember them. This made me realize that learning a foreign language is not as easy as some may think and even the easiest thing can be a challenge. English is my second language too but throughout the years I have forgotten how tough it was for me to learn it at times and I have been taking for granted the ability to speak the language. This experience put things into perspective for me and made me realize that learning a few words in a new language is not that easy. I appreciate my student’s efforts and hard work a lot more. I admire my students and value them and am amazed by how hard they try and learn English. During the class I’ve been spending a lot more time on new vocabulary. On that one cold October night I learned that remembering a few words in a new language is not as easy as it seems.

A Matter of Perspective: Guest Blog Post by Bridget Kromhout

I volunteer one night per week teaching the evening advanced class at the MLC Lake Street Learning Center. Recently, we've been discussing point of view. Some students have been finding this topic challenging; while they may know the mechanics of first person versus third person, translating that into the idea of a narrator speaking from some specific POV seemed too intangible for some.

At our last class before Thanksgiving, the curriculum featured the interactions of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans. A student asked for a clarification of the difference between "to settle" and "to invade". As usual, I tried to elicit definitions from his fellow students before providing my own take on it. Much to my delight, another student began talking about colonialism, and others pointed out the inherent bias in any historical account written by those who might want to justify or obscure the past. Even learners who are often reluctant to participate jumped into this discussion with their opinions.

Students who had been struggling with the idea of viewpoint suddenly had a concrete and relatable reference point. One brought up as an example what he had learned as a schoolchild in Mexico about how Texas became part of the US (which portrayed the US government in a much less flattering light than the version I learned in Minnesota!)

Though we digressed from the planned curriculum, I saw this lesson as a resounding success. It's always a win when the learners share their own insights! A new perspective makes all the difference in helping illuminate a difficult concept.

Thanks, Bridget, for sharing a glimpse into what it's like to be a volunteer! Readers: if you would like to share your stories abd/or reflections on tutoring, please contact Tricia at volunteer@themlc.org.

Guest Blog Post: Dave Burklund at MLC Lake Street

During conversation practice with someone who belonged to the Ethiopian Coptic community I learned that they don't eat turkeys! I don't know why that surprised me and stuck with me, but I enjoyed that personal connection.

And that's why I volunteer - the engagement with my community in ways that I would not normally have access to. I wanted to volunteer at an MLC program in my neighborhood for this reason - my personal ties and investment in my specific locale. Yes, I am working to help non-native speakers learn English, but I am learning too, every session.

Thanks, Dave, for sharing! For readers - if you'd like to be a guest blogger, please contact me at volunteer@themlc.org.

Guest Blog Post: Melissa Martinson

When I looked at a family tree worksheet from a beginning ESL textbook, the black and white line drawings didn't instantly capture my attention. I feared the diagram would be even more distant for my beginning ESL students. So what did I do? I turned on my laptop, opened iPhoto and printed pictures of my own family members. When I got to class, I taped a photo of me on the white board. The learners laughed. one told me the picture was too pretty to be of me (I didn't know whether to be flattered or offended :) ). Then, one-by-one, I taped my mom's, dad's, sister's, brother-in-law's, and neice's photo on the board as I identified their family role and explained relationships. This lesson made it easier for me to teach, and in turn made it easier for learners to grasp! And it was fun and made us laugh too.

Thank you Melissa, for sharing your story!

Creating an Immersion Environment: Grouping Students Together Who Don't Speak the Same First Language

Yesterday I observed Nikki's intermediate level class at the MLC Lake St Learning Center. When I arrived many of the students who spoke the same first language were sitting together at tables. For example, the Somali speakers sat at one table and the Spanish speakers sat at a different table. Part way through the class, Nikki asked the students to pair up with someone who spoke a different first language. She instructed students who were sitting with other students who spoke their same first language to move to a different table.

In my opinion, this strategy is very successful. I think it helps students learn more because  it creates an environment where students are forced to rely on English to communicate rather than their native languages. In this way, it challenges students to be more creative and think harder about how to say what they want to say. I also think anecdotally that students who speak the same first language tend to make similar mistakes, and so switching people up may help minimize this challenge.

As a life-long language learner (Norwegian, Spanish, Mandarin), I know from my experiences with immersion  that if the other people in my environment can't speak English, I am challenged to speak more Spanish, Norwegian, etc. I am also forced to think more creatively about how I say things. For example, if I can't remember the word for ATM, I might try to get the meaning across by asking for a "caja de banco" (literal translation: bank box). Immersion situations force you to think harder and use the words that you do know to get by. This experience helps you to practice more and learn faster.

We can create this immersion experience in ESL classrooms, but it probably won't happen on its own. We need to set the tone for the classroom in order to establish an immersion environment. Nikki did this by mixing up students so that they couldn't fall back on their native languages to communicate. I'd like to hear from you. What ideas have you tried to create an immersion environment? What's working? What challenges have you encountered?

Guest Blog Post: Susan W. B. Susan works at the Minnesota Literacy Council

Thanks to Susan W. B. for sharing her advice in today's guest blog post.

To someone who is unsure about teaching/tutoring I would say:

The learners will guide you.

Don't feel like you always need to be "in control" or "the expert". Take your cues from them; engage as a peer to a peer, and they will tell you what you need to know. Your most important tool is your desire to engage, to learn for yourself and help others learn. Also, there are many resources to help you grow as a teacher - training workshops, other volunteers, your coordintaor, online resources, etc. If you want to strengthen your skills, the opportunity is there.