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Tell us a little bit about yourself and what has inspired you to be a teacher?

I am a physical therapist living in Derwood Maryland and attending Mill Creek Parish, which started an ESOL program last year.  As a physical therapist, I enjoy educating students and patients and thought these skills might carry over to teaching ESOL. I was hoping my volunteering in the program would help to serve a need in our community.

What are the biggest challenges you face as an ESOL teacher?

One of the challenges I face as a teacher is only knowing one language.  Although you do not need to be bilingual, and are to only speak in English, it would be easier if I could understand the questions from students in their native language. We eventually figure it out, though.

What has teaching remotely during a global pandemic taught you?

Teaching remotely has forced me to find and use more virtual resources that can be shared through the computer screen.  It has also shown me how, for students with very little or no English skills, virtual instruction may be more challenging. It limits a teacher’s ability to communicate non-verbally as well as your ability to see a student’s non-verbal communication and to look over their shoulder to see how they are comprehending an assignment.

What advice would you give to a new ESOL teacher or volunteer?

I am still a relatively new teacher myself.  My advice would be to relax and go with the flow of the class.  Things do not always go as planned but usually work out in the end. 

What has been your favorite pastimes during COVID-19?

My favorite past-time during COVID-19 has been walking outside for exercise.  After a day at work under PPE, I am longing to be out in the fresh air.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

I find the relationships with students most rewarding.  I am always amazed at a student’s story and their journey to this country.  

What is something you learned about your students during this remote teaching period?

When COVID first began, we continued our classes informally over zoom.  Our numbers decreased compared to the in-person classes.  Those students who were most committed continued to attend the zoom sessions.  Those student who are familiar with technology and had some English proficiency found zoom easier than those who little to no English skills.

We recently hosted a Zoom discussion to discuss how county ESOL programs are responding to COVID 19. This meeting was coordinated to gather information on how coalition members are pivoting their processes to continue serving learners and to identify how MCAEL can best support programs as instruction goes online. 

We had some great suggestions and discussion. Many providers are formulating plans and some have transitioned to online teaching. The tools being used vary, for example, the Literacy Council of Montgomery County and the Ethiopian Community Center are using Google Hangouts while the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center and Montgomery College are using Zoom. Here is some of what our partners shared with us:

Ahu Moser, Director, Academic Programming | Literacy Council of Montgomery County

We currently have all our classes online; between March 16th and March 20th, we did some video recordings. We are using Google Hangouts and we provided both our teachers and students training in how to use Google Hangout. This has been a learning process as our teachers are trying to figure out how to make this online learning more practical, learning new tricks and tips. We are very excited about this and we are all learning as we go through this, but I am happy with our progress.

Roza Beyene, Program Manager | Ethiopian Community Center

We have been having a little bit of tough time since there were no classes and we couldn’t figure out how long these classes would be suspended. But now we have restarted calling our students to see if they would interested in having our classes continued online and most of our students are willing to participate the online class and we choose Google Hangouts for our needs by discussing with the teachers as well as with some of the students who are tech savvy. The challenge that I feel we might face is not every student is tech savvy and not all of them have smart phones so that is going to be our challenge. We have been calling and checking on our students so far and everyone is doing well except for the stress of staying home and not working or going to class so hopeful this will lift their spirit.

Chiao-chiao Liu, Education Director| Chinese Culture and Community Service Center

The last two weeks we have been contacting the students and we found out that the students want to continue learning. I got in touch with my instructors and provided them with some Zoom training to teacher. We are using Zoom for the first time, so this has been a learning experience for me too. We are almost ready and will resume our classes on April 1st. Our classes will be held five days a week; multilevel classes each day. Students who were not able to join us before will be able to join us now since this is online; we are expecting more participants to join then before. We are still learning but everyone is excited.

Emma Wilson,  Adult ESOL & Literacy Program Manager | Montgomery College

ESOL program is continuing instruction; we received support from MC to provide an online platform for our teachers, we are using Zoom. We did our training during spring break and classes resumed online. We are seeing good attendance and seeing different needs from students such as the need for healthcare, childcare, employment, mental health, etc. We are trying to tap into our networks to support our students. It has been a bitter learning experience for the teachers; it has been challenging; we are addressing technical challenges and planning for additional training, but I think that we are at least continuing to engage students and the students are responding well. 

We are thankful for the resilience of our partners and are ready to help where we can to support their work during this critical time.

Can you describe your ESOL program and how your program came to be?

This program is offered as a ministry of Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown. We have a small program on Saturday mornings, with between 50 and 70 students. The classes are two hours long, plus  we have a mixed-level walk-in conversation hour most Saturdays after classes. The class year is from September through May with a break during the holidays. We have multiple beginner level classes, as the greatest percentage of students that come are at the beginner level. Presently, we have three beginner classes, 1 level two, 1 level three, and a conversation class for those primarily needing conversation. In addition, all of our teachers and the director are volunteers. The classes are offered free of charge, including the books. Our program is advertised, both through the MCAEL provider list/brochure and by our sign placed on the side of the road in front of the church one week before classes begin in September. We offer a rolling registration as long as there is room for new students. We are commanded in the scriptures to be a blessing to others in Jesus’ name. The program came to exist in the early 2000s through a vision of a few members of the church, with Betty Velthuis as the director, who had a burden to help the growing immigrant community around the church. To date, the program has helped more than 500 of our immigrant neighbors.
 
What are the demographics of your learners? For example, country of origin, male/female, occupation?
 
Our demographics are truly a reflection of the immigrant community in the Germantown area and the immediate needs of the community. The make-up of our student population is very fluid and changes from year-to-year. Usually, about half of our students are from Latin America, with the rest being from many different countries. We have had students from Iran, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Ukraine, Portugal, Vietnam, Madagascar, to name a few. We have both male and female students, although we tend to have more females. Most of our learners are working in labor and entry-level positions, mostly due to their need for English; however, we sometimes have professionals as well.

For readers who may not be familiar with your ESOL program, what are some things you would like them to know about your program? 

Our program is a program for the immigrant population who cannot afford to attend more formal/collegiate programs, such as that at Montgomery College. Our goal is to make English learning available to all free of charge. Our registration is not restrictive. This means we are open to all and as long as we have room in our classes, we continue to accept walk-ins that were not aware of our program during the main registration period. Also, as we are on a main bus line, our facilities are easily accessible by bus for those without private transportation.

Can you share a recent success story? 

We have many success stories. Some of our students practiced a profession in their home countries but cannot get jobs because of their limited English language ability. After they attend our program and improve their language proficiency, they are able to gain employment in their field. One good example is Eva. She was a nurse in her home country. After being with us for 1 year, she was able to get a job as a nurse. Mohammad was able to begin his own contractor business. It is very rewarding to hear these stories. Edgar is a University professor and needed to improve his English.

Steve Amar is the director of the Neelsville Presbyterian Church English program. He has a master’s degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language/Intercultural Studies through Columbia International University. He has been with the program since 2011, and began directing the program in 2017. His forte is teaching Beginning English. He is a pastor in the Persian community in Montgomery County.

Interview by Halima Ahmed

For this month's spotlight, I reached out to Patricia and Noreen (bio below) to share with us about their English Conversation Club.

Can you describe your ESOL program?

This is the BCC English Conversation Club’s 10th year of drop-in meetings for people who would like to practice conversational English to increase their confidence and ease of communication. Participants meet in a conference room at the BCC Regional Services Center in Bethesda on Wednesday mornings for 1.5 hours of informative and scintillating conversation. We provide a friendly, hospitable atmosphere for participants to connect with each other and to learn about their American community. 

What are the demographics of learners, country of origin, occupation?

30-35 countries are represented annually – not all at one time – during the course of the year.  On average 10-15 people attend each meeting.  Many attendees have advanced academic degrees and are professionals in their home country.  They are dynamic, inquisitive and interested in sharing information about their own country and experiences in other international places.  

For readers who may not be familiar with your conversation club, what are some things you would like them to know about your program?

We begin the meetings with each participant talking with the whole group about an experience from the past week.  Then, in smaller groups, participants speak, listen and interact.  A timely topic is discussed with a prepared written hand-out with questions.  
An example:  We discussed gun control and gun rights terminology, providing definition and clarification of commonly heard terms. 

Can you share a recent success story?

Our success stories are the participants who have “graduated”: the Italian physical education instructor who was able to resume his career here – in English; the Russian accountant who began a new career as a medical records technician; the Tajik beautician who is pursuing a license as a US esthetician.  
But especially, the Japanese woman who has returned to her country with the understanding that the US values diversity.  At her last meeting with the group, she shared with participants her notebook of our topics with notations, and a map marked with participants’ countries to which she had been exposed.

Patricia has volunteered in different levels of Montgomery County ESOL programs. She attended a class in Montgomery College’s TESOL Certification program, supported by a MCAEL stipend.

Noreen has lived in many countries and can share experiences of different languages and cultures.