My name is Skye and I am an ESL teacher in San Diego, California. I am a dedicated and passionate educator who is so lucky to have found a position that I love and adore working with some of the best and most interesting students in the world!
I am currently employed at Crawford High School which is located in the diverse neighborhood of City Heights, in San Diego, California. Crawford is home to students representing over 45 languages and cultures, and is currently recognized as one of the most linguistically diverse schools in the country. In my position as a teacher in the New Arrival Center, it is my privilege to be able to work with the most recent immigrants, most of whom are refugees, as they begin their educational journey here in the United States.
My students are all beginning English learners with varying levels of previous academic experience. All of them are SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Education) and some are attending school for the first time in their lives. I currently have students from 12 different countries of origin who speak 11 different languages. All of this is part of the magic of my position at Crawford and my work with these amazingly unique and resilient students is something I am most proud of. It is a challenge to meet their diverse linguistic, academic, social, and emotional needs as they adjust to becoming successful students in their new country, but it gives me such great joy to see my students graduate and move on to the next phase of their education.
It is my belief that by helping my students reach their potential, I am not only reaching each individual, but I am also helping this community and beyond. I help my students learn English and learn how to be a student in the US, but I also believe I am creating a lasting environment of tolerance and acceptance within my classroom that will go beyond those four walls and out into the world. I have many teachers, observers, tutors, and others who come through my classroom for varying lengths of time, and all have been able to learn something from my students and the rich cultural backgrounds and experiences they bring. My students do learn from me, but mostly they teach me and each other, and that is an incredibly powerful force that I’m proud to contribute to.
My current position in the New Arrival Center at Crawford has been the biggest blessing of my professional career, and has helped me to become a much better teacher in ways both including and beyond my instruction. I work to identify unique cultural and linguistic needs for our students of such varied backgrounds and design a curriculum that is responsive, supportive, rigorous, and relevant to those needs. I have developed an understanding of a more comprehensive role of a teacher as being one that goes much farther than the walls of my classroom. I find myself willingly taking on added responsibilities based on the needs of my program and my students, and going above and beyond to make sure my students are supported and successful.
I have learned that I am a visual learner and not surprisingly, I tend to teach in this way as well. I often rely heavily on diagrams, charts, videos, and other visual aids in my teaching as I feel like these are some of the best strategies that work well for English learners. I have also learned that I my overall personality type is introverted, sensing, judging, and thinking, all of which also factor in to my teaching. I subconsciously find myself respectful of others with similar traits and now realize that it's because I naturally understand their style of learning needs. However, it's clear to me that I need to consciously work more to address the needs for all students and ensure that all students have an opportunity to work and learn in an environment that suits their needs as well!
I am currently employed at Crawford High School which is located in the diverse neighborhood of City Heights, in San Diego, California. Crawford is home to students representing over 45 languages and cultures, and is currently recognized as one of the most linguistically diverse schools in the country. In my position as a teacher in the New Arrival Center, it is my privilege to be able to work with the most recent immigrants, most of whom are refugees, as they begin their educational journey here in the United States.
My students are all beginning English learners with varying levels of previous academic experience. All of them are SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Education) and some are attending school for the first time in their lives. I currently have students from 12 different countries of origin who speak 11 different languages. All of this is part of the magic of my position at Crawford and my work with these amazingly unique and resilient students is something I am most proud of. It is a challenge to meet their diverse linguistic, academic, social, and emotional needs as they adjust to becoming successful students in their new country, but it gives me such great joy to see my students graduate and move on to the next phase of their education.
It is my belief that by helping my students reach their potential, I am not only reaching each individual, but I am also helping this community and beyond. I help my students learn English and learn how to be a student in the US, but I also believe I am creating a lasting environment of tolerance and acceptance within my classroom that will go beyond those four walls and out into the world. I have many teachers, observers, tutors, and others who come through my classroom for varying lengths of time, and all have been able to learn something from my students and the rich cultural backgrounds and experiences they bring. My students do learn from me, but mostly they teach me and each other, and that is an incredibly powerful force that I’m proud to contribute to.
My current position in the New Arrival Center at Crawford has been the biggest blessing of my professional career, and has helped me to become a much better teacher in ways both including and beyond my instruction. I work to identify unique cultural and linguistic needs for our students of such varied backgrounds and design a curriculum that is responsive, supportive, rigorous, and relevant to those needs. I have developed an understanding of a more comprehensive role of a teacher as being one that goes much farther than the walls of my classroom. I find myself willingly taking on added responsibilities based on the needs of my program and my students, and going above and beyond to make sure my students are supported and successful.
I have learned that I am a visual learner and not surprisingly, I tend to teach in this way as well. I often rely heavily on diagrams, charts, videos, and other visual aids in my teaching as I feel like these are some of the best strategies that work well for English learners. I have also learned that I my overall personality type is introverted, sensing, judging, and thinking, all of which also factor in to my teaching. I subconsciously find myself respectful of others with similar traits and now realize that it's because I naturally understand their style of learning needs. However, it's clear to me that I need to consciously work more to address the needs for all students and ensure that all students have an opportunity to work and learn in an environment that suits their needs as well!