Everyone
a Language Learner – Everyone
a Language Teacher
August 2002
The
vision for English Language development
in the Pajaro Valley Unified School
District (PVUSD) is that "All English
Language Learners in the Pajaro Valley
Unified School District will receive
daily instruction in English language
designed to develop full fluency
in academic English throughout their
K-12 experience." The PVUSD
sets forth expectations for English
acquisition and academic achievement. In
order to ensure that teachers are
well prepared to meet these challenges,
the district provides staff development
opportunities in English language
development for all teachers, regardless
of grade level or which type of class
they teach.
"Teaching language
is everyone's responsibility at PVUSD … veteran
teachers, new teachers, bilingual
teachers, English language development
teachers, teachers who teach in structured
English immersion classes, support
staff, and administrators," stated
Dr. Lupe Rivas, PVUSD Bilingual Coordinator. "We
want everyone to be on the same page
and understand the challenges students
face in learning language. All
children will have a difficult time
in school unless they have the appropriate
language skills to compete in the
academic world." This year
one of the district staff development
days in August featured Lily Wong
Fillmore, a University of California,
Berkeley professor who is also a
graduate of Watsonville High School. Ms.
Fillmore presented the findings of
her study called "What Teachers Need
to Know About Language." Ms.
Fillmore's first language is Chinese,
and she learned to speak English
in the Pajaro Valley schools. She
provided information with a very "hands
on" approach for teachers during
her keynote speech.
Dr. Rivas explains, "the
idea was to demystify teaching English
language development and teach strategies
that they can use throughout the
year." After hearing
Ms. Fillmore's inspirational speech,
teachers formed small groups and
discussed how to answer the following
questions: 1) How will the
information I learned today impact
how I teach English language development?
and 2) How will I implement these
suggestions into my daily teaching
practices? Then teachers were
presented with some specific strategies,
which they then modeled to be sure
that they could return to their classrooms
and implement them right away. Dr.
Rivas was pleased at the cooperative
spirit of everyone involved in facilitating
the day. "District teachers did a
great job of facilitating the afternoon
sessions. These teachers felt
honored to help and will continue
to work throughout the year to be
instructional leaders."
PVUSD Categorical staff facilitated this staff-training day
and is planning English
language trainings in
collaboration with other educational institutions. The
New Teacher Project, the University of California, Santa
Cruz, the County Office of Education, Santa Cruz City Schools,
and the California Reading and Literature Project collaborate
throughout the year with PVUSD to make English language institutes
possible. PVUSD
Categorical Programs have scheduled several other English
Language Institutes for grades 6-10 throughout the school
year. For more information on upcoming institutes, contact
786-2100, Ext. 231. |
