Week 1: ELLs and Their Teachers

My Comment:

When I reflect on the following videos, while I don't feel like I've learned anything radically new, I do feel as though I gained more context that is relevant to understanding my students here in Unalaska, AK. For those of you who are not familiar, Unalaska is where Dutch Harbor - the largest commercial fishing port in the Pacific - is located. As such, much like with the livestock industry in Kansas, the fishing industry here is reliant on immigrant laborers primarily from the Philippines, the Pacific Islands, and Central and South America. Likewise, as compared to the first video, since the school population is largely consisted of immigrant laborers, attendance is a big issue here. While I wouldn't say most move out of the community on a regular basis (we have families who have lived in the city for 5-10 years), they do regularly spend weeks if not an entire month  visiting family and loved ones in their home communities. What makes it worse out here is that, given the turbulent weather here, even when families intend to come home, they often have no means to, as the only way to travel to Dutch Harbor year-round is by plane. With that said, there are some things that vastly contrast with the video: students' academics, while not perfect, are usually up to par compared to other rural Alaskan communities. Likewise, the dropout rates are low here, which again stands in contrast with what the first video illustrates as well as graduation trends in similar schools in remote Alaska. However, like with Maria's video, despite the linguistic barriers even between immigrant students, the student body does bond together really well for the most part - often through athletics, video games, or even board games. 

With that said, one thing that did particularly stick out to me was a comment made by the narrator of the first video. In it, she described how, in many migrant Latinx families, it is not all that common that the elder students underperform (if not drop out) so that their younger siblings do well at school. The reason why this stuck out is because I experienced a family of students who resembled that to a T. The family's eldest son, who I taught as a senior, regularly tended to not perform well at school: he often was late or absent to class, rarely did his homework, and was overall not that engaged in school. It was sadly to none of the school's surprise that, when he didn't graduate school for lack of credits, he opted to drop out than try again. But that was not to say he was lazy or did not care. He often worked at the local grocery store - sometimes even during the school day - making money for his family. Likewise, if he saw that a task needed completing, he regularly helped when needed. And, while I never pried too deeply into the matter of why he underperformed in school, I would say that from what I've seen, it might be likely that it was in part to support his siblings. The reason why I say this is because his younger sister, who I currently teach now as a 7th grade student, excels in class: she completes her assignments when given, she regularly contributes meaningfully in class discussions, and overall there is a passion in her that I did not see in her brother - which is of little wonder why she has had straight As in all her classes.

With this all said, there is a part of me that still wonders what more I could have done to help out the eldest brother in this family. One suggestion the narrator made that I did not try (as I was young in the community at the time) was to have face-to-face contact with the mother. While I did attempt to engage in phone call and email conversations with her, it was to no avail, as they always wound up unreplied. If the mother's intimidation concerning her knowledge of English was a primary factor in her non-response, an attempt at face-to-face contact could have likely eased things. I also wonder if in general I may have been too late for him, for by the time I worked with him, he was already a junior with plans made up as to what he was planning on doing after school. Moreover, given the small size of our school, perhaps more TESOL-focused interventions may have helped, as some of the texts we read - ranging from Shakespeare, to The Great Gatsby, and Jane Eyre - might have been too formidable for him given his English ability. It is definitely something to think about as I continue forward in this class this quarter.

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Response to Michelle Johansen:

I think another thing that complicates issues is that, while schools in the US can transfer records to each other with relative success, it is much more difficult when an immigrant student attempts to transfer their school records from another country. That makes me think back to one student I was teaching in a credit recovery class last year. While he was in my class in part because he failed some courses, another significant issue according to our guidance counselor was that they were unsure what they could classify some of the credits this student received when he was a freshman in the Philippines. Now I imagine this process is relatively easier between the Philippines and the US as English is recognized as an official language of the country than it is when a student is coming from a country where English is not an official language, like many countries in Central and South America.

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Response to Melinda Oakes:

While Dutch Harbor is a much smaller community than Ithaca, I would say in general that our community does a lot to embrace all of the different cultures here - especially for those who immigrated to the community. Recently one of our secretaries over at the High School began offering a Tagalog story time for the younger kids who have moved with their parents to the island. Likewise, the community center has been offering all sorts of cultural events, ranging from traditional Filipino dancing to a Muslim prayer group, to ensure everyone feels welcome here. And you know what the best part is? Many of these cultural activities have attracted members of many different communities in the city, not just the communities these activities are catered to. A great example is NYO - or Native Youth Olympics. This is an official sports activity that Alaskan High Schools hold during the Spring months, and while it obviously attracts members of the Unangax (Aleut) Alaska Native community, many of my students - including those from the Philippines, Samoa, Mexico, etc - participate in this sport during the season. It's clear to me that when a community makes an attempt to outreach to migrant communities, migrants aren't the only ones who benefit. Everyone benefits, as it allows people from all different backgrounds to experience the cultures and practices of those who migrate to the community.