Diversity Day with my ELL Students

I do not post about my job very often (if ever) but I absolutely love it!! I just finished my 6th year of teaching middle school, and this was my favorite year by far. After teaching 8th grade LA and Social Studies for four years, and then one year of 6th grade LA, Reading, and SS, I was one of two teaches hired at Northwood to work with the English Language Learners. Fort Wayne has a very large refugee population and our middle school is one of three that offers classes to introduce these students to the English language. My students come from all over the world! Many of them are from Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Mexico, Sudan, and several other countries. They are all so excited to learn and try their best everyday to improve their English skills. I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to work with these great kids.

On my last day of work, May 27th, our school had its annual Diversity Day. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to share the wide variety of cultures that make up Northwood. I had several students participate in this day. We had so much fun! Max even came for the second half of the afternoon to meet my students and watch some of the performances. I think it was too overwhelming for him, but he still had fun. Here are some pictures of my classes and a few of the groups.

The following pictures are of a group of Karen students from Thailand. They were all Burmese refugees. They are performing a traditional Karen bamboo ceremony dance. Another teacher brought her students in to watch and learn part of the dance.

At the end of the day, I had to play the music for several of the groups that were dancing for the school. Max decided to help me. The day was a lot of fun! Looking forward to it again next year.