I taught in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua at an international elementary school. The school is relatively new and has a diverse group of students. One third of the students are from families that are fully Nicarguan, another third had one parent whose first language is Spanish, and the other third were international students mostly from Canada, U.S., and Europe.
The main curriculum is still in the process of being complete. Comparing different curriculums from the U.S. and Canada, we noticed that the students were behind in their reading. Part of this had to do with the amount of ESL students we had. As an international school they would like to be at par with the American/Canadian school systems when it comes to reading skills.
The school is fairly small, with 10-12 students in each class. This teacher to student ratio allows for more one on one. With this environment, implementing RTI and new reading techniques such as whisper books in the class, we foresee that the school will reach the benchmark in reading compared to those scores in America and Canada.
The main curriculum is still in the process of being complete. Comparing different curriculums from the U.S. and Canada, we noticed that the students were behind in their reading. Part of this had to do with the amount of ESL students we had. As an international school they would like to be at par with the American/Canadian school systems when it comes to reading skills.
The school is fairly small, with 10-12 students in each class. This teacher to student ratio allows for more one on one. With this environment, implementing RTI and new reading techniques such as whisper books in the class, we foresee that the school will reach the benchmark in reading compared to those scores in America and Canada.
Are you using an established curriculum or are teachers creating the curriculum? With such small class sizes the one on one attention should result in incredible growth for your students. Are your teachers trained in teaching ESL students? I was surprised by how much I didn't know about teaching ESL students after I took a class on it.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you!