Breaking Them Up, Taking Them Away: ESL Students in Grade 1 by Kelleen Toohey

“Breaking Them Up, Taking Them Away” : ESL Students in Grade 1 by Kelleen Toohey

I was very shocked to read this article because some very insignificant looking things in daily life can make a big negative difference. Even though it was written about 10 years ago, it made me think about my English classes and my two sons’ English classes from the different aspects. I realized that what I did in my class without thinking have has serious negative effects on their learning and self identities. In addition, this article made me curious about my two sons’ classrooms in America.
This article deals with three things mainly: the location of participants; the management of the material; and the source of the intellectual sources. First I want to mention about the location of participants. Ms. Jones who worked as a homeroom teacher shows that she didn’t like her students moving around the classroom and making noises and so decided to assign seating to students. There are many teachers with the same thinking like Ms. Jones, including me. It is a lot easier to control students with assigned seats. Besides, I don’t have to worry about my class disrupting neighboring rooms. In my case, there was a library next to the principal’s room at school I worked. Most teachers hesitated to use the library because they felt an extra burden to make students stay calm and quiet. Sometimes, when there are loud noises from the students’ activities in the library, the principal came and looked around the library. That made teachers hesitate to use the library. Even though they used the library, they tended to plan individual work for students. I think the location of classroom is also important.
If I look at the classroom in Korea, an individual desk is assigned to each student. There is only one student whom to talk to and to receive a help from side by side. Each student should not change their seats without any permission from the teacher. Therefore their interactions between classmates are very limited. It is natural for students to stay calm. We teachers tend to think if there is no noise, it means students will study hard. What a cruel situation this is! I thought about my two sons. What if there is no one they can get help from in America, especially when they can’t speak English well and they are very intimidated. So I was very curious about my two sons’ seating arrangement and asked them about it. In the case of my second son, his seating was in the front row, so the teacher could watch him very well. Whenever he had a problem in the classroom, the teacher helped him. However, one month later, his seating changed. He is sitting in the middle surrounded by friends. It’s very easy for him to get help from friends and to make friends. Also, he told me that he is feeling more comfortable than before. He felt awkward while the teacher was watching him even though he received lots of help from the teacher. I am very delighted because he does not have any difficulty in making friends. For my own convenience, I assigned students’ seating without considering any side effects on my students. This was selfish of me.
There is a big difference between Korean students’ English abilities according to their parents’ economic status. We parents should spend a fortune to improve our children’s English abilities. Some people say that if the parents want their child to succeed in getting good grades, they should meet three requirements; grandparents’ wealth, mother’s resourcefulness, child’s intelligence. Parents who do not have enough money to spend for their children’s English education need to ask for money from their parents. Mothers should have lots of information about English education, especially English academies. The last one is the child’s intelligence. People think that if there is enough money and information for their children’s education, less intelligent children may still succeed. It is a sad and harsh reality. However, the similar things happen in the classroom where children should be treated equally. Students who are not fluent in English have difficulty in borrowing materials. Usually students who are fluent in English have power in the classroom. It seems that interactions between students are decided by students with the power in terms of language and wealth. To prevent students with less power who are isolated from students with power, teachers need to provide many opportunities for students to share their educational materials with their classmates. For this purpose, grouping students is better than assigning individual seating to students because these students can receive help from many students with less difficulty.
I have experience in studying TESOL in Sookmyeong Women’s University. At that time, all the professors put emphasis on cooperation and collaboration. At the beginning of studying, I didn’t understand the importance of these two ideas. However, while I was studying with my classmates, I realized the importance of cooperation. We usually shared all the things, for instance, place, materials, and knowledge, with one another. Once we shared the desk, it was very easy to share materials and knowledge. Especially, by sharing knowledge, we can expand our knowledge more effectively.
After I have read this article, I think that when I manage my classroom I need to take into account all the possible side effects I have learned. The convenience in controlling students should not be the main element in planning seating arrangements. I agree that there are many benefits from moving individual desks together and sharing the supplies and materials. However, I think that teachers should plan lessons appropriate for grouping. Some lessons are suitable for individual work. I don’t think grouping tables is the best one for all students. Teachers should be flexible in grouping according to their students’ needs and contexts.