Ms. Astorga:
Can you describe your college experience?
I think it was a typical “American” college experience where I lived on campus — I mean typical in kind of the idea of college — I made a lot of new friends, I went to parties, I had a lot of different classes. I really enjoyed college. My childhood was very sheltered, so college was this big period of liberation for me.
What is it like teaching your sheltered students?
It’s a little bit challenging in a good way because it really forces me to think about all the different things they need to understand before they can understand some of the more difficult concepts in English. There’s a difference between teaching literature and teaching a language — the language they need to know to even be able to answer these questions that I expect a native speaker to understand.
Ms. Morris:
Can you describe your college experience?
I went to a private university, so my college had less than 2000 students in total. I had a very unique experience where there were actually less students at my college than at my high school, and so I felt like I knew a lot more people. I was able to make more connections with my professors as well because the class sizes were small. And so for me, it was really good because I was able to to form more connections that helped me get through especially being away from home and being kind of on my own for the first time.
What is different about teaching ESL kids?
It’s different in that they’re trying to learn two ways: they’re trying to learn the language first, and then they’re trying to learn the English second, like the actual English skills that kids do in academic classes. I’ve found that they’re working twice as hard because they’re having to understand the content and then they’re having to understand how to use the content to actually answer questions and look at things. It’s kind of special in that they get to see them learn twice.
Favorite thing about teaching?
My favorite thing is seeing students understand something on their own for the first time, like making a realization or a connection to something, especially when they haven’t gotten it for a while, and then they finally [did]. You can see when students click into something. For me, that’s the most exciting part of it.
How would you define maturity?
I think being mature means that you understand what you need to advocate for yourself, what you need to do for yourself. You’re able to kind of get away from what your mom or your parents need or what they expect of you, you’re able to be mature in handling your business because everyone’s different.
