WELCOME

THE 30TH ELL, BILINGUAL, AND MIGRANT EDUCATION

CONFERENCE

RIVER CENTER, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

APRIL 14 & 15, 2011

IN HOW MANY LANGUAGES CAN YOU SAY THE WORD

WELCOME

IN HOW MANY LANGUAGES CAN YOU SAY HOW ARE YOU?

In how many languages can you say the word English

If I were a student in your school…

by Ruslana Westerlund

If I were a student in your school…What would I see in the hallways?What would I see on the walls?Faces of the great presidents?Turkeys, feathers, Indians,Hispanic heritage month postersThat come up in Novembercome down by the end of December?

What would I hear by my locker?What would I feel in the lunchroom? Would I feel welcomed? orWould I be treated like a Hispanic token?Would I hear laughter behind my back?Would I be seen as somebody intelligent orJust an ESL student?

If I were a student in your

reading class…

Would I read Cat Sat on a Mat

in sixth grade?

Would I have to write about

my vacation?

Again and again and the

weekend’s fun?

Will I ever reach my true potential

If I write another sentence

“My weekend was fun”?

If I were a student in your class,

Would you see me as a 21st century learner?

Would I be creating, blogging, networking?

Will my voice reach the farthest corner?

Will I be asked to participate in the digital world

Or be an outsider

who is utterly bored?

I am a student in your class!

I speak three languages or half of the two

The school took away my first one

And my second language is still new.

I’m already on the outskirts of the academic content

I want to learn science, biology, and words like circumvent.

Yes, I want to engage, because I can!

To design, analyze is more than skim and scan.

Yes,

I need the fundamentals,

Yes,

I need to

read and write

But if my

words are stuck on paper

Who cares

if the grammar is right?

Who cares

if I can decode

if the words

are on worksheets only?

Who cares about literacy

If it’s for the world in which you are lonely?

Can my words fly across the ocean?Can they reach uncharted places?Can they change this world even a little bit?Can they put smiles on children's faces?

If so, I am lining up at the door!If not, then I need this no more!

©Ruslana Westerlund

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HAVE A GREAT DAY!