“As the only ENL teacher (…) they want me to help them do their homework. The expectation that I know their content across K-12 is overwhelming.”
“We've tried multiple different methods here for supporting students in class. I try and support teachers, too. And they're like, ‘I don't have time for that.’ ‘What do you mean, you don't have time for that? That's your job. Differentiation is your job.’ ‘Yeah. Well, I don't. I don't have time for that. So I don't want any of these other kids in my class.’”
“So I think part of it is educating others, too. A lot of my time is spent doing that, [showing] that modifying or differentiating doesn't have to take more time. It doesn't have to be different. What's good for a Special Ed kid is good for an ENL kid, which is good for all students, so that we don't have to make it different for them. If we watch a video, put captions on it that help everybody because the fan is making noise. And now the kid in the back can hear, too.”
“There are some teachers that are just not going to change, which is unfortunate. I think you just have to kind of come to terms with that. That's just who they are and we're going to have to agree to disagree and move on. I can't spend my 4-pm-to-7-am stressing about that. You're not turning the closed captions on. It's just not gonna happen. Fine. I'm moving on with my life because I can't fix yours—which sounds harsh, but I I can't internalize all of that, or I wouldn't come back the next day.”