Entry 6

After reading Columbus and the Indians, I realized that when the Indians were given the impossible task of finding gold, they were desperate to run away and escape cruelty. This is similar to what ELLs are experiencing inside of “bilingual classes”. Some schools expect students to thrive in a classroom that is bilingual when in reality the instruction is just in English and Spanish is used sparingly. Because ELLs are not receiving that extra help and guidance, they start to dislike school and give up on their dreams and education. This is what happened to the Indians when they couldn’t find gold. They gave up on the beauty of life. Another similarity is that Indians were tortured while the students are also being traumatized with standardized exams that they are not ready to take. We need more districts and schools that provide sufficient help to the students in order to learn a second language. During my observations, I saw that Pasadena ISD had intervention for students who were recent immigrants and this helped them understand the concepts that were being taught. As teachers, we have to fight for their well-being and for their education quality. We don’t have to set them up for failure like Christopher Columbus did with the Indians.