Working with ESL students

During road scholar classes last week my group had an awesome experience working with some of the ESL students at CSU Pueblo. All of these students are amazing people and come from all different backgrounds. So it was amazing working with them on poetry, a debate on lowering the drinking age or keeping it the same here in America, and short drama’s that we acted out.
We worked on many little things while we worked on the three major activities, one of the hardest was listening to a love song in Spanish and trying to arrange the lyrics, I can’t imagine how difficult it was for these student when they had to do the same with English lyrics the first time.
Jing is a female student is from Taiwan, her English wasn’t too bad and she was fun to be around and work with, she was on my debate team and our group won the debate. Jing was open to talking about her country and her family, along with her studies and her English. She was on my drama team also and was a wonderful person to work with, she shows great determination.
JooHo is a male student from Korea, who is interesting and hilarious. He was against my debate team, but he was a member of my drama team and he wore a pretty tiara and made it a great time. He really got in to acting it out and played the part well. Another interesting thing I learned from him was that in Korea they count their birthday’s different.
Anais is a female student from Venezuela, you’ll learn a little more about her family later on but she was great. Her English wasn’t too bad and she would do anything to understand the things she couldn’t grasp. Anais is young, she’s fun and fabulous. It was an ease working with her, even though she was easy to distract, I learned a ton of information from her and she is a very hard worker. She was on our winning debate team and she was in our drama team too.
Boston is a male student from Thailand, and he is a total crack up. He was on the opposing debate team and on the other drama team so I didn’t get to work with him a lot. Boston is a good photographer, and I trusted him with my camera during our visit. He dressed up like an old woman and made the time fly with his funny personality.
Cey is a male student from Turkey who was kind of quite at the start of the class but once he opened up we had many great conversations about his country and the difference in America. We talked about smoking hookah which is very popular in the Middle East and we also talked about teen pregnancy and how it is in turkey. His English was well and he tried very hard in our class. He was on my debate team that won, and he worked hard and knew what he was talking about.
Fiordaliza is a female student from Dominican Republic. She was fun to work with, she was on our drama team, and although she had her difficulties she pushed through and was never afraid to have something explained to her. She would talk about her country a little and was kind of shy, when talking to me. But it was fun working with her and learning new things.
Angela is a female student from Venezuela. She is also Anais’ Aunt. It was fun seeing them work together, and I had fun seeing her with her daughter when we went to lunch. She worked very hard and tried with all her might to understand what we were talking about and she often helped explain things to the other ESL students that didn’t understand them.
Overall I had a FANTASTIC time working with the student and learning amazing things about them, their family’s, and their countries. I wish we could have worked with them more. It was remarkable.
I want to send a thanks out to Cathy (our teacher) and Rebecca (their teacher) for setting up the class and for making it so much fun.

Picture of Heaven

Sitting in Gods lap,
holding great grandmas hand.
I met her at the gates,
Mommy, you were so sad.

Great grandmas with me now,
tell great grandpa she is safe.
Daddy, I love you,
Mommy, I always will.

Papa, love the new baby
with all of your heart.
Grandma, dont let my birthday
tear you apart.

Andi, hug my Mommy for me,
I will get to one day,
when I meet her at those beautiful gates!

Ive watched you over the last year,
never let you out of my sight.
I held your hand mommy,
when you told daddy theres a new baby on the way.

I miss you family,
I always will.
Hold on tight to what you hold dear.

Link by link we will come back together,
over time you will find it easier.
till that day when we meet again,
I love you mommy,I always will.

By Nessa Barnes
In loving Memory of Nautica
January 17, 2007

My Worst Enemy

Walking tall..

his shadow stretching for miles

standing alone...

his gun in his calloused hands

his body assaulted...

he is more than just a hero

unsharable knowledge...

so many words he wishes to speak

dirty face...

hiding so much of his pain

trembling hands...

yet never misses a target

blistered feet...

he is more that just a hero

weary eyes...

looking through so many horrific scenes

scarred heart...

for all the women and children slain

empty stomach...

no time to stop and eat he has a task to complete

exhausted limbs...

so much to achieve before he can leave

battered soul...

he is more than just a hero

mystified mind...

family and friends left alone to worry

chosen few...

still fight this unruly war

snipers up...

those words will forever ring in his ears

grimy tears...

he is more than just a hero

tempting wounds...

leaving unfinished business is not an option

magnified sorrows...

for those who were left behind

unforgiving past...

he is more than just a hero....

he is an angel.