Most English-language learners were born in the United States.

Among those students, even though they may have less reason to fear changing U.S. immigration policies, many of their family members are in different situations.

Those of us who teach classes with more recent immigrants, however, are facing different environments where students may very well have more immediate concerns.

Today’s post shares some ideas on how we can best support those students ....

‘Take a Trauma-Informed Approach’

Leah Michaels teaches 8th grade English-language development in Silver Spring, Md.:

Despite a fraught and often toxic political environment, most of us are going about the business of daily life: Students go to school, and caregivers go to work. In these chaotic times, however, it’s not business as usual for those of us who teach multilingual learners—many of our students are afraid. In the halls, they make nervous jokes about deportation. Rumors of ICE raids spread like a virus on Instagram.

I find myself wondering how I can be talking about adjectives or verb conjugations at a time like this. When I feel this way, I remind myself that I support my students best by maintaining a classroom environment that feels safe and productive, where, when life is unpredictable and often scary, familiar routines can provide structure and comfort.

We’ve started class all year with a mindful minute, and that calming, reflective time is especially important now. Anything teachers can do to ease students’ anxiety, such as having a “calm corner” where students can go if they need a minute to settle themselves, a dance party, an inviting classroom library (think small lamps, beanbags, area rugs) where they can take a quiet brain break, shows them that we care.

Creating space for students to share their feelings is important, too. For example, try a daily check-in question by giving students a visual, such as an emotions chart, that helps them name how they are feeling. Allow time for students to share if they want to, with a partner, a small group, or the class. This builds speaking and listening skills as well as helping them process their experiences and emotions.

Build writing skills by providing frequent opportunities for journal-writing in English or their home languages. Offering choices in class gives students agency and control that may be lacking in other contexts now. Creating a bank of sentence starters, frames, and vocabulary to glue to the inside cover of their notebooks helps students feel more confident in their writing and express themselves in more depth and detail.

Take a trauma-informed approach when incorporating journal-writing. Remember to consider possible triggers when creating prompts. A teacher who asks students to describe their biggest fear may be expecting breezy casual responses about spiders or heights but might inadvertently elicit a trauma response. Unexpected responses are not always negative, and they could happen anytime, but I try to anticipate possible responses and plan my journal prompts accordingly.

Another consideration is how personal your journal prompts are. Would you be comfortable responding to it yourself? Some journal prompts assume too much about the relationship between students and their teacher and invite students to be quite open and vulnerable in their responses.

As you design a prompt, think about your classroom climate and dynamics. Remember,teachers are not their students’ counselors or caregivers, and students don’t owe anyone facts or feelings about their personal lives. We are their ELD teachers, though, and helping students find and develop their voices through self-expression is an important part of the job.

I want my students to spend less time unpacking a prompt and more time responding to it. So, I use only a few styles of prompt per quarter, varied enough to remain interesting but similar enough that students learn how to compose their responses. One of my favorites is “describe a time when,” with a follow-up question to help students recognize their own capacity and strength or find ways to feel hopeful and powerful.

For example:

• Describe a time when you overcame an obstacle. How did you do it? or How did you feel afterward?

• Describe a time when you did something (brave, strong, difficult). How did it make you feel?

• Describe a time when you felt (anxious, confused, uncertain). How did you get through it?

I vary my prompts throughout the week: sometimes asking direct questions, other times prompting students to express themselves creatively. I especially love prompts focused on gratitude and happiness.

• What makes you feel good when things are hard?
  
• Write a letter to your future self.
  

• What made you smile today?
  
• What are you most grateful for today?
  

Be open to spontaneous conversations even when they lead the class away from what you had planned but keep teaching! It may be jarring to listen to the news on the way to work and then ask your students to read a lighthearted article about space travel or write a story.

But creating a classroom community that holds space for students’ lived experience and keeps them moving forward in their English-language acquisition builds grounding, supportive relationships while implicitly showing your confidence in and hopes for your students’ futures.

Providing a ‘Sense of Stability’

Anastasia M. Martinez is an English-language development coach in Pittsburg, Calif.:

In times of chaos and uncertainty due to political, social, or other reasons, supporting multilingual learners and immigrant students becomes even more crucial and challenging.

Students already navigating learning a new language, country, and culture often face additional obstacles, such as economic instability, family separation, or trauma. Therefore, as teachers of multilingual learners, we play a unique role in the lives of our students, not only by providing them with daily academic instruction but also giving them a sense of stability and safety in our classrooms.

Here are some recommendations that would help educators navigate teaching multilingual learners during uncertain times.

1. Focus on your relationships.

In these times of uncertainty, it is crucial that students feel safe in our classrooms, which is why it is essential to continue fostering ongoing, strong relationships with students and their families. Taking time for SEL check-in activities with questions such as “How are you right now?” or “How are you feeling today?” might give students space to express their concerns and reassure them that their teachers can care about their emotional well-being. As you are their everyday point of contact within the school system, you may, in fact, be their only trustworthy adult.

2. Foster a sense of community.

Multilingual learners can feel isolated during uncertain times. Allowing students to use their home languages in addition to English and incorporating students’ backgrounds and cultures into the school day will help students feel included in the classroom community.

Additionally, holding a judgment-free space in your classroom open for questions that might come up because of current news or conversations at home would give students an opportunity to come and ask for help in a space where they would not feel judged. Sometimes, students have a lot on their minds—but they don’t feel safe to ask.

3. Empowering students and families

It is vital that students and families feel supported and see schools as allies during these uncertain times. Therefore, it is important that schools share resources and conduct workshops for families of multilingual learners to inform them about their rights.

Teaching multilingual learners during uncertain times is challenging, but it is truly rewarding. By focusing on strengthening relationships, fostering a sense of community, and empowering students and families, we as teachers of multilingual learners can help them navigate these uncertain times and provide a safe and supporting learning environment.

Thanks to Leah and Anastasia for sharing their experiences and advice.

I wrote the first, second and third posts in this series on how educators should respond to recent Trump administration actions.

Morgan Polikoff wrote about education research and researchers.

Christie Nold and Sarah Cooper also shared advice about social studies.

Mary Beth Hertz discussed teaching media literacy.

Christina Torres Cawdery offered recommendations to English teachers.

Zaretta Hammond provided ideas to practitioners of culturally responsive teaching.

Students shared their own perspectives.

PJ Caposey and Glasher Robinson discussed administrator challenges.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo.

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