Question:
Are there any el. ed. classroom teachers out there who added ESL teaching
credentials to their existing teaching certification? If so, in what state,
and how did you go about it? I am a New York State certified classroom teacher
and would like to do the same
Answer:
In my district a teacher is required to take 4 or 5 boring classes to be
ESL certified.
We'd be better served to teach us Spanish. Teachers already know how to
teach. The ESL classes are just another hoop to get an endorsement.
Now why in the world would anyone want the endorsement is beyond me. It
doesn't do anything for the salary schedule, and there is little
information given in the classes that isn't already known by teachers.
However, there is one exception where the endorsement could be a
benefit. That could be if you want to be an ESL coordinator in your
school.
This is fine, but---if you plan on being ESL certified, please learn a
foreign language. If I were a principal I wouldn't hire any ESL people
in my school unless they were fluent in the needed language or
languages. You can endorse all the only english speakers you want, but
what real good does it do?
It's interesting, in our school we have a couple of "English only
speaking" ESL endorsed teachers. Do you think these teachers get any of
the Spanish Speaking students? No way, they are all put in the class of
a teacher who speaks Spanish and not ESL endorsed.
So if you need the ESL classes for salary lane changes, great, go for
it. If you already know a foreign language, then the endorsement might
help you land a job that you wouldn't have an opportunity to have if you
hadn't been endorsed.
But then again, knowing a foreign language will get you a lot farther
than the endorsement.
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