By Sandi Howell
March 17, 2020, remember it? Everything shut down including ESL programs. This was the perfect storm for us at The Peoples Church as the computer program to enter our learners’ particulars was discontinued and we were waiting for the new system, so we were using a paper record of attendance. Our newest learners’ information had been transcribed to a spreadsheet by an able volunteer but it was doubtful if the emails given were clear. How was I to contact these learners? I was allowed one visit to the church to gather attendance sheets so as to glean contact details. How long will this pandemic continue? It became apparent that the lockdown was going to last for a long time. First, it was thought to end in June, but then later, it was continued in stages into September.
The urgent message in our hearts was that we need to serve our newcomers as many are isolated, and we are commanded to “care for the stranger among us” (Leviticus 19:34, NIV).
Our first step was gathering teachers with a common vision to serve these isolated newcomers. All were ready to stretch and learn where they have never been before in order to fulfill this vision. The next step was to learn to use our chosen learning platform, Zoom. From the nine in-person class teachers, five came to learn and then there were only three left. We read, attended workshops, gleaned and learned from others’ experiences. For three weeks we learned together, practiced hands-on skills, pushing through the fears and confusion. Finally, we felt confident in teaching on-line. It took us weeks to add on extras like videos, whiteboards and other features! The best advice we received was to keep it simple.
We kept it simple and familiar. Our weekly class routine had all levels meet together at the start, similar to our in-person class. After that, learners were moved to one of the breakout rooms according to their level of ability. In the room, the teachers didn’t have the ability to put their students into additional rooms for conversation practice in small groups. We had questions: First, “How can we still have effective practice of conversational topics in one room?” One possible solution was to have two conversing and the others listen, taking turns. There is a lot of creativity and prayer that go into making the lesson effective for practicing this skill. For the more advanced speaker, English Circles which occur at another time were developed to address this issue. Recently, another question that arose was “How do you write in the “fill in” answers as a teacher when all our lessons are in PDF? Annotate on Zoom loses the answers.”
Here are three possible solutions:
- Take the lesson and convert to Word Document using Adobe Acrobat Pro (money involved!) or copy and paste but then the formatting is lost and we have to reformat.
- There is a “sign and fill” function on the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (2020 version). Just type/fill in without signing (remember to delete additions).
- Don’t use the lessons but use the SOCEM Conversation guide with the topic of the week instead and just talk.
We need to remember that it is all about our learner! Initially, they were shy to speak; to see themselves on video; to navigate using the features. It was new and unfamiliar. Having patience was and is imperative. It is also important to let them share about their experiences, possible fears with Covid-19, quarantine, or family, if they are able. We are the hands, voice, face and aroma of our Lord Jesus Christ!