"There are many new students this year who do not speak English. I observed that many of these students need intense conversation practice, so I decided to create an English conversation group during our busiest lunch period. I went to the teachers to build support for the idea and the teachers were very receptive. Most of them announced the conversation group during advisory (homeroom) period.
Although the teachers were very supportive of the idea, finding an available room proved very difficult. Because our Bridging Cultures room is very busy during this time, I needed to find another room, and I spent a great deal of time consulting with the ESL Program Director and with many teachers before finding one teacher whose room was available.
With the help of the Bridging Cultures staff I continued to publicize the group. On Tuesday, a number of students came to the conversation group eager to practice speaking English, and many of them have expressed interest in coming regularly to the group. I look forward to helping these students work with each other to practice and improve their conversation skills.
