Teacher works wizardry in classroom

On the first day of classes, Catherine Marchese walked into her classroom with a different kind of curriculum in mind. Sporting a pointy wizard hat and waving a long wand, Marchese was ready to work her magic.\nAs a teacher at University Elementary School in Bloomington, Marchese is using the theme of magic to teach her students their daily lessons.\n"It was a great way of opening because I didn't have to say anything," Marchese said. "They just had to watch."\nMarchese is one of the many English as a New Language instructors, trained to help foreign speaking students adapt to the conditions of the American classroom. Through an immersion program, these students are able to learn English while interacting in a regular classroom. Due to the increase of immigrants coming to the United States, more and more schools are altering their curriculums to accommodate the eager learners.\nIn the 2003-2004 school year, 47 percent of the University Elementary's student body was international students, and 17 percent spoke very little English, Marchese said. \n"We had an explosion of new language learners," she said. "It doubled, or even tripled since my first year."\nUniversity was one of the first schools in Bloomington to feature an ENL program but now is one of many, said Aniko Bahr, director of the Office of Multicultural Education Services for the Monroe County Community School Corporation. \n"ENL programs, like the one at University, have proven to be very successful," Bahr said. "It's the best way to teach newcomers the language."\nAs a full-time specialty instructor at University, Marchese works with ENL students through a "pull out" method of teaching. Each day she meets with a small group from grades 1 through 5 for 40 to 45 minutes, focusing on reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.\nFor many students, particularly those of East Asian backgrounds, certain parts of the English language are difficult to understand. One challenge is recognizing simple vowels for spelling.\n"Letters like 'a' and words like 'the' are very hard for Asian students who speak a language where some English sounds don't even exist," Marchese said.\nIn 2003, 27 percent of students at University were of Asian ethnicity, which is far greater than the Indiana state average of 1 percent, according to a status report done by www.greatschools.net and the Monroe County Department of Education.\nMartha Nyikos, professor of language education at IU, said she believes the changes at schools like University reflect the growing population of international students at IU.\n"A lot of the students at University have parents who are getting their Ph.D or Masters," Nyikos said. "Especially students from an East Asian background."\nAt IU, 8.7 percent of the student body, both undergraduate and graduate, is comprised of international students, according to International Student Resources Department at IU. \nThe Bloomington ENL programs are different from the traditional bilingual education programs found in places like Southern California and Arizona. While bilingual classes teach student's material in English, as well as a second language, ENL programs are taught only in English by trained language education specialists, Bahr said.\nIn Bloomington, two elementary schools, University and Templeton, have full-time ENL instructors.\nAt University, Marchese will teach five days a week for students, who, combined, speak 12 different languages, ranging from Japanese and Korean, to Spanish and German. The classes focus on a hands-on, visual method of teaching that encourages students to work in groups. Activities that use songs and simple books help students grasp the basics, Marchese said. \n"Being extremely visual is essential," Marchese said. "Once (the students) become comfortable with the class, they start relying on each other to learn."\nDespite the progress, the programs still face some difficulties ranging from lack of funding to new government curriculum programs, like "No Child Left Behind," which sets a standard for all schools by mandatory testing in order to receive funding. \nNyikos said she believes the main hardship ENL students face is having to understand English on an academic level. \n"What people don't understand is that challenges are much greater for students coming in with low English literacy," Nyikos said.\nSubjects like language arts and history create barriers for international students. In her college classes, Nyikos teaches students about the different kinds of bilingual education programs and even places them in schools like University Elementary to gain field experience. \n"Many times, in regular curriculum programs, these kids are not watched closely by the teacher and they fall behind in their work," Nyikos said.\nJanice Bizzari, University's principal, said she has seen no serious problems with Marchese's pull-out classes, but realizes that with all the success there are consequences.\n"Having an ENL teacher is a luxury," Bizzari said. "However, every time you pull a child out of the classroom, they are going to lose something."\nThe other threat to successful ENL programs is money. At the Monroe County School Corporation, ENL funding is one of Bahr's main concerns.\nFor the most part the federal government, through education grants, funds ENL programs in Bloomington on a per capita basis based on the number of ENL students. However, half of the money received is used to pay the salaries of instructors like Marchese, which does not leave a lot more for improvements costs.\n"We need to spend more money on ENL instructors 'cause I'm still short staff," Bahr said. "I would also like to start a real bilingual education program in Bloomington of either Korean and English or Spanish and English, or ultimately both."\nThe future of ENL programs in Bloomington is unclear. Now, University and Templeton are the only elementary schools to have full-time ENL teachers, but Marchese and others are pushing for ENL in all of Monroe County. \nFor Bahr, one goal is to start ENL in early education. Now, all programs begin in the first grade, while in other parts of the country children are involved with ENL in pre-kindergarten and Head Start, a program designed to encourage early education, Bahr said.\nDespite current challenges and ambitious goals, the ENL programs were very successful over the years and continue to prosper. Every year the number of ENL staffers increase and more and more elementary schools are opening their doors to English learners, Bahr said. \n"Because University was so overloaded with ENL students, the county decided to create more programs," Bahr said. "Now students, who were previously being bused out for ENL, are able to stay in their neighborhood school."\nAs the current school year draws to an end, Marchese is busy as ever helping her students get ahead in their new environment. She said she believes it is a great accomplishment and does not have any plans of leaving.\n"I absolutely love seeing the kids go from speaking no English at all and then seeing how they progress," Marchese said. "It's sort of like child birth."\nOn the second to last Wednesday of the year, her 10 a.m. second graders move on to their homeroom classes. Marchese takes a seat at a desk and skims through her students daily quizzes. Above her a colorful banner on the wall reads, "Let Learning Take You Around The World."\n-- Contact staff writer C. Warner Sills at csills@indiana.edu.