It was my turn to present to the group of teachers who were assembled for the Struggling Readers Series of workshops. As I proudly shared my student‰s poem with the audience, their reaction, or lack of one, surprised me. I had imagined their response upon hearing the writing of a second language learner to be like mine: impressed that an intermediate fluent student was able to express his thoughts and emotions quite well in an eight-line poem. I had expected smiles, heads nodding in approval, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

What amazed me were their questions: ‹Did you write it for him, Carlos?Š ‹He must have had lots of extra help.Š ‹He couldn‰t be an intermediate fluent student. My intermediate fluent students don‰t use those kinds of words.Š

Naively, I wondered why my colleagues had asked those questions. In my 25 years in the classroom and three years as a Curriculum Specialist, I had thought that all teachers expected their students to achieve the proficiency expected by their school, their district, and the state. Aren‰t we all striving to assure that our English language learners become proficient speakers, readers and writers of English? Isn‰t that what all the political/educational mandates are about? So then, why did these teachers react the way they did? Is there a possibility that some people believe that economically disadvantaged students or second language learners are not capable of performing to the expectancies of our society? Could it be that if the second language learners met rigorous standards then some major stereotypic notions about certain groups would no longer hold any credence, and those teachers who hold those notions would have no other recourse but to teach?

Dr. Jerry Treadway, from San Diego State University, once stated that sometimes teachers present skills or information that students should learn but rarely teach those skills by modeling or engaging students in meaningful activities to embed their learning more deeply. The assumption that by just presenting material students will learn is erroneous. Teachers in the United States tend to emphasize breadth rather than depth whereas teachers in other countries do just the opposite.

I believe my students are capable of doing what is asked of them and doing it well. My students meet my expectancies if I and their peers model and assist them in accomplishing the tasks. Not once but several times. Working in groups raises their comfort level and prepares them for independent work; they know if they need help, they can rely on their peers for assistance.

When teaching second language learners and economically disadvantaged students, I believe they can be engaged initially through their background knowledge so that their learning becomes more meaningful. I use selections of literature that reflect the ethnicity of the students and that contain issues that interest them. Some selections come from their textbooks, although a variety of voices may not always be included in the anthologies. One must search them out.

Curt Dudley-Marling and Sharon Murphy, editors of Language Arts, wrote, ‹When our students can‰t see themselves in the books they read, they learn that they don‰t matter. Perhaps more seriously, students who don‰t see the lives of their classmates in the books they read may come to believe that their classmates don‰t matter.Š I intersperse this material with more traditional texts.

To return to my colleagues‰ responses, they did not see the process that resulted in the final product. They didn't experience the daily reading of poems written by minority authors. My colleagues didn‰t hear the childrens‰ books that were read daily to allow my students to hear the rhythm of the English language. They didn‰t see students respond to and evaluate the literature they read. They didn't participate in the modeling and think-aloud protocols that give students tools to express themselves in reading and writing. Their eyes did not see the word charts of words that cover my classroom. They didn‰t see my students‰ frustration as they tried to express their thoughts and emotions. They didn‰t see the student conferences/teacher conferences.

Oscar, a first-year transitional eighth grader, deliberated at length as to where he wanted his work to go. I and his fellow students assisted his writing. Although the class shared the same experiences, each generated a unique piece of writing. I am sorry that my colleagues could not believe Oscar wrote the poem:

Even though you‰re not my sacred lover,
And you‰re not my magnificent friend,
I would give my life to have your beauty here once again.
You‰re the only one I‰ve allowed inside my heart.
Your eyes start grinding down my soul
Everytime you look at me.
Your musk-scent sweeps me off my feet
Everytime I get close to your cinnamon-brown skin.

Si se puede. All you need is ganas.