Advice for a teacher who is teaching ESL high school students who speak Spanish. but I don't speak Spanish. This is a charter school that has strict policies against hats, shorts, swearing, and cell phones in class.
I should clarify. I have been teaching ESL for 7 years, but it has been at the college level. Last semester was my first time teaching high school kids. They tested me hard. They were very disrespectful, sore at me in Spanish. I even called home and met with one parent. The behavior did not improve
Only a few act this way. They are also addicted to their cell phones and asking them to put them away is like cutting off their hand. I need my school to translate the school policies into Spanish so parents know the rules.
I hear you... Teens are a big challenge, not because of malice or ill intent but because at that age we all thought that we knew everything.... Your job is to find patience to let them know in a decent way that they know nothing....
Learn Spanish.
Bold and to the point, most of all... good advice
Google translate, and pictures on a poster with a circle slash should clarify the rules. Also you might try practicing speaking Spanish at home.
When I first started teaching ESL here in Thailand in 2010 I didn't know any Thai, but I bought a small Thai/English dictionary/phrase book and acquired a Thai friend to teach me in exchange for English lessons.
Luckily, Spanish is MUCH easier to learn than Thai, which is a tonal language with a totally different alphabet and way of writing.
For instance, this is how you write "Good morning students" in Thai; สวัสดีตอนเช้านักเรียน.There is no punctuation or capitalization and words can be written in circles or backwards with the middle part written first, depending on the letters. Knowing this showed me how to explain English to the students.
My teaching quickly improved with my Thai language skills...learning the native language of the students can clarify difficulties they will encounter learning English, but with Spanish, I doubt there will be much confusion.
You should not need to speak Spanish. Just speak slowly, enunciate well, and support your talk with visual aids (maps, diagrams, pictures, realia, etc.). Make sure the students recognise cognates when they see them. You might not know them yourself so find a list and learn some Spanish. Comprehensible input is key. See the work of Stephen Krashen.
Do you know any native or near native Spanish speaker (s). If you do get them to make you a poster that states your classroom rules in both Spanish snd English. Place it prominantly in the front of your class somewhere easily visible to all students.
Then when a student violates one of the rules, English speaker or Spanish speaker, say their name and walk over to the poster and point to the infraction. At the bottom of the poster add the line, "You only get on verbal warning. Next one has consequences".
In doing this you have given all speakers a fsir warning about your rules snd expectations. Also if a parent challenges, you have visual proof that the student had ample warning.
If you can afford it, have someplace like Staples or Office Max make a nice, clean poster. It carries more authority than a hand written.