Cheerleaders

April 25th marked 6 years since my mother died. I miss her. She was an outstanding listener & could empathize with almost anyone in any situation. She had a very quick wit, and she & I would often play off each other with our witty remarks. She worked outside the home, and was our only parent from Monday to Friday, as our dad was a traveling salesman. The hours that she was home she was "ours".

One of her qualities that I appreciate most was her ability to cheer us on in all our endeavors. She made it possible for me to attend sewing classes the summer after my 5th grade year (though she knew very little about sewing). She made sure I got to take piano lessons, though her specialty was the flute. She was proud of everything we ever did. I remember telling friends in the past few years that there are probably things I'm actually crappy at, but I believe I'm good at simply because my mom thought I was great! Ha!ha!

You who are parents of an Immersion student, I want to encourage you to (continue to) be your child's most enthusiastic cheerleader. I know you're torn sometimes between wanting to help & tutor your child in their 2nd language, but often feel grossly inadequate if you don't know the language they are studying or never had to deal with being immersed in a 2nd language. Heck, I'm torn sometimes as the teacher! Should I ask you to tutor your child at home, trying to send home some guidelines for the non-Spanish speaker? Should I not send home extra work, trying to eliminate that frustration for you at home? Should I encourage you to help your child with pronunciation even if I know you're "doing it all wrong"? Should I just let my concerns go to the wind, believing that your enthusiasm will overcome the errors? Should I stop being so "picky"?

Here's what I usually say to our parents, at Open House night & throughout the year. The best way to help your child (especially if you do not speak the language they are studying) is to be their most enthusiastic cheerleader! Because really, isn't it amazing that our Kindergartners & 1st graders have no fear to speak whatever they can, with all the natural errors of associating one language with another, and yet are able to communicate their ideas???? Every child from the struggler to the stereotypical bell curve kid, to the overachiever loves to hear praise from you, their most beloved person in the world.

So let's go parents! Finish out the year re-energized to help your child be the best he or she can be. I leave you with one of my mom's favorite cheers (she was actually a cheerleader in High School):

"RAH, RAH, REE. KICK 'EM IN THE KNEE!

RAH, RAH, RAS. KICK 'EM IN THE OTHER KNEE!" 

Happy cheering, parents!

Sheryl René

Theodore Roosevelt

IT was colder than normal for D.C. in April, and after riding up & down the Potomac River staring at bare branched cherry trees, my daughter, Ashley, decided to take me to the Theodore Roosevelt Island. It's just a small island in the middle of the Potomac River, that was dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt in memory of his conservationist actions. As we crossed the footbridge, and climbed the slope to the memorial, the looming statue of our former president stood squarely between many other monuments that were inscribed with some of President Roosevelt's famous quotes. As we read the many quotes on conservationism, statesmanship, liberty, etc. I was struck by one quote in particular:

"A great democracy has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or a democracy."

I immediately reworded the quote in to read in my world,

"A great Immersion program has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to  be great or Immersion."

Whoa! What a thought! While most of us work in Districts that offer many opportunities for professional development, it is the rarer District that understands how important it is for the immersion teachers to continue to look for more training, trading of ideas, observations, conferences and grad classes specifically dedicated to immersion classrooms. I LOVE the immersion classroom! I LOVE the teachers I work with! We are all working hard to make the immersion experience the best educational experience our students will ever have. But love alone is not enough. We need to be always striving to be on the cutting edge of immersion education.

While every school is in different stages of their growth, we all need to be looking toward the next step to make our immersion programs even more successful. What are your current challenges? What lessons are you getting bored with? How are you addressing the grammatical errors that are occurring? How are you deciding if the program is not right for some students? Where are you finding your new teachers? What are the most important qualities in an Immersion administrator? When are we going to start seeing bilingual educators in the Resource Room, Speech Path, Social Worker, Psychologist & Reading Specialist positions? How are our local colleges responding to the needs of the Immersion education programs?

"A great Immersion program has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or Immersion."

Keep asking the questions. Keep pushing the envelope. Keep on rethinking how we "do" Immersion!

Your Immersion colleague,

Sheryl René