Have you ever wanted to learn more about the teachers who teach English as a second language at East High School? These are the people who welcome students into their classrooms regardless of their English abilities- even if they have just been in the country for a few days. These teachers are not often recognized, but they are fundamental to East.
What is an ELL teacher? ELL teacher are a highly trained professional who works with students for English is not their primary language. They help students acquire fluency in English, both spoken and in the written word.
In which Ms. Lisa Kebort is one of the English Second Language Teachers, you’ve might have seen her around East, but never knew what class she taught. What even is ELL? Or anything related to the career?
Kebort went to Portland State University in 2000, she majored in social studies while minoring in Geography, during her senior year at Portland University she decided to teach people English in a classroom for her senior capstone.
A while after she graduated, she realized how much she enjoyed helping people learn English, so she decided to go back to college at Hamline University in 2021, while getting her Master of Arts in teaching English to students and other languages.
Many kids come in her classroom yearly with little to none English skills, but with bright abilities. “Often times people see this child took a journey to come here, and to sit in a classroom for eight plus hours, listening to a language you don’t understand is very powerful,” Ms. Kebort said.
A majority of individuals think ELL teachers know more than one language, but Kebort only knows English, she believes that it’s possible to teach English without knowing the student’s native language.
“If I knew Spanish, it wouldn’t help my student’s who only speak Arabic,” Kebort said.
Going off her experience, she’s been in the teaching career for many years, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
“it’s a great job, there’s always something new and different, I feel like we come closet with our student’s compared to certain teachers who have to be less hands on,” Kebort said.
So next time you see M’s Kebort or one of her students in the hallway don’t be afraid to say hello, because they would be more than welcome to talk to you.