Teacher Interview: Ms. Lee Senter
When asked what excites her about the profession of teaching, Ms. Lee Senter’s answer is simple and powerful at the same time. “Exactly that - teaching. What excites me overall is being able to teach - anyone, anytime, and perfecting it.”
Ms. Senter has been teaching for 19 years, and just a few years ago received her ELL certification, enabling her to teach English learner students. This year, Ms. Senter has continued perfecting her skills through participating in the DLC English Learner Teacher Cohort. Each month, teachers in the EL Teacher Cohort meet as a group led by a DLC coach to learn best practices, brainstorm solutions to shared challenges, and support each other.
Ms. Senter is the first grade humanities teacher at a local charter school in Nashville. Her students come from diverse cultural backgrounds, and most are English learners. Ms. Senter described what she must focus on the most when working with her students.
“The first thing I generally have to focus on would be the phonics. Being able to get them to understand basic sounds in English, understanding that we have five vowels that we rely on in our language when we are speaking, reading and writing...those are the things that I go for first. I always start with those and really build the basic phonic skills foundation nice and strong, and then move into the fluency, which will hopefully translate into them being able to comprehend as they read in a story with me.”
When asked what has been one of the biggest takeaways of participating in the DLC Teacher Cohort this year, Ms. Senter answered, “Definitely collaborating with people who really understood where I’m coming from. You’re working with this group that does learn differently because of the language barriers, no matter what language, and sometimes it can be hard to collaborate when you just have a general education teacher that may not have experience with students that may have language challenges going.”
The challenge she described is a common one to English learner teachers. Oftentimes EL teachers do not have others in their school building who have the same training in serving multilingual students to collaborate with closely. The DLC works to bring these teachers together so they can grow alongside each other, and combat the isolation many of them face. As a result, teachers are better equipped to serve their students and report appreciation for the strong network of support.
And what would Ms. Senter say to someone considering participating in a DLC learning community? “I would 100% recommend it. You can come as you are, and share, collaborate, get ideas, get strategies.”
Are you a teacher of diverse learners who is looking to develop your skills as a teacher or leader? This spring, the DLC will be launching several opportunities to grow alongside others in similar roles as you. Sign up for our newsletter to learn and grow with other teachers near you!
