Social Issues Day- January 16th

The first workshop I attended was entitled "War affects on immigrant children". The speaker introduced the workshop in Slovakian, and all members of the workshop were confused, thinking the whole session would be spoken in this unfamiliar language. However, the speaker was only making a point- that many of our students may not always understand what we are saying due to their language barriers. She talked of her experience in Yugoslavia during the war, and what effect this had on her children.
We completed a "Where I'm From" poem activity, that she suggested we use as an introduction activity at the beginning of the school year. It resembles a "mad-lib", and students are required to fill in the blanks ex. "I am from (name three celebrations:"____________,_____________, and ___________. We shared our completed poems with the rest of the group, and learned quite a bit about people's backgrounds and family history.
I think that children with ESL will be challenging to teach (i.e. do we give them an easier assignment because it is harder for them to understand, or do we implement the proper procedures to ensure these students are at the same level?) Nonetheless, Due to the fact that I want to teach in metropolitan areas, it will be unquestionable that I will be faced with immigrant children and their pasts that shape who they are.