At the McKay school, we have several minors that go hand in hand with teaching. One of these minors is TESOL K-12, which provides needed resources for future teachers who want to make a difference in the lives English Language Learners. We recently caught up with Ashley Bittleston, an Early Childhood Education major who is finishing up her TESOL K-12 minor right now!
1.What are you studying? Tell us about yourself!
"My name is Ashley Bittleston and I am an Early Childhood Education major. I am currently in my second-to-last-semester, which means I am completing my second practicum right now. I am teaching in a 2nd grade class up in Lehi, and I love my mentor teacher and my students so much!"
2. Why did you decide to do the TESOL minor?
"I decided to do the TESOL K-12 minor because I wanted to strengthen my ability to teach all students that come into my classroom. I'm not going to speak every language that students in my class know, so I wanted to know how I can still teach and support students who I don’t share a language with. I think it is important to be able to teach speakers of all languages simply because they have a legal right to it, and it is my job as a teacher to help provide that equal access to learning."
3. What has been the most impactful part of your minor?
"One of the most impactful classes that I have taken for the minor was Content-Based Language Instruction taught by Dr. Amy Raty. Every class period I felt that I had learned something that I could apply in my current practicum classroom at the time, or to use in my future classroom. This was a great class for application of the concepts I had learned in previous classes in the minor."
4. What's next for you?
"Next semester I will be completing my student teaching in DC with the NISTP program. I will complete my normal student teaching until the last few weeks when I complete my TESOL K-12 practicum. I am so grateful that I have been given this opportunity and am really looking forward to it! I currently plan to return to DC to begin my first year of teaching after graduation."
Want to learn more about the TESOL K-12 minor? Click here to go to the website!
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