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With the world becoming smaller, organizations becoming more globalized and agile, jobs turning into roles, and employees becoming more specialized, those without fluency in English and technology are critically challenged and less equipped to flourish in it. When I think about my students, and the multiple challenges they face every day as English learners, I ask myself, "Where will they be in 15 years and how are we preparing them for the real world?" In the last three years, we have lost multiple courses that teach viable trade skills, such as print shop, wood shop and construction, and video editing and production; all that is left is auto shop. I teach both ends of the English spectrum: English Learners, Levels 1 & 2, and AP Literature. My AP Literature students are driven and determined. Their fluency in English is above average to say the least, and college is all but a foregone conclusion. But English Learners who have been in our country less than 2 years? Well, that's an entirely different matter. These student are as diverse as the languages they speak and the circumstances that placed them here. Some are refugees fleeing war, some flee cartel/gang violence and drugs; I have one 15 year old student who made it all the way to the border from Honduras...by himself! I have found success by marrying technology with their curriculum to further not only their English fluency, but their technical acumen as well. A 3D printer would help us create manipulatives, which are especially powerful tools, because of their highly visual and kinesthetic/tactile character. Learning to design the product would add content-specific vocabulary, and the process opens their minds to the possibilities of what technology and communication can create.
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