2015-2016 has been a year of

reflection and planning through

the Accreditation Self-Study and

Strategic Plan development pro-

cess. During the Self-Study pro-

cess, we have had an opportuni-

ty to reflect about the last six

years, identify strengths and pri-

oritize key issues that need to be

addressed in the School-wide Action Plan. The key is-

sues identified during the Self-Study Process are also

addressed in the 2016-2021 Strategic Action Plan that

has identified both institutional and program goals and

objectives. Each program was tasked with identifying

one year and five

year goals and

specific action

steps to reach

those goals. In

this article, I

would like to

highlight the one-year goals that our ESL program has

identified:

Goal 1: Serve more ESL students by developing and

increasing on-line courses.

We created our first hybrid ESL Citizenship class

this semester through the CE Mesa Campus. As a hy-

brid, the class used Blackboard as the new delivery

mode of instruction plus face-to-face sessions to prac-

tice the communication skills needed for successful

performance at the naturalization interview. In order to

serve more students by developing and increasing ESL

distance learning model, we plan to increase the en-

rollment in the ESL Citizenship class in the fall. In addi-

tion, we are also developing a new hybrid Advanced

Prevocational ESL course that will use innovative and

interactive e-learning curriculum. We are currently de-

veloping a plan to provide synchronous/

asynchronous modes of delivery to supplement face-

to-face Advanced Prevocational ESL courses as well

as reach new students who may prefer the on-line

mode of delivery.

Goal 2: Create pathways for ESL students transition-

ing to high school, career technical programs or col-

lege.

In order to create pathways for ESL students, we

need to work in collaboration with the Counseling

Department to provide a formalized orientation pro-

gram for students at all levels of ESL which includes

goal-setting and development of educational plans.

This collaboration also needs to ensure that there is

regular counseling support in Transition to College

and Advanced Prevocational ESL classes. In addi-

tion, it is our goal to create an ESL course that helps

students develop their reading skills and fluency in

order to meet reading requirements to enroll in high

school/GED courses and our career technical cours-

es such as the C.N.A. course.

Jottings By Corinne Layton, ESL Program Chair

ESL Dialogue Spring and Summer 2016

Inside this issue:

Committee Reports 3

Citizenship 8

EL Civics 10

Technology Accomplishments 11

Student Accomplishments 12

Retirements 16

From Our Colleagues 19

Faculty Achievements 22

Spring Acknowledgments 24

A Message from the Dean 26

Goal 3: Update and maintain technology in class-

rooms that do not meet district technology stand-

ards.

We are identifying current technology needs at

each campus to ensure that technology meets dis-

trict technology standards. In addition, we recognize

the need to expand the number of ESL computers

and podiums, laptops and/or chrome books in order

to accomplish CASAS E-testing as required by the

Workforce Innovation Grant. We also need to provide

training and mentoring to faculty on how to support

instruction with the use of new technology.

Goal 4: Revise existing ESL Course Outlines and cre-

ate new Course Outlines with options for distance

learning.

This year we have begun a concerted effort to revise

and develop our ESL Course Outlines. Jan Forstrom,

ESL representative on Curriculum Committee, has

taken the lead as our “Project Manager” for this ma-

jor undertaking. We’ve developed a prioritized plan

for the development and revision of course outlines

beginning with revisions to the ESL Citizenship

Course Outline to reflect changes in the Citizenship

Application Process and include the distance learning

mode of delivery. We have also revised the ESL Inter-

mediate High Course Outline that incorporates Col-

lege and Career Readiness Standards to use as a

prototype for revision of other ESL course outlines we

have been working on: Intermediate Low, Advanced

Low and High, and Transition to College. We have

begun developing a new ESL Conversation course

outline this summer, and we will be revising the Ad-

vanced Prevocational ESL Course outline using an

Employability and College and Careers Readiness

Framework that reflects the current and projected job

outlook and the online modality of instruction this

fall. Jan Forstrom will be taking a sabbatical in the

fall to revise additional course outlines (e.g. Begin-

ning ESL Courses) and develop new course outlines

(e.g. the Reading Skills Development Course Outline).

In the spring semester of 2017 we will continue revis-

ing existing course outlines (e.g. Beginning and In-

termediate Prevocational ESL) and creating new

course outlines (e.g. multi-level ESL and special

topics classes).

Goal 5: Conduct a research study on the relation-

ship of the Writing Tutor Program to course comple-

tion and transition to other CE programs and col-

lege.

Ingrid Greenberg, Writing Tutor Coordinator, is

working in collaboration with Research Analyst Jes-

sica Luedtke on the development of a research

study to determine the relationship of the writing

tutor program to course completion and transition.

Data will be collected from the tutoring forms used

in the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters to de-

termine the impact of the writing tutoring process

on the numbers of students transitioning to other

programs (e.g. GED Preparation/High School Diplo-

ma, Certificate Programs such as Auto Technician

and Healthcare Careers) and college.

Our five-year goals will advance some of our

one-year goals such as developing additional on-

line courses and creating pathways for ESL stu-

dents to GED/high school diploma, career training

and college. In addition, with the new Workforce

Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) legislation

that describes labor and education’s shared re-

sponsibility in developing the workforce, we realize

the need to increase our prevocational course of-

ferings at all levels of ESL. Moreover, we would like

to restore a family literacy program with babysitting

to serve the needs of parents with school-age chil-

dren. Finally, we want to expand our collaboration

with other CE programs to create courses that meet

the special needs of our ESL students, e.g. basic

skills classes such as Math for ESL students or

classes that use the I-Best Model integrating lan-

guage and career development instruction. It’s a

very exciting time for CE, and the strategic planning

that we have done this past year will have a posi-

tive impact on our ESL program for years to come.

Page 2 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Learner Persistence Committee

By Corinne Layton

The ESL Learner Persistence Committee has had another busy and productive year thanks to the following

dedicated members: Maria Allan, Gretchen Bitterlin, Jim Brice, Monica Cueva, Starlene Dahl, Janet Foster, Lynn

Graver, Lydia Hammett, Magdalena Kwiatkowski, Corinne Layton (Chair), Caron Lieber, Aldamay Rudisuhli, and

Cindy Wislofsky.

Each month the committee develops learner persistence tips on a variety of topics

that are sent out to the entire faculty DL. This year’s tips were about ensuring that

students have the necessary tools for learning, accommodating different learning

styles, maintaining good attendance prior to and after the (winter) break, goal-

setting and reflecting on those goals, helping students overcome obstacles to reach-

ing goals with community resources, and extending support systems beyond the

classroom to the school community. All of the tips can be found in Public Folders

under Continuing Education > ESL Department > Teacher’s Resources > Commit-

tees > ESL Learner Persistence Committee > ESL Learner Persistence Tips.

The ESL Learner Persistence Committee has also developed a Beginning and

Intermediate/Advanced ESL Student Guide that serves as an important orientation

tool for our ESL students. Every year we revise and update the guides as well as the

site page inserts which contain campus-specific information, a calendar and com-

munity resources. I’d like to share the following testimonial by Mid-City ESL instructor Cathy Coxey:

“I also want to thank the committee for all their work on the ESL Student Guides. I find myself referring to

them frequently throughout the semester because they provide so much important information to both con-

tinuing students and newcomers to our program. It seems that having students track their progress in their

Student Guide by recording their test scores has really helped them stay especially motivated this year. I

also appreciate having public folder access to the accompanying activities for the Student Guide so that I

can customize them for my students at various times during the semester. Something else I have found to

be invaluable - the Community Resource Information pages. They have been a great help not only to my stu-

dents and their families, but also to their coworkers and neighbors. Armed with the Community Resource

Information pages, I have noticed many of my students taking more initiative to find solutions to the prob-

lems they face and helping others in their community.”

Since our committee recognizes the importance of disseminating information to students about community

resources, in the spring of 2015 we started a tradition of organizing events where representatives from commu-

nity agencies make presentations to faculty about resources that are available to our students. We continued

the tradition this past spring and invited community partners from the San Diego Food Bank, USD Legal Clinics,

Bayside Community Center, Housing Opportunities Collaborative and the Miramar Child Development Center.

Instructors who are better informed about community resources can share the information with their students.

When students have access to resources which can help them overcome obstacles that may interfere with learn-

er persistence (e.g. inadequate or expensive childcare, medical issues or legal problems), they are more likely to

stay in school and reach their educational and career goals. We hope to organize another Community Partners

event during Fall Flex and also develop some innovative ideas for promoting learner persistence in the year

ahead.

Page 3 Committee Reports

“The Community

Resource Information

pages (in the Student

Guide) have been a

great help not only to my

students and their

families, but also to

their coworkers

and neighbors.”

Page 4 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

As is the nature of things related to modern

technology, the committee started off with an

ever-accelerating and increasingly ambitious list

of topics to cover, and we got to some of them,

while others were replaced by newer, or possibly

more useful applications, by the end of the se-

mester. At our first meeting, we compiled a list of

topics, using a note-taking web site called

www.todaysmeet.com , and surveyed members

about how they would prioritize these topics us-

ing www.getkahoot.com. You can access the long

list of sites named below under the TUT pages at

www.eslwithjim.wordpress.com. Here are the top-

ics listed chronologically, which were reviewed,

discussed in meetings, and/or developed into

demonstrations or presentations (presentations

with handouts underlined) by Cindy and others:

Results of Spring ’15 teacher tech survey

Lab issues (desktop shortcuts, Student Save

folders, headphones, cramped labs)

Burlington English seats in labs

Need for new Microsoft Office directions

(Word, Resumes, PPP etc.)

District plans to move from Blackboard to

Canvas

Integrating lab visits with classroom lessons

New software needs (for example, getting the

new OPD and Azar into all labs)

Teachers needing more time to learn technology, pro-

grams, sites, and apps

General tech-related needs in the classrooms and

labs (playing a CD and using the document camera at

the same time, connecting laptops, iPads, tablets to

podiums, buying laser pointers)

Smart phones – “Cell Ed”

News for You Online access codes

Setting an account for storing passwords

Google Translator app (with camera on for instant trans-

lation of signs/basic text

Cindy’s websites http://webforbeg.weebly.com and

www.eslwebsites.weebly.com

Creating class web sites hosted on Weebly and other

sites

Ventures Teacher Resource Room update and review

Setting up and using Spellingcity premium memberships

Kahoot quizzes/polls

Setting up and using Google sites as a class webpage

Setting up and using Google Drive and Flubaroo for sur-

veys and tests

Setting up and using Google Voice

Setting up and using Google Voice Typing

Follow up on setting up and using Quia web sites as a

class webpage

Spinning Wheel

CATESOL Sharing

Setting up and using Padlet (electronic bulletin board)

Setting up and using screencasting programs (making

and using digital instructions)

Social media in the classroom (Using Facebook)

COABE conference sharing

Reading sites and software for roaming on the Lexile

range

https://

www.bookmarkee.com

http://www.classtools.net/random-

name-picker/

https://accounts.google.com/signup

https://www.google.com/voice/?

setup=1#setup/ .

www.eslwebsites.weebly.com

www.edmodo.com

www.getkahoot.com

www.padlet.com

https://padlet.com/eslwithjim2016/

quynzvs41g1t

www.readworks.org

www.spellingcity.com

http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/

cDer0j1Zqm

www.7speedreading.com

www.spreeder.com

https://www.techsmith.com/techsmith-

relay.html

www.todaysmeet.com

www.cambridge.org/ventures/resources/

www.cambridge.org/venturesarcade

Teachers Using Technology

Goals and Achievements

By Jim Brice

Websites Featured at TUT 2015—2016 Meetings

Page 5

ESL Textbook Committee

By Ann McCrory

Members: Cristina Abell, Gretchen Bitterlin, Jim

Brice, Neil Dewse, Magdalena Kwiatkowski, Xanh

Lam, Corinne Layton, Caron Lieber, Ann McCrory

(Chair), Susan Morgan, Aldamay Rudisuhli, Laurel

Slater, Rheba Smith, Cindy Wislofsky.

The ESL Textbook Committee held seven meetings

this year, from October through May. Out of a total of

30 teachers who attended at least once during the

year, we had a core group of 14 teachers attending

regularly. We started the year off with our 7th annual

fundraiser for the Bachman/Jennings Emergency ESL

Book Fund on October 24 at Laurel Slater’s home. We

raised over $3,000, and the fund was able to fulfill all

requests made for textbooks throughout the year.

Many people helped with this event by bringing food,

donating prizes, and doing clean-up. It was a great

team effort.

This year the committee reviewed a large number

of textbooks. In November, we invited Cambridge to

present. Sylvia Ramirez gave a very helpful overview

of the Extended Reading Worksheets, which are de-

signed to complement the Ventures Transitions text,

but are available online to any teacher. These read-

ing worksheets integrate the CCRS and help teachers

and students make some key shifts in the learning

process. For the remainder of the year, we decided to

have our own committee members review books and

present their findings to the committee. We felt that

it gave us more time to look carefully at the books.

We continued to review both core texts and supple-

mentary books, such as reading, writing, grammar,

and vocabulary. As we evaluated the books, we up-

dated two documents: “List of ESL Books for Pur-

chase by Students” and “Reading and Writing Texts.”

Both documents are in Public Folders.

A new project that we completed this year was a

review of the leveled readers that are available from

the four major publishers. The impetus for this pro-

ject was a request from the Miramar College library

for a recommendation of books that they could put

on their shelves for ESL students to check out. We

reviewed six reading libraries

and found that four of them

would be appropriate for a

college library. Committee

members were also very inter-

ested in the possibility of es-

tablishing reading libraries in

some of our classrooms. This

is a topic that we will pursue

next year.

Another big project that is

just getting underway is a pi-

lot of the new core text from

Cengage: Stand Out 2/e. We have worked with the

publisher’s rep to obtain enough class sets so that

two teachers at each level will be able to try it out this

summer. Based on feedback from the pilot, we may

add it to our approved list of core texts.

Finally, the committee revised the “ESL Textbook

Review Form.” This document guides our review of

new books. It had been many years since it was up-

dated, so we made some major revisions. We’ll be

using it this summer as we pilot Stand Out.

“Committee

members were

very interested in

the possibility of

establishing

reading libraries in

some of our

classrooms.”

List of ESL Books for

Purchase by Students Reading and Writing Texts ESL Textbook Review Form

These forms are also available in Public Folders.

with workforce preparation in-

struction to target the specific

career needs of learners in pro-

nunciation, vocabulary, and

communication skills. Addition-

ally, the vocational model

strives to prepare learners to

enter specific vocational clas-

ses such as Automotive and

Certified Nurse’s Assistant, or

build skills to transition to GED.

This fall, Emma Nazarro

launched a subject specific

VESL class focused on English

for Healthcare Careers.

From October 2015 to May

2016 the committee met six

times. In terms of professional

development, Doug

Elliot, retired career counselor,

familiarized committee mem-

bers with the Career Services

website which contains an ex-

tensive array of resources for

faculty and students. Commit-

tee members researched and

reported on web sites that sup-

port VESL instruction and two

members presented on WIOA

requirements and the potential

impact on our curriculum and

programming. In order to sup-

port student transition into job

training, reports were made to

keep VESL faculty current on

student opportunities in the

field of healthcare training at

CE, Grossmont, and through

private organizations such as

the Nile Sisters. The committee

also worked to support the im-

plementation of Burlington Eng-

lish software into VESL courses

VESL Committee

By Carolyn McGavock

Chairs: Steve Gwynne and

Carolyn McGavock

Committee members: Jim Brice,

Monica Cueva, Lily Gonzalez,

Steve Gwynne, Karen Hamilton,

Lydia Hammett, Cindi Hartman,

Corinne Layton, Carolyn

McGavock, Eric Miller, Karen

Nedd, Donna Price, Stephanie

Thomas, Cindy Wislofsky

The VESL committee aims to

support VESL instructors by

sharing resources, providing pro-

fessional development, and creat-

ing a collegial network across CE

campuses. The committee also

guides the development of VESL

curriculum and contributes a

VESL perspective to overall ESL

program projects as requested by

the ESL program chair.

Currently there are several

models represented in our VESL

classes. At Mid-City there is an

Intermediate level VESL class

that leads to the Advanced level

managed enrollment class using

a ‘cluster VESL’ model which of-

fers students choices of career

fields to focus on. The Personal

Caregivers class and the VESL/

VABE Automotive/Basic Skills

class employ the I-Best model,

where an ESL teacher teams with

a technical teacher to deliver

both content and basic skills. An-

other model is our English for Ca-

reers class, which uses Burling-

ton English Career software along

through round table discussions

of best practices among col-

leagues using the program. To

support ESL program goals, a

subcommittee drafted require-

ments for an Intermediate VESL

certificate of completion, anoth-

er team developed some new

VESL for Auto lessons, and an-

other team made great pro-

gress on an informative video

about VESL classes and VESL

student success stories to use

in placement offices so that

students and faculty may better

understand the goals of our

VESL program. Additionally, the

VESL committee heard reports

about ESL program strategic

goals and EL Civics curriculum

development. Members contrib-

uted ideas to both.

Page 6 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Learn about Time Management by

Interacting with the e-curriculum

Steve Gwynne developed to use in

his evening VESL class. Scan the

code or click here.

of 30 faculty for the Spring Flex Workshop: Student

Success and Writing Tutors: How Instructors Can Pre-

pare for Volunteers & Tutor. We provided a balanced

workshop of policy, theory, and Student Learning Out-

comes application. Kudos go to Anisa Hagi-

Mohamed, ESL faculty, who prepared and presented

an excellent summary of ESL writing theory and ap-

proaches. And special thanks go to the panel of expe-

rienced instructors and tutors who described the writ-

ing tutoring process and students’ success with writ-

ing:

The February 2 Flex Panel Members included:

Maria Allan, ESL Faculty

Rosa Ayon, ESL Faculty

Janet Foster, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Ann Gianola, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Ingrid Greenberg, ESL Faculty, Tutor, and Coordinator

Anisa Hagi-Mohamed, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Eric Miller, ESL Faculty

Participants gained insights to best practices for

writing instruction and tutoring during a lively discus-

sion of panelists’ questions and answers.

The design of the Continuing Education ESL Writ-

ing Tutoring project supports one-on-one tutoring with

students in their classrooms, not in a tutoring center.

In other words, instead of students leaving the class-

room and walking across campus to a tutoring cen-

ter, students are served while they are in their class-

rooms. During this embedded instruction, tutors pro-

vide instruction for all levels of writing, from literacy

to advanced. Student Learning Outcomes include

writing in three arenas: 1. workplace (resumes, cover

letters for jobs, PowerPoint presentations); 2. aca-

demic (three paragraph and five paragraph essays);

and 3. Civics (letter to elected official, letter of re-

quest for refund).

Currently in its third semester, one of the goals of

this project is to collect data and study the effective-

ness of embedded writing tutoring in the classroom

Writing, Tutoring, and Training by tracking students

Writing, Tutoring, and Training

By Ingrid Greenberg

Spring is a time for celebration for the Student Equity

ESL Writing Tutors because the project has continued to

grow since it was piloted in the spring semester of

2015. During the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters,

ten ESL instructors and one ESL instructional assistant

have provided ESL writing tutoring at all six campuses to

more than four hundred ESL students from levels one to

seven.

The Student Equity Plan has been providing funds for

the Writing Tutor program with the goal

of helping students transition

more successfully to higher edu-

cation and career training. The

writing tutors assist students

with academic, workplace and

consumer/civic writing activities

and assignments, including

scholarship essays.

Please join me in thanking

the ESL Writing Tutors who have

worked hard to support your stu-

dents during 2015-2016:

Neil Dewse, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Janet Foster, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Ann Gianola, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Ingrid Greenberg, ESL Faculty, Tutor, and Coordinator

Anisa Hagi-Mohamed, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Cassandra Heard, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Caron Lieber, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Carolyn McGavock, ESL APC and Tutor

Melody Paris, ESL Faculty and Tutor

Stefani Rudisuhli, ESL Instructional Assistant

Serpil Seyhan, ESL Faculty and Tutor

And join me in welcoming our newest tutor, David Leyva,

ESL faculty, who began tutoring in the evenings during

summer 2016.

The writing tutors have also taken the lead on provid-

ing training around writing instruction and assessment.

On February 2, from 4-5 pm we had a wonderful turnout

Page 7

“We had a won-

derful turnout of

30 faculty for

the Spring Flex

Workshop: Stu-

dent Success

and Writing

Tutors.”

Writing, Tutoring, and Training (continued)

who transition from noncredit classes to credit classes

in one of the three sister credit colleges: City, Mesa,

and Miramar

Funding for the ESL writing project is provided by the

Student Equity Grant through the State Chancel-

lor’s Office of the California Community Colleg-

es.

If you are an ESL instructor who would like to

bring ESL writing tutoring to your class, please

speak with your ESL APC.

By Mechelle Perrott

The 100 Questions –Important Student Possession?

The 100 Civics Question handout is essential material for citizenship

students. Students take out their list of questions to practice, practice,

and practice. I look at their well-studied 100 questions, some of which

are the most marked-up, highlighted, and scribbled upon – usually with

native language translations-- limped-paged, ragged and even soiled piec-

es of paper. Some look on the verge of disintegrating! Yet, these pages

are tangible evidence of student learning. I hold up one of the yuckiest for the class to admire. I ask, “How many

hours of studying does One student, Micaela Vazquez, decorated her bedroom walls with the 100 questions.

The questions are on large sheets or paper, hand-written, with

different fonts and in various pen colors. Micaela shared, “I did-

n’t decorate my room with the 100 questions because I am lazy

and only want to study in bed. No! I work hard at school! I am

not lazy!” Micaela continued, “I decorated my walls with the

100 questions so I can study at home after I study at school.”

She shared that she put the hardest questions in a spot on the

wall that she can see from her bed. She said, “This way, I can

review the most difficult questions before I go to sleep and

when I wake up.” The class took the EL Civics Government and

History Listening Test today. Micaela got a near perfect score.

Page 8 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Citizenship

Rosaelena Lopez Achieves Doctor of Education Degree

Rosaelena Lopez, Mid-City instructor for the citizenship class for seniors, students

55 and older, recently completed her doctorate in ESL from Alliant International Uni-

versity. Congratulations! Her dissertation studied factors related to older English lan-

guage learners and how these factors influence passing the naturalization test. Is age

the highest inhibitor to success? No! Rosaelena’s research determined that the level

of prior education and the number of years of English language learning are more in-

fluential factors than age. Interesting! Rosaelena thanks her colleagues for their moral support and her stu-

dents for inspiring her! We are all proud of you, Dr. Lopez!

Micaela Vazquez

Rosaelena Lopez

Rosaelena and her students took a recent field trip to the

new downtown office of the United States Citizenship and Im-

migration Services (USCIS). Rosaelena writes, “It was such a

great experience for our students (and greatly beneficial)...as

always!”

More Community Volunteers in our Citizenship and ESL Classes

The number of community volunteers working with our students is

growing. Starting with 4 volunteers in 3 classes at Mid-City in Septem-

ber 2015, we now have 25 volunteers assigned to 10 citizenship clas-

ses and 4 ESL classes at 5 campuses. We have more people in pro-

cess to become volunteers which will expand classroom help even fur-

ther. A retired police officer, a retired nurse, a former judge, attorneys,

a newspaper editor, veterans and a few retired business executives

are among those now working in our classes.

How did we get so many people from the community to volunteer?

Many are from our collaboration with the USS Midway Museum to train

USS Midway volunteers to become CE citizenship and ESL tutors. This

collaboration was a result of the October 2015 article in the San Diego Union-Tribune

about our small group of community volunteers. Lots of people inquired about volun-

teering in our citizenship program after this article was published. Several people who

inquired then became volunteers. This article drew the attention of the Midway Muse-

um. In February, we started our collaborative effort to bring Midway volunteers into our

classes. The number of volunteers has grown each month this school year. We are

bringing the San Diego community into CE and the volunteers thank us for the oppor-

tunity! It’s a win-win situation!

Partial On-line Citizenship Class a first this Spring Semester

This spring, we initiated our first partial on-line citizenship class, and we want to acknowledge in-

structor Carol Kelsall for her efforts in this pilot program. With Carol and the support of the CE Mesa

campus staff, this was the first on-line class in our ESL program. This pilot program combined the dis-

trict’s Blackboard system that tracks students’ on-line learning, with face-to-face sessions to practice

communication skills needed for the naturalization interview. Now that the first semester is over, we will

evaluate the pilot program, make adjustments, and develop more curriculum over the summer months.

Our hope is to offer a course in the fall using this on-line format to provide our tech-savvy students with

an option to learn citizenship via computer.

New Naturalization and Immigration Fee Proposals and 60-Day Comment Period

For naturalization, the new proposed fee is $725 ($640 + $85 fingerprinting). Here is a link to more

proposed fee changes. No start date yet. Scroll down to Table 9 in this document: https://

www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=USCIS-2016-0001-0001

Comments accepted until July 5, 2016. Enter the docket number or click on the top right button that

says “Comment Now” to add your opinion to any of the proposed changes. The docket number is: 81

FR 26903. Please note that comments become part of the public record.

Page 9

“Our class celebrated

David Flohr’s 90th

birthday with him this

June.”

Stephanie Thomas

Citizenship Class for Seniors getting

ready to enter

USCIS building in downtown San Diego

Retired Navy Commander and Mid-

way Volunteer David Flohr with

Stephanie Thomas and her English for

Careers class

Page 10 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

EL Civics

to be offered spring semes-

ter 2017

Created a new Student

Guide for Objective #14, Re-

search Educational Re-

sources, for Transition to

College level students

Identified text complexity

scores ( The Lexile Frame-

work and Flesch-Kincaid) for

existing key EL Civics read-

ing lessons; trained EL Civics

office assistants to utilize

software to conduct text

complexity evaluation

Made significant revisions to

Objective #13, Communicate

with Child’s School

Created manual of EL Civics

office assistant tasks

Created two prototype mini-

training videos for instruc-

tors

Participated in CASAS Task

Force to develop new

COAPPS

Additional goals/changes

related to WIOA requirements

planned for 2016-2017 include:

By Jan Forstrom

The new Workplace Innovation

and Opportunity Act (2014) has

brought changes to our EL Civics

program. Changes include sharp-

er focus on preparing students to

transition into higher educational

systems and/or enter the work-

force, and increased inclusion of

technology in EL Civics curriculum

and instruction. Coordinators Jan

Forstrom and Stephanie Thomas

have been participating in various

trainings and conferences to

guide our program into a “New

Age” for EL Civics. The 2015-

2016 list of accomplishments

demonstrates some of the new

directions for EL Civics under new

WIOA guidelines:

Created listening activities,

Quizlets and other web activi-

ties including interactive video

for Objectives #40 American

History and #33 Apply for a

Job

Added QR codes to student

guides to provide students

with easy access to listening

activities and video demon-

strations; added QR codes

linked to video demonstra-

tions to all Teacher Guides

Part 1/Examiner Guides

Developed curriculum and

assessment tasks for new EL

Civics Objective, Effective

Workplace Communications,

Move #14 (Educational Re-

sources) to fall semester to

provide written assessment

task that can also serve to

evaluate writing SLO’s for level

completion purposes

Add lessons incorporating Col-

lege and Career Readiness

Standards into existing EL Civ-

ics curriculum

Another change for fall 2016:

EL Civics Coordinator, Jan For-

strom, will be on sabbatical. Steph-

anie Thomas will serve as EL Civics

Coordinator for the semester and

Maria Allan will serve as Assistant

EL Civics Coordinator. Lynn Graver

will provide support to coordinate

the assessment schedule. We are

fortunate to have all three of our

EL Civics office staff returning in

the fall: Pamela Castillo, Cuong

Nguyen, and Raymond Macias.

Note: The list of instructors who

participated in EL Civics as examin-

ers and curriculum developers ap-

pears elsewhere in this issue of

Dialogue. In addition to the valua-

ble contributions of examiners

and writers, the success of our EL

Civics program rests firmly on

those who deliver instruction and

prepare students for assessments

in our classrooms. Thank you to

each and every ESL instructor! You

are the best!

Click here to view Training Video

#1—The ELCivics Road Map

Click here to view Training Video

#2, Access EL Civics in Public

Folders

Page 11

By Cindy Wislofsky

Here are some of the highlights of a very productive year!

1. Forty-six ESL faculty members are now using or are in the process of creating class

websites! This is an increase of more than 50% from Fall 2015 statistics. Congratulations

to those who attended one-to-one or small group trainings on this topic and have worked

toward giving your students access to class information and resources in and beyond the

classroom. This technology project was part of our ESL Technology Plan that is submitted

annually to SCOE (Sacramento County Office of Education).

2. Maria Allan served as a Technology Mentor for a few hours per week in the Spring 2016 semester. Her focus

was to coach and train evening ESL faculty. We have been fortunate to benefit from her expertise and enthusi-

asm as she assisted colleagues on technology integration topics.

3. Many teachers requested general equipment training including how to use lab equipment, classroom podium

equipment, or classroom AV carts. Other faculty trainings involved how to use and maintain the electronic roll-

book; e-mail management; technology-integration projects using Word, PowerPoint, Google Drive, and skill-

building websites; acquiring a Google Voice phone number for classroom use; what to do in the lab with your

class; and lab management techniques.

4. With special grant money, we were able to replace out-of-warranty computers and equipment in two ESL labs

at Mid City and West City Campuses. In addition, we were able to purchase updated vocabulary-building soft-

ware for several ESL labs.

5. Weekly Technology Tips continued t be distributed to CE’s family of faculty, administrators, and classified per-

sonnel.

6. Membership to several online software programs (e.g. Burlington English, Spelling City, Quia, Understanding

and Using English Grammar, and Learning Upgrade) was maintained or acquired and interested faculty were

trained.

7. Lastly, Donna Price served as our unofficial Public Folders Authority and Tech Tip Editor. Many thanks for her

ongoing technology contribution to our department.

Several faculty have expressed to me how far they feel they have come when using technology in their daily

work life. It is definitely a process. Please pat yourself on the back for gaining some additional technology skills

this school year!

“Forty-six ESL

faculty members

are now using or

in the process of

creating class

websites!”

2015—2016 Technology Accomplishments

View the Survey Results

Page 12 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Scholarship Recipient Class(es) and Campus Instructor

SDCE Promise Program Mauricio Arzola Transition to College - ECC Beth Bogage

SDCE Promise Program Francisco Guitron Transition to College - ECC Beth Bogage

AFT Guild

Maxine Williams

Scholarship

Mahjabin Andar Transition to College

Mid-City Chris Stone

AFT Guild

Maxine Williams

Scholarship

Ekaterina Cheban Advanced Low

North City Miramar

Magdalena

Kwiatkowski/

Emma Nazzaro

AFT Guild

Maxine Williams

Scholarship

Elaha Hakimi Transition to College

Mid-City Chris Stone

AFT Guild

Maxine Williams

Scholarship

Nanny Soto Advanced VESL—Mid-City

English for Careers

Corinne Layton/

Karen Nedd

Stephanie Thomas

ASB – CE Mesa Bo Lyu Intermediate High

CE Mesa Ann McCrory

ASB - Chavez Mei Hsiu Lu VESL for Personal Caregiver

- Chavez

Donna Price/

Manuel Gallegos

ASB - ECC Angelica Viveros Transition to College

ECC Beth Bogage

ASB – Mid City Juan Peralta Transition to College

Advanced

Chris Stone

Colleen Fitzmau-

rice

ASB – West City Yumi Hashimoto Advanced

West City

Toni Fernandes

Autumn Keltner

Memorial Jung Park

Advanced Low

North City Miramar

Magdalena

Kwiatkowski/

Emma Nazzaro

Autumn Keltner

Memorial Josiah Taylor

VESL for Auto

ECC Carolyn McGavock

Nanny Soto (Maxine Williams

Scholarship) with Stephanie

Thomas

Bo Lyu (ASB—CE Mesa Scholar-

ship) with Ann McCrory

Student Scholarships and Successes

We would like to acknowledge all of the students who received the following scholarships:

Promise Scholarship WinnersFrancis-

co Guitron (left) will pursue Nursing

at City College, and Mauricio Arzola

(right) will study Computer Engineer-

ing at Mesa College.

Page 13

Scholarships (continued)

Scholarship Recipient Class(es) and Campus Instructor

Barbara Raifsnider

Memorial Scholarship

Mauricio Arzola Transition to College ECC Beth Bogage

Barbara Raifsnider

Memorial Scholarship

Liset Patricia Costello Advanced Low North City Miramar Magdalena

Kwiatkowski/

Emma Nazarro

Chancellor’s

Scholarship

Asgede Meketa Advanced Low Mid-City

Advanced VESL (English for Ca-

reers)

Jackie Kelly

Stephanie Thomas

Edith Dabbs Memorial Schol-

arship

Deysi Guerrero VESL for Personal Caregiver

Chavez

Donna Price/

Manuel Gallegos

Management Association

Scholarship

Areum Ochoa Transition to College

ECC

Beth Bogage

Minarokh Hamzavi

Memorial Scholarship

Huong Lee Advanced Low

Mid-City

Jackie Kelly

Minarokh Hamzavi

Memorial Scholarship

Pleh Meh Advanced VESL

(English for Careers)

Mid-City

Stephanie Thomas

Norma Ledesma

Memorial Scholarship

Habib Habibullah VESL for Auto

ECC

Carolyn McGavock

Stephen All

Memorial Scholarship

Miho Takahashi Mitchum Transition to College

ECC

Beth Bogage

Askede Meketa (Chancellor’s Scholarship) with

Stephanie Thomas and Pleh Meh (Minarokh

Hamzavi Scholarship)

Left to right: Emma Nazzaro

with her student Liset Patri-

cia Costello (Barbara

Raifsnider Memorial Schol-

arship) , Beth Bogage witih

her student Mauricio Arzola

(seated—winner of the Bar-

bara Raifsnider Memorial

Scholarship and SDCE

Promise Scholarship) with

John Raifsnider

College this Sep-

tember, and I

believe that this student will be successful in

whatever she does. She has found and devel-

oped her own voice to advocate for herself and

her family. As a nation, we are very fortunate to

have such talented individuals, who, like Ms.

Arreola-Armenta bring so much vitality and

strength to this country.

Hilda Nayely Arreola-Armenta

By Susan Morgan

I have many extraordinary students in my classes. One

of my students, Ms. Hilda Nayely Arreola-Armenta, is very

special for several reasons. Ms. Arreola-Armenta is from

Mexico and she came to this country with a good back-

ground in English, but she knew that she needed a higher

level of English to start a new career. For that reason she

enrolled in the Transition to College Class and has been an

excellent student. In her own words she told me, “I am put-

ting more of the academic words in my vocabulary, making

friends from many different cultures, and refining my oral

and written communication skills.”

She applied for the San Diego Promise Scholarship and

she was fortunate enough to be awarded one. Ms. Arreola-

Armenta will begin studying Paralegal Studies at Miramar

Page 14 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Hilda Nayela Arreola

-Armenta

Phong Nguyen

Student Success Stories

Phong Nguyen

By Jim Brice

Forget about having the

normal, lofty Transition to

College goals that we have

for some of our students,

former CE Mesa ESL stu-

dent Phong Nguyen is go-

ing to transition to the

Master’s in Accounting

program at the University

of California Berkeley this

summer! Her past teach-

ers in Continuing Educa-

tion: Shahrokh Safavi, Ann

McCrory, Magda Kwiat-

kowski, and Kathren

Bouldin can all be proud

of the role that they played

in this fairy tale story and

also maybe have somebody

to call up to help them with

their taxes and financial

planning for retirement.

Of course, Phong didn’t

just leap from CE to Berke-

ley, she also put in some

time at Mesa and worked

on getting her CPA license,

all the while working as an

instructional assistant at

CE Mesa. As an instruction-

al assistant, she was the

embodiment of an employ-

ee of the month: always

cheerful, smiling, and ea-

ger to help students with

her placement skills, com-

puter lab acumen, and

deft touch in the begin-

ning level ESL class with

Cindy Wislofsky. A native

speaker of both Vietnam-

ese and Chinese, and as

detail-oriented as an ac-

countant (surprise), she

will be missed by students

and staff alike. We wish

her the best of luck in

Northern California and

thank her for setting such

a great example for her

fellow ESL students.

Easy English Times

By Mimi Pollack

In January, my ESL level 5 stu-

dents did a writing project where

they had to choose a family mem-

ber and write two paragraphs on

both their good and bad qualities.

I submitted six of those essays to

Easy English Times and four were

published: Matilde Chavez and

Ferland Varsaint in March, and

Candido Hernandez and Ngoc Vu

in May.

Page 15

Mimi Pollack with her students Matilde Chavez (right), Ferland Varsaint (2nd

from right), Candido Hernandez (left ) and Ngoc Vu (2nd from left).

Hakimi and Hussani both arrived in San Diego within the last two years

and made considerable efforts to improve their reading and writing skills in order to continue

their careers in the legal field. They were legal advisors in Afghanistan. Both completed the Tran-

sition to College Class at Mid-City Center and received Program Completion certificates.

Hakimi was employed as a teacher assistant after completing the advanced ESL class and

then returned to Mid-City to improve his English skills in the High School Completion course. Ha-

kimi’s daughter, Elaha, just completed the Transition to College class and will attend Mesa Col-

lege in the fall, joining her father in post-secondary education.

Mohammad Aref Hussaini has been in the U.S. for a year. He earned a law degree in his

country and served as a legal advisor and "Deputy Team Lead of Supreme Court for one and half

years with the Justice Sector Support Program (JSSP) which is the biggest program of INL, depart-

ment of U.S State in Kabul. This program is designed to improve Rule of Law in Afghanistan." His

English has improved enough for him to continue his law studies in San Diego. He hopes to spe-

cialize in "Comparative Law by consideration in Criminal Justice."

Ismaeil Hakimi Mohammaad Aref Hussaini

Mid-City TC Students Headed to USD College of Law

By Christine Stone

Ismaeil Hakimi and Mohammad Aref Hussaini are em-

blematic of what hard work and determination can ac-

complish in the San Diego Community College District.

They recently received word that, upon passing the TOEFL

test in June, they were accepted into the College of Law

at the University of San Diego for the fall semester.

Read Matilde and Ferland’s

Paragraphs

Page 16 ESL

time in SDCE, she also worked for 9 years for

the Sweetwater Adult School District in San

Ysidro and Chula Vista. She began as an aide

and soon after was given her own teaching as-

signment. She also taught ESL to the housing

and dining staff at UCSD in the 1990’s. After

taking a break for a few years, Karen returned

and has been teaching the lower level class for

UCSD for the last 10 years. In con-

trast to our SDCE classes, the UCSD

classes are smaller and “…in a

more informal atmosphere.”

When asked about the biggest

changes that she’s seen over the

35+ years as an ESL instructor for

SDCE, Karen said, “Through the

years the district has really im-

proved its service to our students.

There is so much that is offered to

them now. They have so much help and guid-

ance.” Another change that Karen mentioned

was the addition of one or two hour special top-

ics classes that targeted “particular aspects of

English.” One of the biggest changes was the

addition of managed enrollment classes as an

option to open entry enrollment. Karen com-

mented that “managed enrollment benefitted

regular attenders without leaving behind those

students who weren’t.” Karen was an active

participant in a group of teachers who devel-

oped the idea of implementing managed enroll-

ment at Mid-City Campus which began in the

spring of 2006. Those teachers developed the

criteria for managed enrollment and developed

educational tools to inform students about the

differences between managed and open entry

enrollment so students could make an informed

decision about what class was best for them.

In terms of retirement plans, Karen says, “I

am keeping the 6-hour-a- week classes at UCSD

for a while so I will fit in travel when I can. I real-

ly look forward to taking art classes. I have stud-

ied jewelry making before and I want to get back

Karen Fonseca

By Corinne Layton

Karen Fonseca, long-time

ESL instructor at Mid-City Cam-

pus, retired at the end of the

fall semester. Karen, who be-

gan working for SDCE in the

summer of 1980, was a stead-

fast member of our Mid-City

morning faculty. She was in-

terviewed by Leann Howard (the chair at the time) and

subsequently hired to teach a beginning level class at

the old East San Diego Adult School. Karen com-

ments, “I am forever grateful to her (Leann) for giving

me the opportunity to teach for San Diego Community

College District. I will never forget her leadership and

her warmth toward the students and coworkers. She

was a great role model.” Karen recalls that her first

class had at least 50 students; “It was quite an initia-

tion into teaching for the district.”

Karen’s educational background included a B.A.

in English Literature from George Washington University

in Washington, D.C. and a TESOL Certificate from San

Diego State University. Although Karen’s early assign-

ments were beginning and multi-level ESL, she states

“My favorite level is the one I have taught for the last

16 years or so. High intermediate is a joy to teach for

me. It means that students are at a level where you

can have some interesting conversations. They aren’t

so shy about speaking up in class. They also can ap-

preciate jokes or comments I or other students make.”

Karen was a very popular and well-respected instructor

who provided instruction that the students greatly val-

ued. In fact, her class was always one of the first clas-

ses to fill up ever semester. Karen was way ahead of

the current trend of providing more academic instruc-

tion; in particular, she recognized the importance of

teaching grammar as an important element in prepar-

ing students for higher education. Having taught at Mid

-City for so many years, Karen has been a key member

of our Mid-City community where she has formed strong

and lasting friendships.

Although Karen spent the majority of her teaching

Retirements

“It’s a real gift to

have a job that

you know makes a

difference in the

lives of people you

teach.”

Page 17

into that. To that end, I have signed up for a class at West

City with a previous teacher of mine. I’ve heard they have

a really extensive studio for working in silver. I love to hike

and I want to explore new trails near and far, especially the

eastern Sierras. I really look forward to setting my own

pace and schedule.”

In reflecting about what she will miss most about teach-

ing ESL for our district, Karen explains, “I’ll miss those

thank you’s, the students and learning about different cul-

tures. It’s a real gift to have a job that you know makes a

difference in the lives of the people you teach. But when

you’ve been at a job where you work with many of the

same people for many years, like I have, the teachers and

staff become your family. In the end, I will miss

seeing them daily. We laughed a lot and worked

together and helped each other. Mid-City is a spe-

cial place for me because of them.” Karen add-

ed, “There aren’t many jobs where you hear peo-

ple thank you every day.”

As a key member of our ESL Program and Mid-

City community, Karen will be greatly missed by

students, fellow teachers and staff. Neverthe-

less, we wish her a wonderful retirement and the

opportunity to travel and do the activities she en-

joys most. Happy retirement, Karen!

Toan Humphrey

By Carolyn McGavock

Things just won’t be the same when Toan Humphrey retires at the end of June.

Her presence as a dedicated teacher and colleague will be missed. Toan started

working in Continuing Education in September 1989 when Joan Heinkelmann and

Fran Lee were in leadership. She started in the usual fashion …. going from one off

site class to another, but since getting a contract in 1993, Toan has

held a morning position at ECC.

Toan is a role model because of the way she uses her own life stories to

inspire others. Coming to the U.S. as a refugee, Toan tells her students

how she was once in level 3 ESL. “If I can do it, they can do it.” she tells

them. Toan also encourages students not to be afraid of mistakes. She

says, “When you make a mistake, you never forget the lesson learned.”

Like the time that Toan took a Spanish class. “I stood in front of the class

and said, “Siempre tengo hombre.” without knowing that she had con-

fused “hambre – hunger” with “hombre- man”. When the instructor ques-

tioned her, she persisted in saying that she “always has a man”. It’s won-

derful to hear Toan’s laughter in the telling of the story.

Despite her self-depricating humor, Toan holds herself to high standards in her efforts to

help students succeed in their goals while also contributing effectively to the program as a

whole. Anyone who has worked with Toan notices her gold standard work ethic. Mary Beaupar-

lant, the APC at ECC for many years, recalls Toan’s reliability. “She was always first to turn in

paper work, and Toan would be in the classroom early ready to teach from the start to the end –

always prepared.” In addition to being dedicated to her students and the

school, Toan is also known for her skill and passion for gardening and cultivating rare fruit. How

do we know? Because she’s so generously shared fresh herbs and fruit from her harvests over

the years. Thank you Toan!

“Anyone who

has worked

with Toan no-

tices her gold

standard work

ethic.’

Page 18 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Toan Humphrey (continued)

With reflection, Toan says that her most rewarding memories are of

the times when she would run into a former student and learn that they

were working. She doesn’t want to forget anything about her students,

but hopes to forget “filling in bubbles”. Looking forward, Toan wants to

have time to “really clean” her house, work in her garden, and especially

to volunteer with the elderly and in the homeless shelters. That has been

her heart’s desire. Toan adds, as a grandmother, it goes without saying

that the most important thing is to spend time with her grandchildren.

And what advice does Toan have for the rest of us? “Keep up the good

work that you are doing. You don’t know what an impact you have on your students and their

families.” Thank you Toan for enriching our lives with your own. We wish you all the best!

Marina Vera

By Carolyn McGavock

Every retirement feels like a landmark mo-

ment, and the retirement of Marina Vera is no

different. Don’t despair though because even

as Marina is ‘officially’ retiring, she’s already

envisioned what she’d like to teach next! Being

a creative person sometimes requires the kind

of freedom found in breaking out of routines,

and that’s what Marina’s inner compass is tell-

ing her to do now.

As Marina describes her career in Continuing Ed-

ucation, the words music, spirit, creative, and cul-

ture are said passionately. Having joined the CE ESL

faculty in 1984, some of her fondest memories are

of the work she did as an ASB advisor at the Cesar

Chavez campus when working with Dean Cuellar.

Others surely also remember the dancing and sing-

ing groups, assemblies in Chicano Park, and a pio-

neering teleconference with Mesa College that came

to fruition under her leadership. She says those

events, “…created a powerful spirit on campus. They

tapped into the richness of the students’ cultures.”

In the classroom, Marina has enjoyed giving stu-

dents the opportunity to develop and apply English

language skills through projects. One of her most

precious projects involved students giving Power-

Point presentations about a favorite song. Research,

writing, oral presentation skills, and digital literacy

were integrated into academically

rigorous and personally significant

work. Marina says,

“Music, English, presen-

tation, PowerPoint –

that’s me!”

Before coming to CE,

Marina obtained her

master’s degree in psy-

chology and counseling.

She worked for ten years as a state-wide coordinator

for a health careers opportunity program, and also

served as the tutorial center coordinator at South-

western Community College. That position was where

she began addressing the issues that ESL students

face. It was a perfect segue into teaching ESL after

her daughter was born. Additionally, Marina has

taught college psychology courses since 1983.

Looking forward, Marina plans to swim more, go

to the beach more, and have more family time. “Any

excuse, we have a party,” she says. However, don’t

be surprised to see Marina return post-retirement. In

addition to fond memories, Marina’s passion for stu-

dents extends to the future in an era of online learn-

ing – another area of her expertise. Who knows, she

might pioneer a tutorial class for online learning sys-

tems, or…… For now, we celebrate the positive dif-

ference Marina has made in many lives, and we wish

her a joyful period of renewal.

“Music, English,

presentation,

PowerPoint—

that’s me!”

Page 19 Maude Verdin Retires

By Gretchen Bitterlin

For every handout or folder you receive in a workshop and for every resource

you have access to in the ESL program, there is always a team of clerical staff be-

hind the scenes who do most of the work. So when one of these people retires, it

is a big loss to our program. In February, when Maude Verdin retired, we lost such

a person, whom we miss very much. Maude Verdin worked for our ESL program

for approximately 20 years. In addition to being our ESL Resource Librarian, she

was the chief Clerical Assistant for our program. She started working for us at our

old 54th and University Resource office, moved with us to ECC, and then finally

moved with us to Mid City. Maude did so many things:

Ran the library

Was the receptionist in our office, handling multiple student and faculty phone

inquiries on a daily basis

Placed numerous book orders and sold books in the bookstore

Registered new students

Worked the front desk at Mid City

Prepared materials for meetings and workshops

Tallied program data

More than what Maude did, we will miss her professionalism and lovely workplace communication skills.

She never complained, never raised her voice, and never failed to complete a task placed before her, no

matter how complicated it was. She had such a lovely spirit that to many she also became an ex-officio coun-

selor. We are very thankful for Maude’s contributions to our program. She has truly been the “wind beneath

our wings” for many years and we will miss her.

From Our Colleagues...

The Multi-Level Writing Computer Lab Challenge

By Elaine Barrett

I had been teaching an ESL multi-level computer lab for

a few years when it was decided to change the class to a

lab focused on teaching computer skills

and improving writing skills. So, in the

Spring semester of 2015 the after-

noon level 2 – 6 computer writing lab

came to be.

Each student fills out a question-

naire to determine his/her knowledge

of computers and writing level. The

class uses Keyboarding Pro to help

students who need to become familiar

with the keyboard. Students are then

taught to set up and type a document

using Microsoft Word to write sentences or an-

swer questions, depending on the student’s lev-

el. Student work is saved on the computer in the

student’s folder. When a document is completed,

the student prints it for the teacher to correct. A

student can access past work in his/her folder

and make corrections when the writing is re-

turned.

As a one hour open entry adult class multi-

level students who have a range of computer

skills, this has been quite a challenging class to

teach! But as so often happens in teaching ESL

classes, the rewards of offering this class to the

students who have persisted have been very

great and beyond anything I ever expected.

Not only have I been able to see my students im

“My students

are amazing,

courageous,

adventurous,

hard-working,

funny, sad,

intelligent, cn

caring people…”

The Multi-Level Writing Computer Lab Challenge

(continued)

prove their computer and writing skills, but I have

been so touched by the unfolding of the minds,

hearts and spirits of these incredible people in my

class as they revealed themselves in addressing

the topics they were assigned. My students are

amazing, courageous, adventurous, hard-working,

funny, sad, intelligent and caring people, and meet-

ing and getting to know them on such a deep level

has been one of the most rewarding experiences of

my ESL career. Teaching this class has brought me

great joy, and I hope to keep improving it.

Page 20 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Overcoming Disillusionment

By Lynn Francis

There is a story of a man walking down the beach and he sees thousands of starfish on the shore. A

woman is picking them up one at a time and putting them back in the water. The man says to her,

“there are so many starfish here, how do you think you can make a difference?” She picks one up as

she puts it in the water and says “I made a difference to this one.” And she picks up another and says

“and this one too”. (adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley.) Some of us make a difference

in smaller, deeper ways and others in big, broad ways and everything in between.

Probably most of us entered ESL because we wanted to make a difference– not because we needed

any old job. We loved the students, the diversity, and for many, the travel. We flourished in gathering

resources, methods, techniques, activities at workshops and conferences, and shared and collaborated

with others. We returned for graduate studies and/or presented our own workshops, created curricu-

lum in a never ending force of creativity, joy and hard work. We developed friends and were guided by

mentors. And then…after a period of time…

Disillusionment hits us. As defined by James C. Price of Refresh Leadership, disillusionment is simp-

ly…” the displeasure in discovering something isn’t as it was expected, from life situations to personal

relationships to career paths.” And, perhaps, disillusionment is just developmental as we struggle to

accept reality on its terms integrating our own sensibilities with our experiences at the workplace.”

As we spend time and grow in an institution, at some point we start thinking some of the policies,

decisions, hiring practices, may be unfair and political. Contracts, class closures, assignments, number

of hours you can work or sub, do not match up with how we think things should be. Presidents, deans,

managers come and go bringing with them different and conflicting decisions. Some go by the letter of

the law, some by the spirit of the law. Isolation patterns set in without opportunities to meet regularly

with other teachers. Appreciations and acknowledgements fall by the wayside. Perhaps these are

some of the signs of disillusionment you have wrestled with and tried to make sense of. But wait! There

is hope!

The opportunity for self-growth and a greater understanding of our place in the world in a deeper

more meaningful way has the possibility to be birthed. The direction I found for reconciliation of having

this amazing job along with the disillusionment of what was mentioned above was basically to know

myself better and understand my surroundings. I needed to know what I wanted in a job, what I was

passionate about, what depleted my energy and what invigorated me. I needed to know my personality

type which I must say has been extremely helpful (INFP if you are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Person-

“Wisdom comes by disillusionment.”

George Santayana

Page 21

ality Profile). I needed to understand myself spiritually and move towards that which was fulfilling, connecting,

inspiring, (the soft skills). I also needed to understand my emotional make-up, projections onto a company

and other people. My own reactions, perceptions, expectations and beliefs were contributing to my own stress

and distress.

With increasing self-knowledge I have choices to make changes. I can find support. I can make the deci-

sions about what to get involved in (committees, curriculum development, workshops) and how much time I

want to spend. Some people enter more fully into the company and that becomes their full time vocation.

Many adjuncts opt to have second careers so to speak. I became a therapist/life coach. We all make our own

decisions about how to have a meaningful career within imperfect systems.

Education is the field that we have chosen. It is a highly creative field. Self-empowerment comes from

knowing who we are and that we have choices. Disillusionment fades as gratitude for what is already fulfilling,

creative, and working well increases. Creating balance in our lives becomes a priority – mentally, emotionally,

spiritually and physically. Finally, a reconciliation, a synthesis and integration of who we are and what we do

happens with increased awareness as we find meaningful ways to try to make a difference. We learn to ac-

cept what we can change and what we can’t, with the wisdom to know the difference (the Serenity Prayer) -

finding fulfillment, peace and happiness from the inside out in whatever environment we find ourselves in.

Discover your Personality Type. Click here

to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Ahhh, the Ups and Downs of

Teaching Level 1 ESL

by Cindy Wislofsky

Up – Seeing those enthusiastic,

eager faces at the start of a new

semester…even for those who

are continuing once again in

level 1.

Down – Seeing a sea of blank

faces staring at you in the mid-

dle of a ‘well-crafted, five-hour-

prep’ lesson. Are they not get-

ting it? How can they not be

getting it? I plotted this lesson

out so thoroughly. Back to

square one!

Up – Students are progressing

well and becoming comfortable

with the class routine after

mega-modeling, mega-

practicing, and mega-role-

playing each day.

Down – In walk two new zero

level students exactly at the mo-

ment I have finished setting up a

practice activity. There are no oth-

er classmates who speak their two

native languages and you cannot

delay the activity for very long. It’s

time to ‘physicalize’ the lesson as

much as possible as quickly as

possible AND keep smiling to wel-

come and encourage the new stu-

dents so they are not frustrated in

their first five minutes of class!

Up – Students are speaking to

each other in English during break!

It is a lively discussion with laugh-

ter and smiles all around. Wow!

They must have really connected

to the lesson we just completed.

Down - You overhear the discus-

sion topic: the lipstick smear on a

young male student’s face after he

returned from break! Note to self:

Students are motivated to use

English for various

reasons…not all of

which you can pre-

dict or control.

Up – Students demonstrate tremen-

dous commitment to learn English.

One student communicates a refusal

to visit her son in Texas because she

doesn’t want to miss her English class.

Others take several buses each day to

get to class.

Down – Struggling and striving to

break those solidified errors you keep

hearing that have never been taught,

e.g. ”I from is Mexico,” especially

among students who have lived in San

Diego the longest.

Up – Students are gradually under-

standing the humor you have incorpo-

rated at opportune moments in the

lessons.

Down – They use the same humor

Page 22 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

ESL Celebrates Faculty Achievements

when a district VIP drops by…I

hear ”Good Afternoon” chanted

as the distinguished guest arrives

far into our morning class! I’m

sure the VIP is wondering why the

students seem confused!

Up – Learning light bulbs going

on daily.

Up – After a few weekly visits to

the lab to use computers to rein-

force the classroom lessons,

there is no longer a need to re-

view the start up procedure. Self-

esteem is flourishing!

Up – Students share their life ups

and downs with you in their own

level 1 way. What a privilege to

be trusted and included in this

way.

Up – Observing the friendships

across cultures developing. Our

own little U.N.

Up – Students demonstrate care

and concern for each other every

day. This is ‘our’ class and we

have become a family.

Up – Witnessing the progress of

former students through higher

levels and conversing more fluent-

ly with them in subsequent se-

mesters. They are continuing to

reach their language goals and

they take the time to thank you

because you were their first

teacher and they will always

remember you. They have

touched your heart and you are

proud to have been their teach-

er.

Ahhh, yes.…level 1 can be a

challenge, but there are many

more Ups than Downs!!

Congratulation ESL Spring 2016

Faculty Leadership Development

Academy graduates!

The Faculty Leadership Develop-

ment Academy exposes faculty par-

ticipants to leadership principles

and district-specific policies, direc-

tions, and core values. The overall

goals of the FLDA are, “to encour-

age employees to improve their

knowledge, skills, and abilities in

their current assignment and to

enlighten employees about the role

and responsibilities of District lead-

ers; as well as other promotional

opportunities in the course of suc-

cession planning.”

ESL FLDA Graduates (left to right): Steve Gwynne, Stephanie Thomas,

Carolyn McGavock, Richard Weinroth, Magdalena Kwiatkowski, Dr. Bar-

bara Pongsrikul, Ingrid Greenberg, Maria Allan

Click here to view more pictures of the

FLDA Graduation Ceremony

Page 23

Gretchen Bitterrlin Receives A Special Commendation Award at the CASAS Summer Institute!

By Stephanie Thomas

Now it’s official: Gretchen Bitterlin has received every conceivable

award the fields of ESL and adult education have to offer. At the CASAS

Summer Institute, Patricia Rickard presented Gretchen with a Special

Commendation Award recognizing Gretchen’s indefatigable contributions

to adult education in California and nationally. As the award states,

Gretchen has indeed made a profound difference not only in the lives of

the students she serves, but in the lives of educators who have been

privileged to work alongside her throughout her career.

In the words of Patricia Rickard, “Gretchen has provided outstanding

leadership and has made significant contributions to adult education,

not only within the San Diego Community College District, but also

statewide and nationally. She has made a positive difference in the

lives of thousands of adult learners, adult educators and her col-

leagues who have worked with her throughout her career in adult education. Gretchen was a pioneer in the

implementation of Competency Based Adult Education (CBAE) in ESL programs. In the 1970’s, she saw the

need for more competency based curricula to meet the survival needs of the new Southeast Asian Refu-

gees, and was one of the lead authors in developing instructional materials and staff development training

materials focused on implementing CBAE in the ESL classroom. She served on statewide assessment com-

mittees to assist in developing CASAS assessments for ESL. As coordinator of the ESL program in SDCCD

Continuing Education, she has developed a program that has won numerous awards as a model program

and for Promising Practices within the program. She has given generously of her time to serve on state and

national level ESL committees to improve the content standards, curriculum and delivery of ESL to adult

learners throughout the country. We wish her well in her retirement, knowing that she has been an out-

standing role model for the next generation of adult educators.”

Patricia Rickard (left) and Gretchen Bitterlin

Save the Date: September 24, 2016

A Celebration of Gretchen Bitterlin’s

Remarkable 45-year Career at SDCE

Cesar Chavez Campus

4:30 P.M. - ?

Gretchen’s incredible contributions to

our ESL Program and SDCE will be

highlighted in the fall issue of Dialogue.

Page 24 ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

Acknowledgements

The ESL Program thanks the following staff, faculty, and volunteers who contributed to the improvement of our

2015-2016 program:

ESL Program Staff:

Mary Le Duc, Maude Verdin, Chao Xiong, Pamela Castillo and Carmen Moi (who assisted with preparation of the

certificates of completion)

ESL Instructional Assistants:

CE Mesa: Erick Villa, Yolanda Bravo, Bianca Belmonte, Duy Bui, Stefanie Rudisuhli, Cuong Nguyen, Binh Luu,

Phong Nguyen, Linh Truong

Chavez: Yolanda De La Torre, Hamida Gregory, Esther Im, Kseniia Isgarskaia, Marvin Mora, Roya Moshiri, Frances

Peck, Kagiyo Peterson

ECC: Eva Duenas, Janisse Marron-Hernandez, Alejandra Mendoza, Liz Rodriguez, Sanja Rodic, Hector Santana-

Tea, Mari Andar

Mid City: Mina Abduljabbar, Mari Andar, Maribel Diaz, Liliana Gonzalez, Evarist Kharelimana, Edilberto Mendoza,

Nadia Mohamed, Thuy Nguyen, Zakia Nassrat, Hector Salazar, Albina Velazco

North City Miramar: Jennifer Bennett, Gladys Gonzalez, Mohammad Hemmat, Patricia Lopez, Faranak Majd,

Thanh Nguyen, Thao Nguyen, Haruko Takeshita

West City: Nga La, Binh Luu

Student Equity Writing Tutors: Ingrid Greenberg (Coordinator), Neil Dewse, Janet Foster, Ann Gianola, Anisa Haji-

Mohamed, Cassandra Heard, David Leyva, Caron Lieber, Carolyn McGavock, Melody Paris, Stefani Rudisuhli, Ser-

pil Seyhan

Classroom Volunteers: (Highlighted names are from collaboration with the USS Midway) Iona Armando, Adan Bara-

jas, Helen Bariamichael, Carmen Barajas, Mark Berlin, Cheryl Brierton, Patsy Brown, Beau Buchanan, Bruce Co-

hen, Ed Collins, Steven Droessler, David Flohr, Ken Fortier, Nynke Fortuin, Aubrey Greenhouse, Charles Gregan,

Chris Gommel, Sara Hanscom, Reverend Hal Heath, Stephanie Jarrett, John Kelly, Jack Koerper, Ezequiel Medina,

Carl Nelson, Elizabeth Mueller, Garry Roy Postma, Mary Ramos, Paul Reineke, William Roth, Linda Rowley, Dale

Santee, John Setzke, Louise Shapee, Callie Spilman, Julia Slocombe, Nancy Thompson, Mike Wapner, Marie Yee

ESL Committees:

ESL Learner Persistence Committee: Corinne Layton (chair), Maria Allan, Gretchen Bitterlin, Jim Brice, Monica Cue-

va, Starlene Dahl, Janet Foster, Lydia Hammett, Magdalena Kwiatkowski, Caron Lieber, Aldamay Rudisuhli, Cindy

Wislofsky

ESL Textbook Committee: Ann McCrory (chair), Gretchen Bitterlin, Jim Brice, Neil Dewse, Xanh Lam, Corinne Lay-

ton, Susan Morgan, Rheba Smith, Cindy Wislofsky

Teachers Using Technology: Jim Brice (chair), Cristina Abell, Maria Allen, Beth Bogage, Monica Cueva, Ann Marie

Holzknecht, Sharon Javdan, Lydia Hammett, Yasamin Hessamian, Rheba Smith, Stephanie Thomas, Kenna Ve-

atch, and Cindy Wislofsky

Technology Plan Committee: Gretchen Bitterlin (chair), Jim Brice, Steve Gwynne, Lydia Hammett, David Hold-

en, Ann Marie Holzknecht, Corinne Layton, Carolyn McGavock, Farzad Pishyar, Mimi Pollack, Barbara Pongs-

rikul, Donna Price, Stephanie Thomas, Cindy Wislofsky

VESL Committee: Steve Gwynne/Carolyn McGavock (co-chairs), Jim Brice, Monica Cueva, Lily Gonzalez, Karen

Hamilton, Lydia Hammett, Cindi Hartman, Corinne Layton, Eric Miller, Karen Nedd, Donna Price, Cindy

Wislofsky

Transition to College Committee: Beth Bogage, Patricia Comey, Monica Cueva, Marla Goldfine, Magdalena

Kwiatkowski, Corinne Layton, Carl Luster, Susan Morgan, Kelsey Parker, Andrea Sperling, Chris Stone

CASAS Field Test of New Reading Test Items: Gretchen Bitterlin, Miguel Blancas, Mary Cory, Monica Cueva,

Diane DesRoches, Cindy Keltner, Linda Kozin, Caron Lieber, Valerie Long, Donna Price, Laurel Slater, Chris

Stone, Gamze Tufekci, Cindy Wislofsky.

Citizenship Curriculum Developers: Rosaelena Lopez, Lesley Sanders

Course Outline Writers & Editors: Jan Forstrom (coordinator), Mechelle Perrott, Colleen Fitzmaurice, Ann

McCrory, Cristina Abell, Eric Miller, Jim Brice, Gretchen Bitterlin, Marla Goldfine, Carol Kelsall, Margaret Pos-

ner, Chris Stone, Alexandra Reed, Beth Bogage, Susan Morgan, Stephanie Thomas, Carl Luster, Cindi Hart-

man, Toan Humphrey, Magdalena Kwiatkowski

EL Civics Assessors: Lori Amundson, Kendra Dawson, Darlene Elwin, Lynn Graver, Cindi Hartman, Nancy Jo-

hansen, Jessica Maguire, Alma McGee, Donna Rosen, Aldamay Rudisuhli, Eileen Schmitz, Joyce Thompson,

Alexandra Reed, Kenna Veatch

El Civics Aides: Pamela Castillo, Cuong Nguyen, Raymond Macias, Yonathan Tesfahun

EL Civics Curriculum Developers: Jim Brice, Jan Forstrom, Janet Foster, Steve Gwynne, Lydia Hammett, Bryan

Hicks, Carolyn McGavock, Lee Mosteller, Margaret Posner, Chris Stone, Stephanie Thomas, Kenna Veatch

Conference Planners/Presenters:

CASAS Summer Institute Presenters: Jan Forstrom, Stephanie Thomas

CATESOL San Diego Chapter Fall Staff Development Workshop Presenters: Maria Allan, Gretchen Bitterlin,

Corinne Layton, Eric Miller, Donna Price

CATESOL State Conference Presenters: Gretchen Bitterlin, Jan Forstrom, Ingrid Greenberg, Magdalena Kwiat-

kowski, Donna Price, Stephanie Thomas, Cindy Wislofsky

San Diego Regional CATESOL Presenters: Maria Allan, Margarita Bacigalupo, Gretchen Bitterlin, Monica Cue-

va, Bryan Hicks, Magdalena Kwiatkowski, Corinne Layton, Susan Morgan, Donna Price, Stephanie Thomas,

Joyce Thompson

Teachers Who Helped Facilitate Demonstration Lessons for New Instructors: Elissa Claar, Khamsay Sayavong,

Kara Valenzuela, Harla Yesner

Page 25

ES

L D

ialo

gu

e

ESL Resource Office Team:

Corinne Layton ESL Program Chair

Gretchen Bitterlin 231 Program Coordinator

Mary LeDuc Administrative Technician

Pamela Castillo Office Assistant

Chao Xiong Student Services; CASAS Testing

Jan Forstrom EL Civics Coordinator

Stephanie Thomas Assistant EL Civics Coordinator

Dialogue:

Published by Stephanie Thomas

Edited by Corinne Layton

A Message from Dr. Barbara Pongsrikul, Dean of ESL, SDCE

Click on the picture to hear a message from Dean Barbara or scan the QR Code.