November 11, 2004
Observations and Comments: By Dennis Lawler
The following are my observations and comments on the class presentations on
First Aid by Ann Buhl, Aynsley Smith and Kris Pearson. These presentations took place
on November 9 and November 11 in the Hawthorne Education Center, 6-9 p.m. in the
level 4 (intermediate) class, in which I am the teacher.
One of the goals of the ESL program (English as a Second Language) is to
prepare adult learners to cope with various types of health issues that they confront in
their daily lives. For this reason, the ESL program works with regional organizations,
whom we call “experts in the field”, who teach our students specialized topics. Ann, Kris
and Aynsley taught “First Aid.” The topics covered were: Frostbite, burns, cuts, poisons,
sprains/strains, animal and insect bites.
The learners are all adults from foreign countries, such as Mexico, Cambodia,
Chile, Argentina, the Philippines, Somalia, and Bosnia. These learners often work during
the day, often at very difficult jobs, and have limited English proficiency. They also have
very little specialized knowledge of modern medicine or first aid. For example, from
where these learners come, in Latin America, Africa and Asia, traditional folk remedies
are used by millions of people. In some countries, witchcraft is a part of first aid. So one
can see that for many of these learners, the lessons presented by Ann, Kris and Aynsley
were very new and strange to them. As another example, since most of my learners come
from the tropics, and have not been in Minnesota very long, they did not know about
frostbite. It was necessary for Ann, Kris and Aynsley to adapt the content matter, content
vocabulary and methods to serve the needs of all the learners. Ann, Kris and Aynsley
used vocabulary and methods that fit precisely the level of the class and kept the learners
involved and participating in the learning experience. They planned these and carried out
the presentations with very much professionalism and ability. They used plain vocabulary
and a lot of “hands on” methods, such as demonstrations and photographs of actual first
aid situations.
Ann, Kris and Aynsley used different methodologies in the presentation of these
first aid topics. They first presented the vocabulary and concepts in a 45 minute session.
The learners read aloud from worksheets, with the help of Ann, Kris and Aynsley. This
was often difficult for the student. This part was very important, since the nurses could
not assume that they knew this vocabulary. In fact, it became obvious that, for many
learners, this was the first time that they had heard the English vocabulary used in first
aid. The nurses clarified anything that the learners did not understand about the
vocabulary, and verified that the learners understood the concept by questions and asking
for feedback.
Then Ann, Kris and Aynsley set up three different stations in the classroom. Each
station dealt with a different first aid topic. For example, Aynsley talked with a group on
insect and animal bites. Ann’s topic was poisoning situations, and the prevention of
poisoning in both children and adults. Kris handled the topics of fractures, sprains and
cuts. All of the learners rotated from station to station. They used appropriate vocabulary
and a lot of “hands on” methods, such as demonstrations and photographs of actual first
aid situations. Aynsley showed pictures of dangerous animals of the Midwest, Kris used a
book with pictures of injured people, and Ann had a word game to reinforce the
knowledge of how a person could be poisoned. All of these had been adapted to this class
by Ann, Aynsley and Kris
After the work at the stations, Ann, Kris and Aynsley reinforced the lessons by
playing games with the students. For example, each student received a slip of paper with
a first aid situation. The student then answered the question in the situation. A candy bar
was given as a reward. This was a fun situation, but also very important in reinforcing the
subject matter covered earlier.
Ann, Kris and Aynsley made these learning situations both informative and fun.
They mixed in audiovisuals, written materials, good humor, and even goodies (candy
bars). They especially were very competent in keeping to the topic, but also were very
adept at picking up on opportunities to expand the topic when needed. They incorporated
personal experiences of the learners in the learning experience.
I must emphasize that Ann, Kris and Aynsley did an excellent job of adapting
their content materials to the knowledge level and interests of the learners. They sought
and received much input from the learners; for example, the learners talked about
experiences they had had in their own countries with injuries and insect and animal bites.
The learners participated eagerly in both the terminology and the small group discussion,
and showed a lot of interest in the topics.
For me, the topics taught so very efficiently and well by Ann, Kris and Aynsley,
would have been impossible to cover in my ESL class. They were able to adapt their
specialized knowledge of first aid content to the needs of everybody in the entire class,
under very diverse circumstances. The learners were very enthusiastic about the classes
that Ann, Kris and Aynsley presented so well. I am very pleased and happy that they
taught this subject matter in my ESL class.
Dennis J. Lawler
ESL teacher
delawler@rochester.k12.mn.us