ACES — the Academic Center for English Language Studies at St. Joseph's University. It's a college program tailored to non-native English speakers. The director and assistant director created a guided professional program to help teachers put themselves in their students shoes.
"One of the key parts of empathy is tok think about what would it feel like for you if you were in the same situation," said Rania El-Badry, the assistant director of the program. "They now are familiar with the psychology and emotions of students in the classrooms and that's some that will influence the way that they teach going forward," said program director Erica David.
Teachers were willing to be vulnerable and laugh at themselves to better understand how their students feel navigating a new language, as they acted out scenes in the foreign language. "When you're able to act and you have the protection of character, it can help students be more bold in their speaking of a language their unfamiliar with," David said."It will really help out so many people that are struggling right now," said eighth grader Xenia Biro.