Through this class, I got to interview people and friends who learned English
as a second language, teachers who teach in bilingual or dual language
classrooms, as well as English speaking teachers and students who interact with
ELL students throughout their time at school daily. I have learned to become more
aware of the demographics of my school as well as did do away with and
bilingual classes at my school offers to our ELL students. These bilingual
classes mainly pertaining to Spanish speaking students who grew up learning
Spanish as a first language in their household. Knowledge of languages relevant
to the many roles teachers play as communicators, educators, evaluators, educated
human beings, and agents of socialization. (Wright, 2015)A lot of learning
about bilingual classes and accommodations that are made for ELLs
as well as
engaging and interacting with ELLs in my elementary school has taken place through being able to interview and observe Ms. Nava.
From the key Common Core state standard English language arts practice of building and presenting knowledge through research by integrating, comparing, and synthesizing ideas from text that are provided for us to study from our class textbook (Wright, 2015), I was able to identify a lot of these ideas from the way Ms. Nava presented knowledge to her students in the classroom. For example, during her social studies lesson, Ms. Nava Provided her students with a large range of sources such as Newspaper and magazine articles, a globe, and online video resources to allow students to be able to gather evidence and synthesize multiple sources towards the lesson that was being taught in class.I had no idea that even things such as articles for social studies as well as the entire lesson was given to the students in the Spanish language, I also began to piece together that the Spanish speaking students at our elementary school were kind of secluded from the rest of the student population. It was as though third grade was divided into two separate groups: four classes of ELLs. Then we have the four regular English-speaking classrooms for third grade. The more time I spend observing ELL students in our school, I realize that due to the fact that the students could not speak English as well as their peers a lot of them are shy or experience a communication disconnect that does not allow them to fit comfortably in their academic atmosphere, causing these children to not build connections or relationships with other students, teachers, and people at the school. The Spanish speaking students are more shy and quieter than their fluent English-speaking peers.
Ms. Nava’s class is of a smaller size than Ms. Miller's (my MT) third grade class of English-speaking students and ALL her lessons are taught in the Spanish language. Directions and steps for math problems are given in the English language, but if a student struggles with understanding a concept, the teacher aides the through accommodation and translating it into the Spanish language for them to easily understand what is being taught. this was interesting for me to see call MA because I had no idea as to what extent of Spanish was spoken in her classroom.
From the key Common Core state standard English language arts practice of building and presenting knowledge through research by integrating, comparing, and synthesizing ideas from text that are provided for us to study from our class textbook (Wright, 2015), I was able to identify a lot of these ideas from the way Ms. Nava presented knowledge to her students in the classroom. For example, during her social studies lesson, Ms. Nava Provided her students with a large range of sources such as Newspaper and magazine articles, a globe, and online video resources to allow students to be able to gather evidence and synthesize multiple sources towards the lesson that was being taught in class.I had no idea that even things such as articles for social studies as well as the entire lesson was given to the students in the Spanish language, I also began to piece together that the Spanish speaking students at our elementary school were kind of secluded from the rest of the student population. It was as though third grade was divided into two separate groups: four classes of ELLs. Then we have the four regular English-speaking classrooms for third grade. The more time I spend observing ELL students in our school, I realize that due to the fact that the students could not speak English as well as their peers a lot of them are shy or experience a communication disconnect that does not allow them to fit comfortably in their academic atmosphere, causing these children to not build connections or relationships with other students, teachers, and people at the school. The Spanish speaking students are more shy and quieter than their fluent English-speaking peers.
Ms. Nava’s class is of a smaller size than Ms. Miller's (my MT) third grade class of English-speaking students and ALL her lessons are taught in the Spanish language. Directions and steps for math problems are given in the English language, but if a student struggles with understanding a concept, the teacher aides the through accommodation and translating it into the Spanish language for them to easily understand what is being taught. this was interesting for me to see call MA because I had no idea as to what extent of Spanish was spoken in her classroom.
Hello, Fatima!
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that this class was able to help you become more aware of the demographics around you. As educators, I believe it is important to always get to know your students and their cultural backgrounds. I completely agree that it has been difficult to balance school, work, and student teaching, but I know it will be worth it when we have our own classrooms. I agree that this course has helped us learn about different accommodations that we can implement not only for our ELLs, but for any student that may require extra assistance. I am glad you were able to experience time in a classroom with ELLs, and I hope it proves beneficial when you have your own class. I am so happy to have been able to experience these last two years alongside you and the rest of our peers. Best of luck in your future as an educators!
Hello Erika! I completely agree with you in that I believe one of the most important things teachers can do for ELL’s is getting to know their students linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This is the first thing teachers should do when they first meet their ELL student because it will give them a basis of what to research and begin developing resources for them. According to Wright (2015), “a search for information about the student’s language may reveal some important similarities and differences between the home language and English that can help the teacher plan effective ESL instruction” (pg. 24). This just goes to show that researching your students can help plan instruction that would truly benefit and help the student learn English more effectively.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Erika!
DeleteYou are very right, it will all be worth it in just a few months. I like how you said how this class has really taught us how to help any student who needs assistance. As one of our other professors mentioned once, all students are English Language Learners and can ll benefit from the strategies we have learned in this course.
Hi Erica!
DeleteI am glad that you completely agree with me, because I know how much we all have struggled together in the last 2 years of this program.
We're so close to graduating! I cannot wait to have my own classroom and to be able to help my students through what we learn from classes such as this one. I agree on the importance of getting to know your students’ cultural backgrounds. Attending University of Houston has also helped me understand the diversity of the entire city, just by being surrounded by the extremely wide range of ethnicities that we have in our own University.
Hi Fatima!
ReplyDeleteI really liked that you mentioned becoming more aware of your ELL students' demographics. Before this class, I did not realize how important it was to be aware of your students demographic differences. I also feel like I learned a lot overall about ELL students and how to keep them engaged and on track in my classroom. One of my favorite parts of this class was the interview with an ELL. I interviewed my friend, and I learned a lot about ELL's and how they learn from her. This class, as well as second language acquisition have definitely prepared me for ESL test.
Hi Almira! I also like you learned a ton from the ELL learner interview. I had interviewed my cousin and also learned a lot from er experiences as an ELL. I think that interview was one of the best ones we did because it allowed us to empathize with someone we knew and made us aware for our future classroom.
DeleteHey Almira!
DeleteI totally agree with you! Being able to interview a friend who grew up as an ELL student was one of my most favorite parts of this class if not my favorite. I learned so much about my friend just by hearing out the things that she struggled with as a Spanish speaking student in a Texas public school.
And yes, I did not realize that demographics of the student body of a school also help determine learning struggles due to language barriers as well as socioeconomic status of students and families in the area, which used to be what I would focus on for the most part when looking at student demographics.
Almira,
ReplyDeleteI agree that this class brought attention to the importance of student demographics. While it is vital that we understand our ELLs background, it is beneficial to learn the background of all students. Once the course started, I asked the students in my student teaching placement about where they are from and where their parents from. I found out that English is a second language for some of my students, which I would have never guessed by how fluent they are in the language. In the future, as a teacher, I think I will start my school year with a ‘getting to know each other’ activity describing the students’ background.
Hi Claire,
DeleteIts great that you started the year off by getting to know your students' backgrounds. I also tried this year to ask more questions about their language and home culture. In fact, something small I started doing was asking one of my students how to say "Bless you" in his language, so now every time he sneezes, I say it in his language to make him feel a little bit at home. He laughs every time but I think students appreciate small gestures as such.
Hi Aleena!
DeleteI also tried to get to know my students more. I asked a lot of questions about my schools demographic as well as my class demographic. I found out that many students in my class were ELL students. I would have never assumed how many ELL students we had before I asked. I am now trying my best to incorporate what we learn in this class in my own student teaching placement.
Hey Aleena,
Deletethat's really sweet of you to do that for your student. All children definitely notice when you go out of your way to do small gestures such as that make them feel comfortable and happy. It is definitely important to know about your students background and culture to be able to form a strong bond or relationship with them.