Blog Entry 4

Blog Entry 4

This class helped me become aware of the struggles of English Language learners. Never before did I pay attention to the challenges they face. This course made me aware of all the different types of children that will be in my future class. Placing focus on this specific group of ELLs has allowed me to have a better notion of what I need to focus on to help them progress to the next grade. I have learned that ELLs are very special students that deserve our focus, help, patience, and time. I learned about their background and the challenges that many face, such as living in a low-income home, being raised in a foreign language as their primary language, and at times starting school later when they are older which causes a delay in their learning in English.

This class has impacted me professionally by giving me the best ideas in helping ELLs learn. One of the most important methods that I learned about was creating small groups. Small groups, as I observed, are very efficient because as an educator, you can focus on the students one on one that are struggling more than others and take the time to address their needs. I believe that “The WIDA CAN DO Descriptors for English Language Proficiency Levels, Pre-K-12” is a very important table to help us understand what level our students are in (WIDA Consortium, 2012b, pp7-8). By knowing the level of each students, we are able to work on their weaknesses in the different subjects so that they can advance to the next level.

The aspects that I believe I need to be focused on are the four major subsystems which are phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics (Wright, 2015, pg. 31). These subsystems have changed my mentality of how to teach. Out of these four subsystems, I believe phonology is the most important because it makes sure the student is able to clearly understand. If a word is not clear, then the whole purpose or meaning of what they are trying to say can be misinterpreted.

Before this course I did not know anything about the “Silent Period” that some students, especially ELLs go through (Wright, 2015, pg. 155). Sometimes we believe that a student is not paying attention to us or that maybe the information comes through one ear and goes out the other. Yet this is not the case. As I keep learning, I can see that it is just a period that some ELLs go through and by giving them that wait time, they slowly start blossoming and we can see their progress. All that time they spent observing and hearing their classmates and teachers pays off. This places great importance on being patient and allowing them their wait period where they can feel comfortable enough to participate in class.

The impact this course caused on me is a great one and has caused me to have awareness towards ELLs. They are students that, when given the opportunity and time, will strive to give their best. Also, it has given me ideas in teaching and I have learned about the importance of visuals, repetitiveness, role playing, working with small groups, classmates helping their classmates, and having patience to teach them.

References:

WIDA Consortium. (2012b).  English Language Learners can do booklet, grades prekindergarten-kindergarten. Madison: Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

Wright, W.E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

Blog Entry 3: Interview with Mr. Estrada

Hello Class,

This is my Blog Entry 3: Interview with Mr. Estrada, you can click below to watch it:

 Click Here: https://youtu.be/oWcSIxJtqRE

            Today I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Estrada an English and History teacher for 9th and 11th graders at Springwood Highschool. He has been a teacher for many years and he related some of the struggles he has faced while teaching ELLs students. He talked about students that come from all over the world such as Hondurans, Cubans, Mexicans, and so forth. Some come to our country with their parents and some with known relatives he stated that some come with the mentality of just working and therefore place no effort in learning. Yet those that come with the desire to learn and be someone do place an effort in learning. Estrada talked about the Entering Level 1, because some of his students are beginners at school, which don't really know a lot of English (Wright, 2015, Pg. 12). These students as he mentions fail test and do really poor academically. He enjoys seeing students’ progress that have the desire to learn, he is satisfied at their progress. Mr. Estrada talks about the suggestions he gives his students, suggesting that when they go home he recommends that they want an English program with Spanish subtitles, this is a way of adjusting to the culture in the U.S. (Wright, 2015, Pg. 19). As future educators we must create n environment where they can easily learn to adjust to our culture. We learn from them and they learn from us, it important to understand that sometime students have other goals or needs. Investing out time to learn from their culture and about their lives is very important. Hope you enjoy watching my Blog Interview with Mr. Estrada, see you in Blog 4!

Entry 2: Interview with Sara Gil

Hello,

Today I had the opportunity to interview Sara Gil who's primary language is Spanish and learned English as a secondary language she is considered a ELL. To see more of our interview please click on the link below.

https://youtu.be/7-GAHr_yllI


Reflection:

Sara, was introduced into the English language when she initiated elementary school. She was placed in an ESL program to help her transition form her primary Spanish language to English. Just like many ELL students out there her transition was not easy. She faced some challenges with pronunciation and at times spelling, she shared with me that at time she would be embarrassed about her accent because some words in English were difficult to pronounce correctly. As Wright states in his book that English speaking children knows about 6,000 words by the end of grade 2, yet ELLs only have about 2,000 words (Wright, 2015, pg. 35). ELLs have a major gap to fulfill compare to their peers. I believe that Sara would sometimes feel she need a little more practice to communicate properly and to speak with the proper words to be understood.  She also stated that her teachers were very patient and took the time to teach them in various ways such as visuals, charts, songs to reinforce English. It definitely required her to practice more outside of school to get her to where she is now. She now use English more than Spanish, but has not forgotten about her primary language, it is important to embrace bilingualism, English is the dominant language in the United States but our founding fathers embraced the diversity (Wright, 2015. pg. 68). Sara keeps using Spanish daily, she even helps translate documents and is able at the same time to communicate in English, thanks to the educators that took their time to teach her with the different learning skills.

Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

Rubi's Blog Entry 1: Self Introduction

Hello,

My name is Rubi, I am majoring in Education. Hope you get to know a little about me!
Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gvdHSV2faY