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.
Hello Rubi,
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points in your reflection. I think that it is so important for future teachers to become aware of strategies that are beneficial for ELL students. In particular, you mentioned that phonology is something that you learned that will be really helpful as a future educator. I agree with you. In fact, the book mentions that it is something that a lot of ELL students struggle with. According to Wright (2015) “Knowledge in phonology helps teachers understand issues related to pronunciation, accents, and regional varieties of English.” (p.31) Being educated about the areas that ELL students struggle with will help us plan according to their needs. I absolutely enjoyed learning with you this semester. I know that you will be a great teacher someday.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Hello Yerali,
DeleteYes, phonology is key to communication, many of our future students go through difficulty when trying to communicate, we must make sure we are providing them with the right structures and sequence of sounds in a word (Wright, 2015, pg. 31). When we see our ELLs struggle we must use the scaffolding methods until we see that we completed our task in helping them learn and speak English (Wright, 2015, pg 57). It was a pleasure learning together this semester, I know we have a great deal of work ahead, but with all the tools earned in this course we can use them to help more ELLs, I know you will do great also Yerali, wish you nothing but the best!
Hi Rubi, I really enjoyed reading your reflection and seeing your growth as a future educator. You mentioned that you were not aware at first of the struggles that many ELLs face, but you were definitely not the only one. Wright (2015) mentions, that many teachers are under the false impression that language development is the sole responsibility of ESL/Bilingual teachers, but we now know that is not the case. You mentioned that you are now knowledgeable of how to help ELLs overcome their struggles and that’s great because all teachers are language teachers (Wright, 2015). I loved that you included various methods that you plan on using in your future classroom, because differentiation is important and since ELLs are so diverse, not every method works for every student.
ReplyDeleteHello Angelica,
DeleteYes, I agree, every student is different and therefore we must use the appropriate tools to evaluate and come out with a great plan to help each of them individually in the areas of weakness they may have. One of my goals would be to get my ELLs to become independent readers. They need to be provided with about 10-15 minutes in class to read independently (Wright, 2015, pg. 205). This way we address pronunciation, accents, and understanding of the language. We must use all the methods we can to help them all get to the next level. It was a pleasure reading your Blog, I know you are on track to becoming a great educator!
Hi Rubi!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your reflection! Thank you for sharing! I'm very glad that this course has helped you become a better educator. Being an ESL student myself, it is good to know that you have become more aware of what ELLs are going through and what teacher they will need in order for them to succeed. With that being said, I really like how you noted the "Silent Period" in your reflection. I was actually one of those students! I was 5 years old when I moved from the Philippines to the U.S. and I remember not talking much in my Kindergarten class. I wasn't super social and wasn't very interactive when it came to our learning time, and that was only because I was taking everything all at once! Just imagine, not knowing any English and a bunch of people just asking you questions that you can't comprehend was beyond me at the time. As Wright (2015) stated, “If a teacher asks [ELLs] a question, they may need first to mentally translate the question, figure out the answer, and then translate that answer before they can respond to the teacher. Giving students time for this process after asking them a question…Teachers must be patient after asking a question” (p. 156). Therefore, it is good to know you have become aware of what to do and why ELLs are the way they are.
Hello Kohleen,
DeleteI agree with you, we must offer them enough time to process the information being taught. Patience I learned is key when teaching ELLs, becuase we must have an understanding of where they are coming from and what language they are use to everyday at home. We must really take in consideration their backgrounds, as ELLs ourselves we faced a lot of challenges. Therefore we must have a closer sense of understanding what challenges they are going through. We can really make a change in their life and have them on track to a bright future. Just like our teachers did for us, now we are fluent and able to communicate properly in another language. Wish you the best as a future educator!
Hello Rubi Gil,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your wonderful class reflection, I truly enjoyed it! I agree with you in that we learned a lot about English Language Learners this semester. It was so enlightening to study and learned about the different method and strategies that help ELL students succeed in their academic journey. Like you mentioned, this course and its material has helps us learned about methods and strategies that we as future educators can apply to our classrooms when teaching ELL students. One method that really stood out to me is using cooperative learning in the classroom to help ELL students learned in an interactive way with their peers. According to Wright (2015), “cooperative learning appeals to language teachers because it offers rich opportunities for students to engage in meaningful communication and obtain comprehensive input as they interact to complete academic tasks” (p. 63).
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hello Carla,
DeleteYes, a lot of information and methods learned in this course, I agree that cooperative learning is such a great strategie to use because it teaches our students to interact with each other and help each other. In our observation, I was ableto witness the importance of cooperative learning when I saw a tableof students helping each other out to finish the task the teacher has established. Those that did not understand the instructions in English where helped by those students that did in Spanish. How important it is for them use their primary language in class to help get their assignments turned in. I was really happy that the teacher would take her time and explain most of the assignments in thier primary language. We must offer them that freedom because it makes a big diffrence. Look forward to the things we will implement that we learned in this course.