Hello! I am Alyssa Lopez and I am currently a student teacher at Mitchell Elementary School located in Houston ISD. I am also a senior at the University of Houston where I plan to graduate in May 2019. I am going into special education because I have always had a passion for helping the students who need the most support—including English Language Learners.
Entry 1: Introduction-About Me
I think the most important concept to carry
with you as a teacher is that every student is different and will need
different supports and styles of teaching. English language learners are
students who need specific type of supports and accommodations since they are
learning and mastering a completely new language because according to Wright
(2015) an ELL is in the process of attaining proficiency in English. First and foremost,
fining out exactly who my students are is the first step. I believe
administering surveys that ask my students about the ways they like to learn,
what they are interested in, home languages and other inventory questions can
help to gauge where the children are academically and linguistically.
Wright (2015) also discuss the importance of
getting to know students and their families. I feel this is when getting in
touch with families can be extremely beneficial to me, especially even before
school starts. Sending a similar survey that I would administer to kids but
making it more parent-oriented and taking full advantage of “Meet the Teacher”
events will even further my knowledge of my students. With all of the
information I would gather from my students I can carefully and strategically
plan out supports and accommodations for them in my lesson plans. For example,
if a student is not a visual learner but does really well with retaining information
auditorily, I can make snippets of readings, common phrases, new vocabulary and
even just conversations in English for them so they can model after.
One thing I have always admired about the
communities I’ve lived in is that everyone was very proud of their culture and
background. Where they came from did not define them, but they did celebrate it
with such joy. However, this is not the case in every school setting. Wright
(2015) discusses the importance of acculturation. Assimilation is often
resented and with good reason. Making sure that as teachers we do not strip the
students of their home language, culture, and background but add to it
linguistically is vital. We should help students see the instruction of English
as an addition to their tool belt as opposed to substitution of what they
already know.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations
for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice.
Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015, Print. Second Edition.
One of the dangers of technology is that most teachers just transfer what they usually do on paper to a virtual portal instead of modifying activities so that new opportunities can be created. For example, I would recommend creating a blog to inform parents what students are doing in your class and maybe showcase students' work as they progress in your class. You could also motivate parents to participate in their native language so that they can contribute to your class whenever you need to have examples of authentic language and you could identify those parents who participate often and have them help you in your class volunteering to teach a concept in a video and you can create a data base of explanation in different language for students to review the concepts you teach in their first language.
ReplyDeleteDr. Avellaneda, I completely agree. I often see the transfer of the instruction to some sort of virtual format and this is falsely considered as incorporating technology for student learning. I can see why this would hinder learning since it is not actually differentiating instruction to the needs of the learner. I also love the idea about using your available resources such as using the parents of ELL's who show support and asking them for participation in the classroom so that students can hear explanations in their native languages. This can be a good way to help the ELL's with the languages I am not familiar with since according to Wright (2015) 56 other languages make up languages spoken by ELL's.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015, Print. Second Edition.
I really enjoyed the video and the Entry. I hold individualism dear to me and as a teacher I hope to use as many resources as possible to never hinder or mainstream a student away from their background and community. I find that this can be problematic because understanding each individual student could be time consuming. Lucky there are many approaches we can implore to bring about the best of each students and Wright mentions a few from Long, Swain, Schmidt, and Pienemann. I personally like when students confront their own limitations according the Swain this can be a better motivation for the self enthusiastic learner. Each to me is not without the other as this to me complements Schmidt's theory that students should notice what they learn.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post.
Hello Tametria, I also feel individualism is important and vital when trying to plan on how to instruct your students. I am sure I would not like to learn from a teacher who treats every student as though they are the same cookie-cutter prototypes. Because this simply is not the case. I want to be able to use my students' character and home life to be able to enrich my listen such as suggested by Wright (2015) “Knowing a student’s ethnicity and country of origin, for example, allows the teacher to incorporate appropriate multicultural educational strategies and techniques into the curriculum.”
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015, Print. Second Edition.
I like that you mention the assimilationist perspective, as it is a way that some teachers I know personally see their ELL students. I think when teachers have this perspective students can sense it, and this may make them feel less or not as valued and important as others. Incorporating their home language, acknowledging its importance, and using it as a resource to their learning will benefit these students way more. In your video, you also mentioned your Chinese language teacher going off in Chinese without keeping all students in mind, and I agree with you and think it is so important to always be aware of how our actions affect our students. All of our students deserve high-quality instruction with content developed around their needs (Wright, p. 2, 2015).
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015, Print. Second Edition.
Hello Mayra, According to Wright (2015) knowing the different attributes that make your student who they are and incorporating that into their learning and your instruction helps boost their confidence and creates a more acculturation-like environment as opposed to the assimilationist perspective like you discussed. My Chinese professor was great except for the little things he did here and there as I mentioned. It was easy for him to drone off into exclusively Chinese conversations with students since so many students were native speakers. This is something we have to work on consciously being aware of for our ELLs.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015, Print. Second Edition.
Hi Alyssa! I agree with you in boosting students’ confidence by not having them feel like they should have to give up their home language or their culture. Instead they can adapt to their new surroundings as they feel comfortable. I feel like I went through acculturation myself when moving here, however, as Wright (2015) mentions, now I feel sort of in a “third space”. This hybrid culture as he explains, blends, and I am not completely on one side or the other (Wright, pg. 20, 2015)!
DeleteHello Alyssa Lopez, first and foremost I want to say I love you and I love your video! I love your outtake on how much we need to be in contact with families and parents and have things involved at home. Even before school starts. I have already encountered with how important it is to have parent involvement whether the language Learners or Disobedience or even family troubles at home. We never know what our kids are going through, so we really need to make sure we have everyone on board with helping our children succeed as well as being careful we are mindful to the parents. We as teachers must remember that cross cultural differences and the way we use oral and written language is different in other cultures, saying no or asking questions could be portrayed as rude. (36, Wright) It can be scary for our younger students coming in as ELL students and not knowing what to expect. I hope you have a great Semester!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kate-lynn! I do agree with you that parent-teacher relationships should not be limited to ELL's but should have a broad horizon so that parents feel supported and hear and teachers are keeping their student's best interest in mind. I also mentioned what you said in my video about some forms of communication are deemed disrespectful or informal in other cultures--so we as teachers need to remain mindful of these differences. According to Wright (2015) the U.S. Educational system has not done their very best in helping to support ELLs in school and learning. It's up to the teachers in today's society to do all we can to make sure this changes. I hope you get a lot out of this course and all the other ones!
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015, Print. Second Edition.
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI commend you for stepping out and challenging yourself by taking Chinese. I believe that experience of putting yourself in a ELL's position will help you to better understand what your students are going through. It will help you to have compassion and be more patient with your students because you can reflect on your own time in a class where you did not understand everything that was going on. In my school district that I am student teaching at they were showing us research that showed that the ELL students in our district are not being supported in the way they should. Their test scores are considerably lower than other students and are not showing an improvement. In some schools they are showing worse outcomes year by year. They are now implementing accountability to all teachers to show how the teacher is meeting those students needs. Every teacher in the district now has to show a plan of how they will best help that child succeed. They must follow very strict guidelines and follow all of the rules that are given. I think this is an important step in my district and will help our ELL students to succeed where they are currently struggling. It will do this by holding all teachers accountable to the district for helping the ELL students improve every year.
Hello Vanessa! I agree with you in exactly how similar my situation was to being an actual ELL in that Chinese course I took. I believe in did change my perspective of English Language Learners since I have been a native English speaker and it is easy to take this for granted when learning in English. Although I feel as though I soar academically in classes, while taking the Chinese course I felt as though I was lost and inadequate at learning. This is what ELLs feel whether they are above level in their native language or low-level learners. According to Wright (2015), slow progress in the classroom is often mistaken as the students being incapable of learning or having some sort of learning disability when really it is just the language barrier.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Calson, 2015, Print. Second Edition.