Although
this week was full of preparation, stress, and fear of the unknown, I feel that
our lesson implementation went well. Alaina, Megan, and I worked well revising
and preparing for overall class and individual success for our lesson. We had
three stations during our lesson, I was in charge of the writing “station.” Our
lesson talked about the different needs that plants, animals, and humans need
to grow and survive. At my station, I had the children help me develop a list
of things that helps people grow and survive. I related this material back to
our opening activity, (reading about the life cycle of a bean) and had the
students activate their schema to make connections to the components humans
need to survive. As a group, the students listed off food, mainly fruits and
vegetables, water, and exercise that helps all people grow. Based off of the
students’ responses, I would ask the students how humans lived compared to
animals. For example, “Do we live in the ground like plants?” The students
would laugh and tell me that people lived in houses. I took advantage of
talking with each small group to work towards my goal. As stated in previous
blog posts, my goal for working with English Language students is as follows:
“My goal is to learn more about each student’s personality and interests. I
hope to accomplish this goal by knowing the strengths and struggles that each
ELL student is faced with.”
After
writing my previous reflection, I kept the main points mentioned in that blog
post in mind when talking, teaching, and interacting with the students. I
remember thinking of how important it is for me to be clear and concise with my
expectations in order for each student to obtain individual success. At first,
I could remember certain students who struggled understanding English more than
other students. In order to make sure that all students understood the
instructions for my table activity, I tried pantomiming the vocabulary/academic
language that was prevalent in my lesson (i.e. growing). I noticed many students
laughing when I asked silly questions about what people need to survive, such
as, “Do we have roots like plants?” The children would giggle, which told me
many things. For starters, I’m obviously hilarious and that they actual
understood when I was talking about! Many kids looked at me like I was a
complete and utter nincompoop. In this case, this was wonderful! This was an
indication that they were understanding what I was saying. I knew that I must
have been doing something right because we were all laughing, having wonderful
conversations pertaining to my station, and were engaged in the material.
I not
only feel as if this experience has helped me work towards my overall goal, but
I feel as if working in my PDS cite has also helped me immensely when
progressing towards this outcome. I am currently placed in the ELL cluster of
the kindergarten commons. I have been fortunate enough to work with children
who are from India. Although these students speak a different language, I have
learned many strategies from my cooperating teacher as well as the speech
specialist at the school I am student teaching at. From both of these role
models, I have been implementing the strategies they have taught me when I have
been working with the English Language learners from Brigham. One example I made
sure to utilize in my teaching practice was the informal assessments of asking
questions to see if the students were comprehending my questions. I have found
that asking simple questions, asking for a ‘thumbs up or thumbs down’ approach,
and even looking at the students are wonderful indicators of if they are able to
follow along with what you are saying.
I have
noted in previous blogs how I felt nervous when trying to teach the students
and some of the children responded to my question in Spanish. I can’t lie, I was
exceptionally nervous and did not know what to do. However, when working with
ELL students multiple times a week, I felt more confident in my teaching
practices when I implemented this lesson with Megan and Alaina. I feel that I verbalized
my expectations in a clear, concise way. The students seemed engaged,
motivated, and eager to answer my questions as we formulated a list of objects
people need to survive. I also honed in on their drawings. After we reviewed
the class list we created, it was their job to draw a picture of themselves and
one of the items we wrote on our checklist. Another piece of advice I received
from the language specialist at my clinical placement is the importance of
helping ELL students make connections with illustrations. I wanted to use their
drawings as an indicator of A. if they understood the material that was being
taught and B. to use their illustrations to help them make connections with the
lesson. Many students were disappointed when it was time to switch stations,
but we were able to talk about their ideas as they were beginning their
drawings. Knowing the tips that I have learned at my clinical placement, as
well as the material we have been taught this semester in this class, has
helped me tremendously when planning, implementing, and reflecting upon working
with English Language learners.
Even
though I implemented the strategies and practices I have learned over the
course of the years I’ve been here at ISU, I can’t help but remember what I wrote
about in my last blog. I think the strategies I have learned to use when
teaching ELL students should be applied to all students. Visuals help all
students, not just those who are learning English. I also don’t want to have
lower expectations for these students. These are smart, capable children! They
were able to communicate and process the learning material with little
instruction. I don’t want to unintentionally treat these students different
from their peers. Regardless if they are native speakers or ELL students, it is
my job to make the appropriate accommodations/modifications to ensure individualized
student success. I don’t want to make any students, especially ELL students, to
feel that they cannot achieve success in my classroom based on a language
barrier. I think I did a great job utilizing prior information I have learned,
as well as my own outlook on this topic, to teach this lesson in a
developmentally appropriate way. I feel that each week, I am closer to getting
to know each student based on their interests and personalities. As long as I remember
to meet each child’s instructional needs, regardless if they are an ELL
student or not, then I am doing my job with challenging, supporting, and guiding
all children towards success.
Exceeds: Went over word count, included student work samples
from my lesson, and included an article on how to teach ELL students.
Article: https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2013/10/25/strategies-for-ell-instruction/
Student Work: 
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