Entry 4: Reflection

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Not only has this Second Language Methodology course had a significant impact on my teaching philosophy, but it has opened my eyes on how biased and neglectful teachers can act towards ELLs. My teaching philosophy has always been about respect. I believe that respect cycles, and in order to earn the students’ respect the teacher needs to demonstrate the respect they have for the students. By respecting my students, I will be getting to know more about them. Like where they are from, their first language, interests and hobbies, and academic understandings. As a future teacher, I will get to know my ELLs so I can make sure they are learning to their best abilities by providing ample support and accommodations.

As I have mentioned in my other blogs, my placement is in a sixth-grade math class. My misconception about my placement, was that math involves numbers so there is not a lot to accommodate for ELLs in math. However, I was very wrong. Since this course has started, I have noticed the amount of vocabulary the students need to know. Also, the students have to be able to read the word problems and identify the key words that tell them what operation to apply. With that being said, the topics that I found most relevant were the ones that were specific to a content area. I learned a lot about ELLs transitioning to English in language arts, math, science and history. Pull-out instruction, sheltered instruction, and content-based instruction were significant topics as well, because when I have ELL students, I will be able to create the best learning environment for them by identifying their language level and what type of instruction fits their needs.

Personally, online classes have always been a struggle for me. I am a structured person, but on the contrary I am very forgetful. Having an online class, I generally forget to log in every day. This was not so much an issue with the class. My biggest concern about the class, is that this information is extremely relevant to future educators and there is a lot of information in the course. I think that this course should be offered in person, on campus. Dr. Avellaneda does a wonderful job making the course run smoothly with the amount of content there is to learn. I really appreciated the weekly emails, I heavily relied on those when I had a lot going on in my other classes and I would forget about an assignment.

I do find that the vlogs were beneficial. Through the vlogs, I was able to relate the course content to real-world scenarios by interviewing individuals who were, or interact with, ELLs. My favorite part of the vlogs was watching my classmates, because it allowed me to compare the questions and answers of the interviewers and interviewees. It gave me a lot to think, and write, about. With our replies and comments targeting one topic, I feel like it enhanced my writing abilities by keeping me focused on a main idea. After Wednesday, I would be excited to log on and read the replies to my comments, it was a great way to interact with my classmates.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 10, 2018 at 11:35 AM

    Thank you for an exemplary entry. Your vblog has been amazing and I was always looking to read your ideas and watch your videos. I personally feel that I know a little better than what I would do if we did not have the blog. It consider like you that respect for learners is paramount. We must care about them to the point of allowing them to participate in the decisions we make and to bring their knowledge into the class. Respect for their linguistic skills in their mother tongue, their culture and their likes is key in education. In order to have a more just society, we must start by teaching kids to respect what is different and as Wright (2105) states, content teachers needs to learn about their students as human beings that feel and think, not just as empty containers that need to filled up with knowledge.

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  2. UnknownNovember 13, 2018 at 9:33 AM

    Hello, Claire!

    Thank you for such an insightful blog. I always looked forward to seeing your posts as I knew if I was confused with anything, I could count on your blog to help me understand the prompt and material we were learning. I am glad that while we did not often interact in our other classes, we were able to have insightful comments on each others' blogs.

    I think it is great to hear that this course impacted your teaching philosophy. As future educators, it is important to have a teaching philosophy in how we teach and treat our students. I think it's great that your teaching philosophy revolves around mutual respect. I am so excited to see where our different teaching paths take us, and I'm happy to have been able to share the beginning with you and everyone else in our cohort.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownNovember 17, 2018 at 10:01 AM

      Hi Claire and Erika, I agree with the both of you so much. Respect and caring for your students is very important and should be a big part of our teaching philosophy. I do think it’s important for our students to respect us, but we have to respect them as well. Part of this is to also respect student’s home languages. As Wright said, many ELLs may speak a variety of their home language that differs from the standard variety (Wright, 2015, pg. 11). Even then, we should be respectful of this, and let them use their home language because it can be very beneficial to them as they learn English.

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    2. UnknownNovember 19, 2018 at 4:13 PM

      Erika,
      Thank you for your kind words! Having these online assignments allowed us to learn from one another in a way that we did not have in our actual university classrooms. To build off your comment, I believe the blogs represented each student’s understanding of the course material and gave the other classmates the opportunity to learn from one another. I know in my experience, that sometimes you learn better from peers so I truly valued our blogs. Good luck in all your future adventures!

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    3. UnknownNovember 19, 2018 at 4:13 PM

      Janet,
      Thank you for your comment. I agree that respecting a student includes respecting their native language. It is important to show various levels of respect, because as teachers we want our students to respect us in multiple ways, such as their words, actions, and behaviors. When I begin teaching, and have ELLs in my classroom, I will exemplify my respect by meeting with parents and learning all the ways that I can accommodate and create the best learning environment for those students.

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  3. UnknownNovember 21, 2018 at 7:17 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. UnknownNovember 21, 2018 at 7:19 PM

    Hi Claire! I really enjoyed reading this post because it showed how you really were able to apply what we've been learning about in your placement! Coming into student teaching 2 , I had a mindset similar to yours. I was placed in a 3rd grade math/science classroom and I didn't think that many accommodations would have to be made but I was definitely wrong. The amount of word problems that required reading comprehension blew my mind and there were times when I could feel the frustration from my ELLs when they just couldn't understand a problem. I really liked having my students do partner work because often times our native English speakers could communicate problems in a way that the ELLs could understand. For me, this is where learning about classroom interaction came in hand. Wright (2015) states, "The most important and beneficial listening and speaking that students will do is through interaction with the teacher, their fellow ELLs, and proficient English speakers within the sociocultural contexts of their classroom, school, and neighborhood." Wright spoke about cooperative learning, think-pair-share, roundtable, and many other strategies for interaction that I've seen and used in my placement and that I consider to be successful.


    Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition

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  5. marinaNovember 21, 2018 at 7:43 PM

    Hi Claire!
    I loved your entry! I one hundred percent agree with you on the negligence part. I think it is mind blowing that no matter how many resources some teachers are offered, they are just too lazy to look at. According to Wright (2015, p. 296.) there are several learning theories in general and language learning theories in particular support the concept of PLS. Concepts in which of course teachers have been exposed to and hopefully have taken professional development over. This speaks of how little they value the importance of ELL's and their specific learning differences. However, our generation of teachers is learning these concepts and it is vital for us to implement them to the best of our abilities.

    Wright, Wayne. (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon.

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