Personal Reflection on My Journey

          The coursework that I have taken so far has been very helpful in preparing me for teaching ELLs.  What I have found most beneficial in Methods 6030 is the CALLA focus.  I saw this approach modeled during my Fieldwork class.  I was also able to see a lot of the strategies and methods in action, which bring to life the material I have studied.  Because I am not a full time teacher and could not go from learning the techniques to implementing them directly into my own class, the fieldwork class was a vital part of my education in ESL.  It was also such a joy to work with LEP kindergarten ELLs.  It gave me a sense for the importance of building on previous learning and focusing on the background information.  The pictures and realia are so necessary during these areas of instruction because many times kindergarteners have not been exposed to experiences that they need to comprehend the lesson.  Many times the experiences need to be created for them in the classroom.  I have also thoroughly enjoyed writing kindergarten ESL lessons this semester.  Since my experience has been mostly in secondary education before this, I have had fun with elementary materials and ideas for promoting literacy.    

            I still have two classes to take this spring before I can take the Praxis test, Language and Linguistics in ESL and Assessment for ESL.  I am looking forward to these classes and can’t wait to see them modeled in the kindergarten classroom.  I have enjoyed my fieldwork class so much that I plan to continue helping during the spring.  I would recommend this program to anyone desiring an add-on endorsement.  My one piece of advice if you are not currently a classroom teacher would be to make time to consistently help or observe in an ESL classroom so that the concepts you learn become real.  Just like many ELLs, we learn through experience!!         

              

Literature Circles

The implementation of the literacy circles went well.  The kindergarten students that were in my group enjoyed discussing the literature because it was about food.  The literary element at my circle was discussing the main idea of A Monster Sandwich and the practice was to make a real sandwich that they ate afterwards.  It was a little difficult to get kindergarteners to discuss the main idea.  They wanted to point out each individual food item that goes on the sandwich and sometimes missed the main idea which was to make a sandwich.  However, they had a lot of practice saying the vocabulary words (e.g. pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, meat, bread, etc.) as we discussed which items they were putting on their sandwich.  By modifying the literacy circles a little to make shorter literacy centers for kindergarteners, students were able to practice many literacy skills while staying engaged in the activity.  At this age it is difficult to have students “lead” a group, but they certainly can actively participate and many of them were very vocal about the items they did and did not like on their sandwiches.  In these ways the Literature Circle Technique is very appropriate for the kindergarten students. 

            The one thing I would change about the centers is the pictures used to demonstrate various types of sandwiches at the Illustrate center.  I had pictures of peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and banana, and turkey sandwiches.  The students discussed these with the teacher at that center first, then drew a picture of themselves eating a sandwich and wrote a sentence describing the type of sandwich they like. Many of them were confused because the types of sandwiches discussed were not all the same kinds they had to choose from for their sentence.   I would change this and show pictures of only the three types of sandwiches they could write in their sentence (ham, turkey, or cheese).

            The suggestions I have for other ESL professionals concerning implementing literacy circles is to modify the idea to fit the level and grade of your students.  For instance, it may not be necessary to label each circle with a job, like illustrator or story element.  The younger students wouldn’t know what the words mean and as long as they are learning a literary element, it is not crucial for the circle to have a complicated term attached to it that might confuse them. These terms can be introduced to older, more advanced students who may be able to lead a circle with practice in each of these roles.

            This is a side note for an idea to use in a literacy circle.  I saw this idea today which is why I didn’t use it in my centers.  It is a variation on “Go Fish” but with sentences or vocabulary words.  Use small strips with short sentences or words written on them instead of number cards.   

Reflective Fieldnote Blog Entry #4

     My overall impression of this observation is favorable.  It was a good way to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of a student who could otherwise “fly under the radar” because he is quiet.  In fact, the first several times I helped in class I don’t remember interacting with him at all.  Through the fieldwork I learned about how he interacts with others (teachers and students), and I suggested some ways that would help him become a more proactive student.  I also learned about his family life and how the importance of family shapes him. 

     The value of case study research and analysis in the classroom is the opportunity it gives the teacher to focus on one student. The teacher can more clearly see problems, triggers for disruptive or disturbing behaviors, patterns of behaviors (good or bad), or any aspect of the student that is preventing his/her learning.  This is so important because these intricacies of student behavior are not always evident when a teacher is up in front of a class teaching.  The ethnographic narrative is valuable because the teacher is able to learn about the whole person, and not just the student in his/her class.  Once an understanding of students’ family lives, hardships, cultural backgrounds, etc. is gained, the teacher is more likely to see the reasons for difficulties in school (ie. what may be thought of as laziness, could actually be explained as exhaustion from having to run a household and work after school). 

     The information from the case study and ethnographic narrative can assist future teachers and me in realizing that the student I interviewed is more quiet than some of the other students, and his family, especially his older brothers, are very important to him.  I am able to bring to his attention that he should try to raise his hand more often if he knows the answer so that he can be more engaged with the rest of the class in large group activities.  I can also vary the places he sits in large group activities so that he won’t go unnoticed. By doing family- focused activities often, he will have the opportunity to talk and write about his family.  This research allows the teacher to differentiate and personalize instruction to better meet ELL needs.