Post 3- Interview with ESL Teacher
Welcome to my blog. Click here to view my interview!
For my 3rd vblog I decided to interview my mentor teacher,
Rosy Patel. Mrs. Patel is a first-grade teacher, she has been teaching in a
public-school for around 10 years. Apart from being a teacher who has taught
many English language learners she is also ESL certified, and bilingual
herself.
One of the things that Mrs. Patel
mentions is that most ELL tend to have a hard time processing English at a fast
rate and therefor struggle when reading in English. She even mentions that
often she feels like students try to translate English words to their native
language which of course would take quite a bit of time. Not only does it take
a long time, but it also can create misconceptions. As I have seen first-hand,
and later adopted from my time in Mrs. Patel’s classroom, she was able to
recognize these patters by observing her students and taking notes as she does
so. The way that Mrs. Patel takes notes is reminiscent of the way our text suggests
taking anecdotal notes. These notes can be in the form or a sticky note or a
note card. Regardless Wright suggest taking notes about how the reads, this can
be anything from how the student holds the book to what strategies were used
when a challenging word was encountered (2015, p. 140).
Another thing that
was mentioned by Mrs. Patel was that she will discuss vocabulary before dismissing
students to work on their own. The act of doing so sounds familiar to what our
text calls, Before, During and After structured activities. In the before
section Wright states that, “effective teachers…pre-teach essential vocabulary
necessary to the comprehension of the story” (Wright, 2015, p.197). By doing so the teacher is ensuring that any
misconceptions are addresses and lessens the probability of the student becoming
frustrated if they do not know a word.
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language
Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon,
Second Edition.
Hey Karen! So in your interview your teacher speaks about how most ELL students want to learn they are so eager and excited. She talks about how they are all really excited to get the teachers input on how they are doing they are the kids who are so excited to receive feedback. in our book Wright says "The teacher's job is to provide comprehensible input in a safe and enjoyable classroom environment." (Wright, 2015.). So I am glad she is able to see how they want the feedback and because of it they are more willing to express any concerns or try harder in hopes to get feedback or reinforcement from the teacher.
ReplyDeleteHi Hilian! I completely agree Mrs. Patel does a great job creating a safe and enjoyable classroom. One of the way she does this is by providing differentiated instruction. Wright states that differentiated instruction is, “the hallmark for teachers who are true professionals” (pg. 265, 2015). In my teachers case she makes class more enjoyable by differentiating the way that students show their knowledge, including utilizing apps such as FlipGrid and CatterKids.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteESL students do take more time, but it's a really great feeling watching things click for them. I'm glad your mentor teacher stated that writing is a struggle for ESL students. Most have said vocabulary, but writing is also something students will struggle with. Even if they know how to read well they can still struggle writing their own thoughts and answers down. It is very important that teachers guide ESL students in the right direction and part of doing that involves telling the students that they are learning at an acceptable pace like your teacher said. When they feel like they are going in the right direction they become self motivated.
ReplyDeleteHi Eric! I think that one way that Mrs. Patel supports our ESL students is my allowing them to showcase their learning in more than one way. One of the way she does this is by providing differentiated instruction. Wright states that differentiated instruction is, “the hallmark for teachers who are true professionals” (pg. 265, 2015). In my teachers case she makes sure to give students a choice on the way that students show their knowledge, including utilizing apps such as FlipGrid, Doodlebuddy, and CatterKids.
DeleteHey Karen. I appreciate you asking about the most difficult aspects of learning English that ELLs struggle with the most. I think vocabulary and writing tends to be the most difficult across the board. I see that the ELL students at my school like to discuss things orally but struggle with written language and spelling. Speaking, however, remains important because written language is highly dependent on a students level of oral proficiency (Wright, 2015). This is why it is important to teach written and oral language at the same time and not wait until a student is proficient in one.
ReplyDeleteWright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi Jordan! I completely agree. It is very important to help ELL’s develop their oral and writing skills at the same time. As for developing oral proficiency Wright states that when helping ELL’s it is important to know when/if you should correct any errors (pg. 157, 2015). Students can sometimes get frustrated if they are constantly being corrected. However, it is also necessary to strategically and purposefully correct our ELL students.
DeleteHi Karen,
ReplyDeleteYour interview was very informative with Ms. Patel. I am here taking notes on her strategies as they seem very effective. I like the "before, during, after" activities as a strategy to help ELLs. One thing I noted how even though every step is crucial, in the after activity, teachers can deepen the understanding of the students (Wright, , pg. 197). I think here, we can gain so much insight on where the student's learning is. We can determine whether the student grasped the content or if modifications of the lesson is needed to help them gain the content.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hi Patricia! I agree Mrs. Patel’s expertise is definitely note worthy. One of the things that I have noticed from being in her classroom is how she uses the data that she has observed or noted. Mrs.Patel takes notes while students are completing independent work and will then differentiate her instruction to align with the students’ skills as they stand. Wright mentions that differentiating instruction is, “the hallmark for teachers who are true professionals” (pg. 265, 2015).
Delete
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
You asked your mentor teacher what area in language did her ELL students have the most difficult and she mentioned vocabulary. She expanded on that by saying the meaning of words. According to the text, "Not all cognates, however, are fully equivalent... We also find false cognates across languages" (Wright, 2015, Pg. 34). False cognates make learning vocabulary in English even tougher for ELL students. That is good that she said she goes over this before teaching a lesson.
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hi Tori! Mrs.Patel states that she pre-teaches vocabulary before letting students read a book independently. My mentor has stated that is important to support students before and after they have read a book One of the ways that I have introduced to the class room is to have students participate in readers theater after reading a book. Wright states that readers theater is a great way to have students reiterate the plot while practicing their oral skills (pg. 209, 2015).
DeleteYou asked your mentor teacher what language area her ELL's had the most difficult time with and she mentioned vocabulary*
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHello Karen, I really enjoyed your interview with your mentor teacher, she had a lot of positive things to say about her ELL students which shows how much she cares and how much she believes that they will be successful students. When asking her about differences between English language learners and monolingual learners, she mentioned that her ELL students seemed a little more motivated that native English language speakers because of their wanting to fit in with their peers and understand what is being said both inside the classroom and out. She also mentioned that her students have difficulty with vocabulary and writing their thoughts on paper. Pre-teaching vocabulary is a method she uses to help students understand what is being taught and what they will be learning in the future. Helping the student learn how to correctly pronounce the vocabulary word, giving at least two examples of how each word is used in context, and engaging the students in structured written and oral tasks using the new term will help the student have a deeper understanding about the meaning of the word (Wright, 2015, p.161).
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.