5th and Final

Literature Circles
I used Swimmy by Leo Lionni for my literature circle. I thought this was a good book because it was on a kindergarten level but contained themes that would inspire an in-depth discussion on friendship, courage, and being different. “A lot of children's books deal with sharing and getting along with others. A lot try to help children be themselves. The brilliance of Leo Lionni is that in book after book he brings these two ideas together, showing children that they can be themselves and care about others at the same time.” Taken from http://www.amazon.com/Swimmy-Knopf-Childrens-Paperbacks-Lionni/dp/0394826205 . Because my students are early second language learners, I chose to read the book to them because none of them are able to read on their own yet. I also designed a reflection sheet that only required them to check yes : ) and no : ( as I read it aloud to them. I found this idea online about writing discussion questions on a beach ball and letting them pass it around the circle. They really enjoyed this. The only problem was that they couldn’t read the questions themselves so I had to read the questions to them. It was really hard for this discussion not to be teacher directed since my group is at such a beginner level. I had to try really hard not to direct the conversation and simply help them with what they were trying to say. I also was careful not to pressure a student to talk who wasn’t comfortable. The students loved the book. I think that the book choice is very important for literature discussions. The students were excited to talk about the book because it was engaging. Several of the students related Swimmy to Finding Nemo which I thought was funny. I think that literature circles are great for second learners. Because their conversational language develops quicker than their written language, they can have more in depth discussions verbally than if they were writing down there thoughts. My students are not able to keep literature journals yet but the literature circle activity was a great way for them to express their thoughts about the story and make real life connections.

My Journey through Fieldwork
This class has by far been the best one! I feel like I learned so much just by being able to talk to my mentor. It really is true that real experience is the best experience. I was able to see many strategies we have learned put to practice and observe ways to make them better. I was also really glad that I was able to find a Kindergarten ESL group to observe because that is what I am most interested in teaching. I think that my Early Childhood degree and this endorsement have prepared me to be the best possible first year Kindergarten ESL teacher. Now all I need is my own classroom : ). I only lack one more semester to complete my C & I Masters and one more class to finish my ESL endorsement. I am very grateful for all the links and resources this class provided for licensure and praxis help. These will come in very handy in the spring. Good luck to all you who are graduating in December and I’ll “see” the rest of you in January!

A+ for Case Studies

I really enjoyed doing this case study. I chose to do the same kid that I interviewed before and he was also one of the students I chose to examine in my neighborhood profile. I was really glad I did this because it showed me what different kinds of information you can gain from each of these things but how one of them doesn’t really describe the child. It took all of these to make me feel like I really had a feel for where this student was coming from. Case studies are such good tools for gathering data on a student. In the first interview I didn’t feel like the student really told me anything. The biggest thing I learned about him was that his father didn’t speak English and that he would try to “show” his father English when he went home from school. Through the case study and the ethnographic narrative, I leaned the most through his drawing. He drew a typical looking house, square with a triangle roof, two windows and a door. But then, he drew a truck coming out of the side of the house. He then told me he lived in a “truck house”. I knew that this student lived in a trailer because he lived in one of the homes I visited for the neighborhood profile. I thought that it was very interesting that at 5 years old and after only being in school for a few months, he already recognized that he was different than some of his peers because he lived in a “truck house” or trailer. I not only learned more about his home life but also about the ways he learns best. This ethnographic case study is so important because it helps you focus on one specific child. I think as teachers we get very caught up in the class as a whole and sometimes group all the students together. It’s important to look closer and focus on one particular student at a time and really examine how that specific student is reacting to a lesson, the classroom environment, and his peers. I learned that my student is very competitive. He shuts down when he loses at a game too much. He also is very cocky when he is winning. All of these observations have taught me some very specific ways to increase this students learning.

1. Use engaging instruction: Mo interacted and learned the most about the letters and their sounds when the instruction was in the form of a game or song.

2. Make instruction meaningful: Mo really likes astronauts and was more inv

olved in the lesson because the teacher incorporated his likes into the lesson.

3. Work from student’s strengths: Mo was good at the memory game so he was more involved. It’s important not to make the material too hard that the student gets discouraged. He needs to feel some success with every activity.

AR Thoughts:

What an awesome way to learn “hands on” how to fix a problem! Every student is different and every class is different. Something that worked for somebody else might not work for you. But you will find out really quick what does and doesn’t work in your classroom if you implement action research. There is so much to be said for studying other people’s research and talking to experienced professionals, but I learned firsthand through this project that sometimes that isn’t enough. My ESL mentor was adamant that in all her experience the main way to increase comprehension for second language learners is through visual aids and it was obvious through my observations that this was the only tool she used. Once I started to collect data, it helped her realize that she was zoning in on one strategy too much and that by incorporating and rotating strategies, the students actually comprehended more.

My Ideas

• Everyone has some prior knowledge, it’s our job as teachers to help students activate and connect it.
• Assessment don’t always answer all the questions, sometimes they create more.
• Students could bring in items from home that relate to the subject matter, this helps them make real-life connections

I Suggest…

• Utilizing mini action research projects many times throughout the year.
• Use pictures and video clips, not just written notes. Sometimes we short cut the information if we are trying to take quick notes and you can get much more concrete data by using technology
• Change up the way you group your books. A lot of times in elementary classrooms books are grouped by subject matter or theme. Try grouping books with the same vocabulary words in them too.
• Mix it up! Comprehension isn’t gained through just one strategy so use them all in different combinations!

Factoring in Cost of Living

I read the article called Teachers’ Cost of Living Matters More by Danielle Georgiou. I thought that this was a very informative piece because too be honest I didn’t realize that cost of living was not factored in to teacher pay. I have always been told how teachers don’t make a lot of money and I have looked at several school districts websites to examine the highest teacher pay in the area. However, I did not realize that those charts do not give any indication about the cost of living in each area. Too be honest I thought that teacher pay depended on how large the district was and that larger districts would have higher cost’ of living. Apparently this is not the case. Is education the only area that salaries are not dependent upon cost of living? My father is an industrial engineer and has moved 3 times because of his career and each time his pay was agreed upon after the cost of living in each area was discussed. In one instance he moved somewhere that the cost of living was lower therefore; on paper he did not get a pay raise however when the salaries were compared with cost of living he actually was making more because of the move. My boyfriend also just recently moved because of work and cost of living was a factor in the salary decision. I suppose I just assumed that this was the way salary settings were in every job.

It seems to me that it would only make sense to think about the cost of living in an area when analyzing teacher’s salaries. I certainly will be careful to examine the cost of living more carefully when I start applying for jobs. I recommend checking out the cost of living calculator at http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/cost_of_living/cost_of_living_calculator.asp . For instance, I found out that the cost of living in Chattanooga is higher than the cost of living in Murfreesboro. If you make $100,000.00 in Murfreesboro and move to Chattanooga, you will need to make $105,646.04 ($5,646.04 more) to maintain the same buying power. You can compare any two cities in the US. Another good website to check out would be http://www.teateachers.org/cms/Average+Classroom+Teacher+Salaries+%28by+system%29/896.html This is a link off of the TEA website that provides a list of average teaching salaries in different Tennessee school districts. I think it would be a good idea to compare different cities in these districts with the cost of living calculator to determine whether or not the teacher pay is fair.

Classroom Diversity

I had never heard the term cosmopolitanism before but I really liked how Hirsch described it as being a member of humanity as a whole. I think that we have been focused a lot lately on “multiculturalism” and what it means to respect other cultures. However, not everyone fits into one stereotype or cultural box. Each person is different. Therefore, I think it really just comes down to getting to know our students. Each and every student not just certain culturally groups of students. I also agree that just because we are respecting a culture does not mean that we have to allow intolerance if it is a part of their culture. We have laws for a reason and while being aware of what others believe is important it is not ok if their beliefs cause harm to other people living in this country. I think an important question came up in one of the readings about how other countries offer their children more equal educational opportunities. My question was, do they?
To be honest I don’t think that they do. Yes, our country may have a gap between low and high socioeconomic education mainly in comparison of test scores, but we also have the most diverse country in the world. I highly suggest reading, What ‘Superman’ got wrong, point by point by Rick Ayers http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/what-superman-got-wrong-point.html . Ayers says, “According to this piece in The Nation, ‘In the Finnish education system, much cited in the film as the best in the world, teachers are – gasp! – unionized and granted tenure, and families benefit from a cradle-to-grave social welfare system that includes universal daycare, preschool and health care, all of which are proven to help children achieve better results in school.’" Why does Finland have such high test scores? According to Wikipedia, “The country is ethnically homogeneous, the dominant ethnicity being Finnish people.” How can we compare our multicultural education system with a country that has no minorities or different ethnicities represented?

Now with that said, I do think that we can fill that gap we just have to understand what we are dealing with. We are dealing with students who all have different home lives, experiences, and learning environments. There is all this push to change curriculum in order to increase test scores. Has anyone thought that maybe we should change the test to match the curriculum and not vice versa? If you want to know more about the Core Knowledge Foundation and their curriculum ideas, check out http://www.coreknowledge.org/the-k-8-sequence .

The Multicultural Challenge

Where are these people that have these “Aryan” views? I was highly disturbed by many thoughts in PJ Tobia’s article. To be perfectly honest I never realized there were such opposite opinions regarding multiculturalism. It doesn’t seem like it should be this complicated of a debate. In my mind, multiculturalism simply means respecting others people’s beliefs and cultures. You don’t have to believe what they believe and you certainly don’t have to agree with it. However, you do need to accept the fact that they can have their own opinion.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss

It is very easy for people to cross a line when they are arguing equality. For instance, I think the minority quotas in work places have gotten out of control. In theory it sounds like a wonderful idea. You have to have a certain number represented of every demographic to ensure equality in the workplace. But if you have already filled you “Hispanic” quota does that mean no one else with a Hispanic background can get a job even if they are more qualified than the other applicants? Why does it even come down to race? I thought the point of equal opportunity America was that everyone had an equal opportunity REGARDLESS of their color not BECAUSE of it. Why is financial aid based on your ethnic background more than financial NEED?

When it come to education, I just do not see how discussing and learning about different cultures could possibly have a negative effect. No one is saying rewrite all the history books and offer a different curriculum for each ethnic group, because that is unrealistic and Samuel Taylor’s article. However, why can’t we bring in books, movies, and speakers from different backgrounds to teach us about where they come from? What makes some people think they have nothing to learn from anyone different from themselves? I recently read Inside Separate Worlds by David Schoem for another class and I think that Sherri Campbell said it best when she wrote, “A white person in America who does not associate with other races will never know how others feel and, in effect, will deprive himself of education” (Schoem, p.126).

Standard English and Grammar Usage

I always viewed Standard English as the kind we learned in school. English in itself has many different dialects all of which are acceptable depending on where you live, where you are from, and who you are talking to. I agree with the argument that there really is no single standard of English. However, I do believe that there should be one standard form chosen to be taught as a basis in a school setting. I also think it is very important to teach students that there are different times and places to use different dialects and accents of English. Obviously the way that we speak and the way that we write are completely different. But it is important to remember that the way we speak also differs depending on the setting. I think that all students personally vernacular should be acknowledged because it is part of their culture. My parents both grew up in New Jersey and moved to Tennessee when they were pregnant with me. My mother stayed at home with me for most of my early development years and I spoke like her, with a northern accent. When I entered school I was surrounded by the southern accent influence with caused my speech to change. However, at the same time I was learning “Standard English” in school. I picked up very quickly on the fact that my classmates would make fun of me for saying “northern” words. However, when we went back to New Jersey to visit family, all of my cousins would make fun of me for using “southern” words. Unconsciously, I began to change my dialect depending on who I was speaking to. I think this is something that many students learn to do automatically; however, I think it’s important for students to be aware and exposed to different dialects besides their own.

Another interesting thing I noticed about Standard English is that I very rarely hear it spoken. I think that this is why it takes the longest to learn. I think that the best way to learn Standard English outside of English class is through books. Written or book language most often follows the Standard English rules. The realization that Standard English does not involve pronunciation was a new one for me. I had always just assumed that it did. This is an interesting point especially regarding ELL students. They can master “correct” Standard English and still pronounce things differently, just like I can speak “correct” Standard English whether I am pronouncing things “southern” or “northern”.

Now grammar is a whole different discussion all together. I am very interested in descriptive grammar. I think that it is fascinating to observe the structure of the language and how it is actually used by speakers and writers. However, I students should be taught prescriptive grammar initially. Students have to know the way that grammar is expected to be used in the academic society. I have always thought that grammar had to do with errors or correctness and that was it. I had never thought about how grammar can make a sentence sound interesting or make it come alive. I think this is an important lesson that I never really understood in school. Grammar is the way we make our sentences come alive for the reader. The structure of our sentence can determine what kind of picture the reader sees in their head. Show your students how grammar helps their stories come alive. Because I am a big believer in Vygotsky’s scaffolding teaching strategy, I also align with the inductive approach to teaching grammar. I will use lots of higher order thinking questions to guide the students through interactive grammar exercises. I think this is the most developmentally appropriate way to teach any student, especially ELL grammar and Standard English.

SPSE 6712-Observation #2

Teaching Issues

The biggest problem I have noticed during my observations has been regarding the student’s prior knowledge. Building on student’s prior knowledge is an important part of teaching. Sometimes it is difficult because not all our students have had the same experiences. Unfortunately, this is an even bigger challenger with second language learners because even though they have prior knowledge to build on, they don’t know how to express it because of the language barrier. I feel like this problem is easily fixed simply by bringing in more pictures, videos, or hands on objects so that the students can associate them with the word/topic. Another problem I noticed was in regards to conducting the lesson in a small group. Even though the students are all level 1 ELL they still have a very broad range of skills. During this lesson the same students would point out the high frequency word every time. I felt like the ones that needed to learn it the most didn’t have a chance to look because the higher level students would find the word and point it out before the lower level student had a chance. I have also noticed this happening with other lessons as well. It seem like the students are all working together at the same time instead of them each getting their own chance to answer the question. This particular lesson might reach every one better if they took turns pointing out the word can on each page. This way only one student was looking at a time and you would be able to tell if they were getting it or not.

Second Language Acquisition/ Ethnographic Perspective

The ELL teacher has been working on the high frequency word can this week. The lesson today consisted of reading the Eric Carle book, From Head to Toe. Kindergarten high frequency words are something that the regular classroom teacher works on a lot but the ELL students need extra one-on-one help with them. The lesson was very appropriate for second language learners because it used a children’s book that repeated the high frequency word on every page. Mrs. Horton gave the students pointers (glittery unsharpened pencils) to use to find the word can on every page. The students LOVED using their pointers and responded well to the story. Mrs. Horton would read the page and then the students would use their pointers to find the high frequency word. She also would pull them into the story by asking if they could do what the animals and kids in the story were doing, like scratch their head or beat their chest. The students enjoyed this because they were actively participating in the story. The book chosen also had lots of wonderful pictures that portrayed the words so even if the students didn’t understand all of the words, they could figure out what was going on through the illustrations. Another thing I liked about the book was how much repetition it had in it. Repetition is great for young learners and especially ones who are second language learners. The phrase, “I can do it” was repeated at the end of every page. By the end of the story the children had memorized it and would track print while saying, “I can do it.”Also, there was a sentence strip with the word can that each of the students could hold during the story to remind them what they were looking for, I thought that this was very helpful to them. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like Mrs. Horton incorporated a lot of culture into the lesson. But I am sort of unclear as to how one would do that with this lesson. Perhaps next time the instructor could choose a multicultural book to use for the lesson.


Anna

SPSE 6810-Multicultural Education

When it comes to the topic of multicultural education, most of society would say that it is complicated. At least that’s the answer I have received many times when I have asked someone what they thought about it. I, however, would highly disagree with this. I think where we go wrong in education is that WE discuss multicultural education like it is an option, a suggestion, or even a chore. This is ridiculous. In fact, it is almost insulting that our society even has to come up with such a label as multicultural education. Shouldn’t our education system be multicultural anyway?

I remember taking a Day Care Perspectives class in undergrad and having to use the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale to design a developmental appropriate preschool classroom. One of the criteria was that the classroom had to be multicultural and there were lots of ways to do this. For instance: the dramatic play center had to have clothing that represented different cultures, the kitchen center had to have food represented of different countries, the library had to have books about different cultures with characters of different races, etc. This was the first time that I realized how much we as educators could affect societies beliefs about multiculturalism. At first I thought this was a really good way to implement multicultural education; however, I noticed that it also taught stereotypes. The students assume that everyone in Asia wears a Kimono because that’s the outfit in the dress up center. Or, they assume that everyone who is Hispanic only eats tacos because that’s the food in the dramatic play center that represents them. I think that these stereotypes can very easily be avoided if we as educators take multicultural education a step further. It doesn’t just mean having things in the classroom to represent different cultures, it means TEACHING students how to appreciate and learn from different cultures. It’s important to have parents come into the classroom and tell stories about their cultures, their traditions, their lives. Have students bring in their family’s favorite foods and games.

Multicultural education isn’t just a word with a definition; it is an attitude, a choice: a choice to get to know someone else on a personal level and appreciate where they come from. This is how we influence society, we start with our students.

Anna

SPSE 6712-Observation #1

I have been working at Mitchell Neilson Primary for my fieldwork and am really enjoying it! They have a sort of special circumstance because they share the ELL teacher with the elementary school as well. This doesn’t give her a lot of time to spend with each student. However, she has the kindergarten students for an hour everyday so I go during that time. This is what I observed during that time:

Teaching/ Ethnographic Perspective

The purpose of the lesson that I observed was to work on the students letter recognition skills. The teacher gave each student a dry erase board and asked them to draw a sad face on one side and a happy face on the other. Then, she gave them each a sentence strip with their names on it. She would choose a letter from a set of index cards to show the students. If the letter was not in their name then it made them sad : ( and they had to write that letter on the sad side of their board. If the letter WAS in their name than they were happy : ) and they got to write it on the happy side of their board. I thought that the lesson was very appropriate for the students. For the ones that were very low level it was good that she gave them their name cards because they were still in the matching stage of letter recognition. However, I thought that for the higher level learners it would have been beneficial to take away their names cards to see if they could recognize its presence in their name from memory.
The students really seemed to respond to the activity well and enjoyed making very sad or happy faces once they found the letters. I also liked how the teacher did not put a lot of stress on the student’s letter formation. Many of them struggled with writing the letters correctly. She would simply show them once how to make the letter, allow them to try, and then praise them for their effort. I think this was really important for them not to get discouraged or give up trying. It will come with practice. An observer would hardly notice the ELL group that is pulled out in each Kindergarten room. The classrooms are fairly large and she always pulls her ELLs out at a time when the rest of the class is at their desks. This way, she can take her group to one of the centers that are blocked off and not disturb the class. Sometimes this strategy is frustrating because they have to be very quiet in their small group. They aren’t able to do certain activities like sing songs or play noisy games because they would disturb the class. The teacher is very inviting and accepting towards her ELL students. Even though she has them for a very short amount of time she always asks them how their day is going and gives them a chance to share their feelings. The students are all happy to see her and are excited about going to her group. She does a very good job of making them feel special that they get to come see her. They don’t feel excluded at all from the rest of their class.

Community

When the ELL teacher works with the kindergarteners she goes into one class at a time and pulls the ELL students to a quiet spot in the room. All of the classes have at least 3 ELLs so it makes for good sized small group instruction. While the activity was for each individual student to recognize the letters in their own name, the students would help each other look for the letters. They all seemed to get along and want each other to find the letters. One student even said, “I am sad there is no A in my name, but I’m happy it’s in yours!” I thought that was so sweet! Most of the ELL students the teacher pulls out in kindergarten are level 1 proficiency according to their ELDA scores. They are seen by the ELL teacher every day. However, there is one student that scored a 3 on the ELDA but will still qualify for consultation services from the ELL teacher because the language spoken at home is Arabic.

Hooray for Methods Classes!!!! : )

I have learned many things in this class regarding inclusion, designer methods for teaching ESL, assessment tools, literacy development, and oral language tools. I am most interested in teaching younger student ESL classes. I noticed during my research on inclusion that several sources said that Inclusion was not the best program for newcomers or lower levels of proficiency. Because of this statement and because I will be teaching young ELL students, I don’t think that the Inclusion program will work effectively in my future classroom environment. I am interested in researching more about the self-contained model because I think that this program may be more appropriate for the age group I am interested in teaching.

There are several designer methods used to teach ESL; however, I found that I liked the Total Physical Response Method (TPR) the best.TPR was developed by James Asher and designed to mimic how infants learn their first language. Asher calls it a language conversation because the parent (or in this case the teacher) says something and the infant (or in this case the ELL) gives a physical response. The teacher will say an action word while demonstrating the action. This is then mimicked by the learner. The ELL will start by simply performing the action when the teacher gives the command while silently internalizing the patterns and sounds of the language. Eventually the student will be able to put the vocabulary/sound with the action. As the vocabulary becomes more difficult visual aids can be brought in to help portray meaning. This method would work best for young or beginner ELL in a self-contained classroom. This method is similar to how you would teach in early childhood classrooms. It uses visual aids and physical actions along with instruction to encompass all learning styles. In a younger classroom mostly all of the students learn best kinesthetically no matter what their native language is. TPR gives students an instant understanding of the target language with high speed long term retention in a low stress level environment.

During the course of the class I have also become familiar with assessment tools for ESL. I thought that when I used the SOLOM instrument it was much easier to assess the student. It breaks downs the categories very descriptively so I know exactly what I am looking for. I think that no matter what grade I teach in the future, the SOLOM instrument would work well. It does a more accurate job of defining what the student’s language is like and helps target what needs improvement. I would definitely use the SOLOM instrument in the future so that I can better assess the needs of my students.

I have also created and utilized so many wonderful tools in this class that I will be able to use in my classroom. For example, I can utilize cloze procedures to help my students with vocabulary and comprehension while using choral reading tools to aid in fluency development. At the moment, I would be the most comfortable with targeting reading fluency in my lessons. The key to reading fluency is modeling and practice. I can effectively help my students with reading fluency by continuously reading out loud to them on a daily basis. Reading to the students is one of my favorite parts of the school day. To be a good model for fluency, I think it’s important to be confident with my own fluency level and animated with expressions and vocal inflections during oral reading. It is also important to give the students lots of time and different ways to practice. Utilize popcorn reading, shared reading, silent reading, etc. Mix up the technique daily to keep the student from becoming bored or frustrated. I am also now confident in selecting appropriate reading materials for my students. Hooray for methods courses!!!! : )

Lets Get Them to Read!!!!!

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."
— Walt Disney

You know, for me reading is a confusing topic. I feel like you either hate it or you love. I LOVE to read and I always have. Unfortunately this is not the case with many people. When you ask these non-readers why they hate it so much it usually goes back to some horrible event in their childhood where they were completely embarrassed because they couldn’t read as well as somebody else. Well, that OR they think it’s boring. : ) I think it’s really important to make sure reading is FUN. It should be an adventure, a mysterious, creative, exciting ADVENTURE. Books can take kids places that they may never be able to go in real life and it’s wonderful.

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."
— Frederick Douglass

The question is how do you find books that encourage all these things? Well, I think when they said “A picture is worth a thousand words” they were talking about choosing books for ESL students. Choose books with illustrations that are entrancing. Choose books with words that are captivating. Vocabulary should be challenging but still rewarding. An ESL reader needs to feel confident in their reading so choose books that will help them succeed as well as learn. Choose books that create questions? When children read they should be asking why? How? WHAT IF…? Leave room for imagination and further discovery. The key to promoting literacy is availability. Literacy is EvErYeWhErE…it’s on the posters on the wall, it’s in the magazines, books, newspapers, grocery stores, mail, etc. Point out literacy in all aspects of the child’s life, that’s how you promote it. That’s how you get them excited about it.

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all."
— Jacqueline Kennedy

AHHHHH ESL

I ALWAYS knew I wanted to be a teacher, a kindergarten teacher! I had never even thought twice about ESL until my junior year of college. I did some tutoring hours in a regular 3rd grade classroom and the classroom teacher was talking to me about her experiences. She was currently going back to school to get her Master in English as a Second Language and had nothing but wonderful things to say about it! Her school practiced the pull-out method of ESL and as a regular classroom teacher, she hated it. She felt so unprepared to deal with the ELL during the majority of the day because she had no experience or training in that area. All she talked about the whole time I was in her classroom was how important it is for teachers in this day and age to be educated on ESL policies and strategies. She advised me that even if I don’t want to be an ESL instructor, taking courses to learn more about the program would be beneficial to me since I will most likely encounter these students at some point in my educational career. This encounter sparked a curiosity in me to learn more about ESL.

It just so happened that the summer after that I had the opportunity to study abroad for a month in Costa Rica. I was the outsider, the newcomer, surrounded by Spanish-only speaking peers. I visited many schools in the area and learned about their culture. I began to think about what it would be like to have these students in an English-only speaking classroom back in the US. They would be surrounded by English-only speaking peers, who not only talked differently but dressed, acted, looked, ate, and lived completely differently.

AHHHHHH ESL!!!!

Having no experience in the area, this was my first thought. How can I help these students become comfortable in their new environment? How can I make their learning experience a positive one? This is my new goal. Whether I am an inclusion, pull-out, self-contained classroom, or regular education classroom teacher, I need to know the answers to these questions to be an effective teacher. I know I don’t have a lot of experience with ESL but I am really excited about being a future teacher and all the wonderful ESL teaching methods I will learn.

YAY ESL : )

Introduction

This blog is used as part of my add-on endorsement curriculum for ESL. I will be posting reflections regarding methods for teaching ESL reading and writing. Enjoy : )