Blog #4
My Reflection of Second Language Methodology ........
Before I began this class, I thought
I knew everything was to know about becoming a teacher. From previous
experience of teaching I thought I had it all figured out. However, being in
this class has given me a whole new insight on teaching, and career goals for
myself.
Being in the Class
Being in
this class I have truly learned the difference between ELL students and ESL
students. I have also learned how demanding and critical the need for ESL
teachers are in the education field. There are so many different methods of
teaching and with taking this class I have been given the opportunity to see
and witness quite a few. I have seen some cases where the methods don’t work
(Pull out Method) and I have also seen multiple cases where the methods are
above expectations (Content Based Method). What I have learned most about is
how student’s background and customs play a major role in their learning. “When
teaching and learning an additional language, we must be aware of the complex
and dynamic relationship between the language and cultural customs” (Brown
& Lee, 2015, pg.157). Many of the problems with language barriers go beyond
the classroom; it’s what the students go through day in and day out at home,
and real world connections. So many classrooms I observed this semester are still
using the Pull-Out Method for teaching, however I have seen many times where
the students are not benefiting from this method. I think if more classrooms witched up their
program and used the Content Based Instruction more students might benefit
because students wouldn’t miss important information nor would they miss out on
peer interactions. While taking this class I also observed the constant stress
these ESL teachers are faced with. I don’t think it’s right that teachers put
all the work on the ESL teacher; I think all teachers should be equally
educated and engaged for ELL students. Generally these students spend the
majority of the day in the general classroom so teachers need to know how to
communicate and teach these ELL students. Teachers need to do a better job
educating themselves, in the text it mentions “the teacher not only is
certified in the regular content areas but also has some knowledge of the
students’ first language and culture” (Brown & Lee, 2015, pg.171); these
ESL teachers spend a lot of time becoming educated enough to communicate to
these students. ESL teachers are low staffed, and with having so many students
there isn’t a way for the ESL teachers to provide every student with his/her
own aide.
Applying What I
learned and Interactions
Within this
class I have observed, and been given the opportunity to practice what I have
learned teaching in classrooms. I found a lot of what we discussed in our blogs
among our classmates really helped me while teaching. Many times I was able to
relate to one of my classmates or receive insight on a situation that later
helped me teach better. Example: One of my classmates received a displaced student
after the hurricane just as I did and the student didn’t speak any English. My classmate
was able to give me some ideas on how to teach this student and how to work
with this student. We talked about using visuals and different audios/videos to
help the student relate. Surprisingly, within a matter of two weeks the student
began talking and interacting more in the class. I like the fact that the blog
allowed us to all share our experiences and thoughts with multiple topics to
help one another. I also enjoyed the
blog because it was something new for me. I actually had never done a blog like
this before so, it was something new to learn and I could incorporate in my teaching.
Conclusion
Overall,
this class has created a platform for me, it has set a pathway for my future
career as a teacher and business owner. I would like not only like to teacher
but I want to become an owner of a school one day. In my school I would like
every one of my staff members to be ESL certified, including myself. In the
future I hope to take what I learned from this class and help as many students
as I can. I have learned so much about second language learning approaches and
within learning I have discovered myself, a new passion for teaching.
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (4th ed.). White Plains, NY:
Pearson Longman
First of all, thank you for your amazingly positive feedback. I am glad to see how your academic discourse has expanded in this course. I have enjoyed your blog and I wish you guys had more time to read and learn from each other. Your experiences are highly valuable and your voice should be heard. I wonder what changes you would implement to make the course better.
ReplyDeleteProf. Avellaneda,
DeleteThank you for your kind words. Yes, i have really enjoyed this class overall, I learned a lot I never knew of before. Answering your question: "What changes would (I) implement to make the course better? With know taking the class and seeing how the flow of the class is operated, honestly I don't think I would change anything. I like the feedback you give us in order to make the assignments better and I appreciate you having the open door policy being able to email you with any questions and concerns at all times. I understand the purpose of the quizzes every week and reviewing the information we learned, also enjoy the collaboration you allow on assignments. Keep the communication open and keep the announcements post public because that was nicely implemented as the semester went on, and I think the class as a whole will continue to get better and better. Thank you!
Jolie,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you because now a days when it comes to hiring new teachers they tend to hire the teacher who is ESL certified first verses the teacher who isn't. Because the administrators also agree that it is best for the students to stay put within their classrooms. Instead of coming out of the classroom and missing certain instructions to an assignment they may be working on. However, I think that is a great idea for students to not miss out on certain instructions. Because when I was young and an ESL teacher would have to pull me out of the classroom it would get really hard for me to comprehend certain criteria back on track when I came back. Also in my student teaching classroom, I have five ESL students that stay within the classroom. And I think that is helping them stay focused and motivated because whenever they may need help, me mentor teacher or I work one on one with them while other students are doing the same task but independently. The students should always remember that they can always use a teacher as a resource for any additional help they may need. Where the ESL students should never hesitate to ask for help, even though their other classmates not require as much help as they might. Researchers have stated, "You are available for advice and counsel when the student seeks it, but generally that initiative comes from the student." (Brown & Lee, 2015, p.261) That means no matter how quiet the child may be the teacher should build a certain bond with the student where they are comfortable coming to the teacher for for any help or advice. Hope you continue to discover many new things as well throughout the years that can help assist your future students as well.
Seemin,
DeleteThank you for your kind words and reviewing my blog post! I think your right when you state that, “employers are looking at teachers who are certified before they consider a teacher who isn’t certified.” People are always in competition so it’s like the more degrees you have or the more certifications you have the better your chances are at getting hired. I actually don’t mind the circumstances in this case because I feel like it’s so necessary. I am constantly seeing children who need the extra help inside a classroom yet their homeroom teacher is unavailable to neither help nor assist them. I honestly think that some teachers are ok with doing the bare minimum and don’t want switch up how they’ve been teaching for so long, to make a difference. In your student teaching is your mentor teacher certified? Does she think there should be a change in schools and the hiring process of teachers?
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DeleteJolie,
DeleteI think you are absolutely right. At times it may get hard on the teacher to work with the certain child one on one. Because it may take more time than expected to complete the certain assignment if the teacher is taking out to help the ESL student comprehend the criteria. And I agree when its an on going explaining and the student is still struggling to comprehend the criteria then sometimes the teachers do get frustrated and just give up. However, I don't think that is the right way of giving up on students. Because if the teacher is unable to help anymore then she can always get additional help from the staff at the school. Within my student teaching the mentor teacher I am with she is ESL certified as well she has another certification (I forgot the name of what she had told me) but she can basically teach students that communicate with sign languages. She likes teaching the ESL students within the classroom. As well as sometimes it does get complicated at times to help the students comprehend the required material better. So in the morning she pulls the tier 2 (ESL students) while morning work time to give them additional help. However, she doesn't think there should be a change within the schools hiring process. Because she thinks even if the child may not get pulled out by an ESL teacher there is always another teacher helping out within the classroom that is ESL certified as well.
Hi Jolie, I enjoyed reading the part in your post where you applied what you learned in this course to the classroom. The opportunity to work one on one with an ELL student must have been a great learning experience. Being able to implement some of the strategies and methods we learned in this course really helps teachers get a better feel on how to implement these learned strategies in the classroom. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJolie,
ReplyDeleteYou focused a lot on how the pull-out method is an ineffective method to working English Language Learners which is true for many reasons but I believe one reason especially is because of the lack of confidence and practice the student retains when being pulled out of the classroom to work on material. I say this because I relate it back to several methods of therapy that are used with children that have developmental delays or intellectual disabilities. Similar to having an understanding to different methods and acquisition, therapists have to have an understanding to different methods of therapy, one of them being the pull-out method. The same way it has a negative reflection in teaching, it also has a negative effect in therapy because it doesn't allow the client to work on the issues in their normal setting. Teaching, along with every other kind of stimulation we may receive, are directly affected by the environment that is around us and if we are being positively stimulated in our natural environments I believe the information that is being given is grasped better. A content-based approach for this reason makes an excellent approach because it allows students to practice the skills that they need in the classroom that they will be using the skills in (Brown & Lee 2015).
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy (4th ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman.