Going into the classroom on
Thursday was the first time I got to meet the kindergartners. I came in with
little knowledge about the students and classroom environment, only knowing
that I would be teaching some students who are English language learners. My
initial goal I set for myself and one I will work on every time I am in the
classroom with the kindergartners is to get
to know the ELL student and through
that, find ways I can differentiate instruction and accommodate for their
needs.
I grew up in a school system that
had very little diversity. Everyone in my classes spoke English. I do not
remember learning Spanish until the end of middle school and into high school.
Because I have not had practice, I do not remember very much Spanish. I think
that is what makes me nervous for teaching student that speak Spanish as their
primary language. As a teacher, it is so important to be able to help my
students learn. I fear that the students will not be able to understand me and
then miss out on the lessons I teach. Having a language barrier would be
challenging for not only the teacher, but the students as well, especially when
kindergarten is their first year and the content to support the students is so
crucial.
When I was in the classroom, we
learned about the five senses. Each teacher was able to be in charge of a
center and I focused on their sense of smell. I thought centers were a great
way to begin teaching the class. I was able to talk to every student and hear
most students respond to what they thought they smelled in the bags. When
talking to the students, I was surprised that so many students knew English so
well and the way they responded to instruction. There were some instances where
it was challenging because of the strong accents, but I could still understand
the students for the most part. From the short time that I was in the classroom
I was able to pick out the quiet students and those that were more outgoing and
talkative. That is a step to getting to know the students. I understand how it
can be challenging to get to know all the students when some are quieter. With
the more reserved students, I was not sure if they understood my instruction, whereas
the outgoing students were clearer about their thoughts. I think the way I modeled
what was being asked of the students, they were able to understand the instructions
even if they did not necessarily understand all of the English I was saying. I
think that is what makes getting to know the students more challenging, because
as the teacher, I have to use my best judgment without knowing for sure. For example,
there was a student’s that was very quiet and just sat at her desk. She was the third person to guess what was in the
bag using her sense of smell. She may mimicked her pears and copied there guesses
in order to give an answer. It is hard to know for sure.
In order to help accommodate for the
students and work on my goal, I think I will translate the basic vocabulary into
Spanish in order to support their learning. This will hopefully help the students with their
understanding of the lesson and limit the confusion that some students may have
had. I think that my classroom goal will take time in order to get to know the
student’s needs more, but I am looking forward to applying strategies for teaching
bilingual students in the classroom. This is my first bilingual clinical experience,
and I think it will be very beneficial to my teaching and my feelings towards
teaching a bilingual classroom.
·
This is link to Pinterest gives teachers
teaching material to support ELL students:
·
5 Key Strategies for ELL instruction:
EXCEEDS: I added a Pinterest board to support ELL students and,
I added a link to strategies for teaching ELL students. This support teachers like me who are new to
teaching ELL students in the classroom.
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI also do not come from a very diverse school prior to ISU. I learned Spanish for the first time in 8th grade and continued to take it all the way through my senior year in high school. Like you said, it’s hard to remember the things I learned, considering it was 4-8 years ago I learned certain terms. Not practicing or sticking with it also affects my remembering skills.
My goal was to be able to communicate with all of the students in the classroom, which ended up being challenging with a few of the kids. Some of them had a hard time expressing what they thought was in the balloons at my station with their English words. They were trying to explain to me what they thought, but using Spanish. I was not aware with what they were trying to say in Spanish, so I did a terrible thing and just assumed they were incorrect and continued on asking other students. I think it would have been extremely beneficial for me to learn the words like rocks, rice, and corn in Spanish, so I could have been aware if they were answering correctly or incorrectly. For future lessons I teach, I am going to educate myself prior to the lessons the vocabulary that will be or may be used throughout, so that way I am able to communicate with each and every student. I also think this will take time and come along as the semester goes on. This isn’t necessarily my first bilingual experience because I had a few students in my preschool clinical setting last year that spoke Spanish, but it is my first time with an entire class. I think it’s great we get to have the opportunity and learn so much from it!a