I can really relate to the readings on ESL programs in schools. Like the scenario with Dora in the Mohr reading, I have witnessed similar situations in other placements. In one of my other placements, I was in a classroom where there were 18 different countries represented. I would go with a few of them to a resource room for language arts (not an ESL one though)and watched the instruction they received. Later on, I found out that these two girls, who were twins, were held back a year because their English was not proficient enough. Furthermore, these kids were in a household where their parents only spoke Spanish (they, however, did not speak Spanish) and one of their older siblings (much older, she was away at college) was really the only one they talked to, and she spoke English. So, these girls basically raised themselves and had no communication with their parents. Their problem wasn't that English wasn't their first language, but that there were absolutely no resources at home to help them with their learning, even the most basic things like acquiring a language well. They were given homework and they hardly ever did it because they didn't have the help they needed at home, something that did not help their progression.
Currently, I am also in a diverse classroom, but the majority of these students are proficient in English at this point. The school I am at, though, has multiple rooms dedicated solely to ESL programs and a lot of children benefit from them. There are only small groups of kids who go in there at one time, and from what I can see, the kids usually look like they are very comfortable and enjoy being in there. Do any of your guys' schools have those types of classrooms, or are your schools not very diverse?
This article opened my eyes to what ELL's go through during a typical school day. I never really gave it thought to how school would be for them and how lost they are during most activities. I never had ELL's as classmates growing up, and have only seen limited amounts of them in my placements. It would be such a struggle though, and I hope that I will be able to accommodate any ELL's I might have and hopefully make school a little easier and more applicable/understandable for them in the ways that the article suggested.
I am currently doing my field placement in DeWitt. It is very much like the town I grew up in only a little bigger. Needless to say it is not very diverse. My field placement last year wasn’t either. It seems to me like I am doing everything the program asks of me, but I’m wondering if you guys have the same opinion. It seems like four hours in class once a week just isn’t enough time to connect with the students in the deep ways that are expected of us. For me it is difficult to even get one on one time with my focus students. My CT is more than willing to let me have it, but I don’t want them to get behind because of me so I try to keep the interactions to the task at hand and gain some insight at the same time. But, I also want to have time for the rest of the class too. Anyway, I don’t feel like I know any of the students in my class to say anything specific. We have one African American girl in class, one Hispanic boy, and one Asian girl. However, my guess from what I’ve seen is that they’ve grown up in the same privileged background that I have.
ReplyDeleteThe article doesn’t really make me think differently about ELL’s though. It seems like the same scaffolding that you do for them would benefit all students in class. It is something as a teacher I want to be aware of, but I hope that my teaching style if one that doesn’t leave anyone behind. To me this means lots of scaffolding and lots of modeling. Basically, everything I do should be repeated in different ways so that hopefully something sticks with each student.
I found the Prensky article that is mentioned to be an interesting way to think of technology. I have a feeling that my experience is a little different from both of yours. The first computer my family had in the house was a Commodore 64. My microwave now has more computing power. This was probably when I was about 8 (1983-84.) In a way I grew up with technology, but it has always seemed to be developing from its infancy. When I first started at MSU in 1994 the internet was just being developed and the only thing the university really used it for was e-mail and a very primitive version of the CAPA system in chemistry and physics only. All research was still done at the library (which wasn’t on-line yet.) Because of this, I have put myself in the digital immigrant category. I love technology, but I usually only latch onto it once it has been made easy to use. I have waited for cell phones to become as user friendly as they are before I got an internet able one last year. I still don’t text unless I’m communicating with someone younger than me. I use word processors, spread sheets and other software, but I’m not fond of having to figure out how to make them do the advanced functions. In my future classroom I can’t wait to try to use technology, but I don’t know what to expect. I’ve never used a SMART board or an ELMO. My home internet connection is still too slow to allow video. So I wonder how these elements are going to affect that teaching style I want to have.
I completely agreed with some of Mohr's statements in the article. She discusses how it is hard to teach ELL's when they are only allowed one hour a day in the classroom and they are missing out on their general academic classroom during this time. This makes the classroom teacher think it's someone else's job, such as the ESL teacher, to teach the ELL students. I have absolutely seen this happen. I have a placement for another TE class in an ESL classroom. I work with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at one time! They are all learning the same stuff and they are all at different levels. Some of them are really high levels but since they are considered ESL, their general teachers think they need to be in the ESl room. While they are there, they come and go because they have their specialties scheduled and during this process they miss out on their ESL learning as well. It's really confusing and complicated and I really don't think it makes any sense. The CT I'm working with is trying to come up with a better system to only have one grade level there at a time to better fit their needs. However, to answer your questions, my classroom through our TE class is very diverse in ethnicity, but everyone speaks English and there are no language barriers. It is also hard for me to connect with any students while I'm there, and when I try to I feel like I am pressuring them in a way that makes them frustrated so I try to take baby steps when asking questions. I agree with you Joel when you say you don't want to take them away from their CT and regular learning environment for too long.
ReplyDeleteAs for the digital denizen article, I would consider myself to be a digital native. I had considered a digital immigrant, but I wouldn't say I "willingly" traveled to the land of technology. I believe I grew up learning to do things with technology and I can't imagine what I would do without it, I definitely couldn't blog! Joel, your experience is a little bit different than mine! It's crazy to think of no cell phones or computers, but I can remember my parents getting our first computer, and then their first cell phones, and I even remember when no one would text, just make phone calls! I believe technology is important in education, especially after taking CEP 416 and learning about Smartboards and different ways to use audio recording to do digital story telling with pictures. There are many great ways to include it in education!