There are a
few goals that I have set for myself as we work with the students in the
preschool and kindergarten classes at Brigham. These goals are: 1) Help the
students learn in the best way for them, 2) Gain experience working with
English Language Learners, and 3) Gain confidence when working with English
Language Learners. I think the first day in the preschool classroom went well,
but it was not really what I was expecting it to be. We were told that the
preschool class would not have any English Language Learners, but this was not
the case. There was definitely one, but more likely, more than that. There was
one boy who spoke Spanish, and clearly had a hard time understanding us. While
we were playing the get to know you game, the boy next to him had to translate
what we were saying to him in Spanish. It was good that we decided to do this
game, because it helped us get to know these students better. If we had known
there were English Language Learners in the classroom, we would have prepared
better for this. It made me realize that I need to figure out how to
communicate with these students the best way that I can. It did not look like
there was much Spanish, or other languages, incorporated in the classroom. For
example, there were not any Spanish words on the wall, or around the classroom,
and the teacher spoke to the students in English. This makes me wonder whether
the students actually did not know English, or if they were just not listening.
As of right now, in order to reach my goals, I plan on getting to know the
students in my classroom well, including what languages they speak, and the
learning style that works best for them. I will learn how to best communicate
with them. I think this semester will help me get a better understanding of
working with English Language Learners. I have not had that much experience of
my own working with these students, so I am hoping to gain experience, as well
as gain confidence.
Unfortunately,
I do not have any ELL students in my classroom right now, so I don’t get to
work with these students as much as I would like to. I think I would really
enjoy working with these students and trying to figure out how to communicate
with them, and their parents. In my future classroom, if I have any ELLs, I
would like to incorporate their native languages in the classroom. I could
label things in the classroom in their language, I could translate letters to
be sent home for parents if needed, and I could provide books that are in the
students’ native languages. It would definitely be challenging to have ELL
students in my classroom, depending on their level, but I think I could definitely
do it.
I found an
article online about helping ELL students succeed in the classroom. I think it
has some very helpful tips for working ELLs. This could be a good reminder when
working ELL students. It is http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/760
.
Exceeds: I provided an article on how to help ELL students
succeed in the classroom.
