English/Language Arts Preparation Programs

When one is comparing the Sheltered English Immersion Lesson Plan vs. the SIOP Lesson Plan, it is clear that there are a few variances. I started my comparison between these two templates by reading a sample of a seventh grade English lesson that focused on figurative language such as similes and metaphors. I chose this particular lesson to begin because I am currently a seventh grade Language Arts teacher and one of the primary focuses this year was to further develop the students’ knowledge of literary devices and figurative language. Therefore, I am very familiar with teaching lessons based on figurative language and I especially appreciate how creative the lesson was for the SIOP sample. I am also very familiar with the state’s current frameworks for ELA and enduring understandings, essential questions, and objectives that my department established to support these standards in the curriculum.

My early reading experiences reflect the history that Vogt and Shearer (2011) describe in the first chapter of Reading Specialists and Literacy Coaches in the Real World. The basal reading programs of the 1970s and 1980s included “leveled readers, phonics activities, and a great deal of comprehension skill practice, usually found on the pages of the accompanying workbooks. The programs also included highly structured, detailed teacher’s guides, with different lesson plans for each of the three instructional groups” (Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p.13).

As a future teacher of a fast-changing generation that searches restlessly for new interests, I believe that old and new must meet to keep the basic values of a balanced literacy. Focusing on prior knowledge, collaborating with colleagues, peers, families, and community, creating connections with our surrounding, and empowering students’ learning style throughout the process of gaining knowledge of reading and writing. Foremost, my personal philosophy of teaching literacy is based on constructivism and sociolinguistic, where hands on experience and guidance are priority in an informational world. To facilitate a child’s acquisition of literacy skills , as I plan for literacy instruction for my future classroom, I will take into consideration

English Language Learners (hereafter referred to as ELLs) currently comprise 10% of the total school population in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005). It is a population that is going to continue to increase in American public education and their specific needs for learning literacy are of great importance to teachers. Since schools and teachers are increasingly judged based upon the academic achievement of students, then the success of the growing population of ELLs is going to be increasingly important. In the present paper the role of the teacher and specific research-based literacy strategies for ELLs is investigated.

Technology in the classroom is important for teachers, parents, and students alike, because technology use has become a necessary skill for survival in today’s vastly expanding technology driven global economy. Research has shown an increase in student’s success rates when exposed to technology in the classroom. Also technology has opened lines of communication between educators and parents to keep students on track, and help teachers educate better.

In the primary grades, children should have a well-designed phonics program that promotes knowledge of letters, sounds, words, and phonological units (Dorn, Soffos. 2001. P. 21). The literacy coach should help the classroom teachers prepare for their literacy lessons by providing literary resources needed, modeling to show how certain components of the literacy block should look and making sure the teacher understands how to teach the skills they are working on at the time. For example, if a teacher is unsure how to effectively teach reading groups to beginner kindergarten readers, the literacy coach can model how to do so, provide the teacher with additional help and support, and even let the teacher observe other teachers teach. The literacy coach should also make sure the teachers have everything they need to assess students and that the teachers understand the importance of the assessments and how to get information from them to lead new

Impact of Current Political climate on English Language Learners Students and funding in the public school.

This is a very important component in education to be aware of and when you are a teacher. I interviewed a first-grade teacher at my local elementary school to gain more information about the processes that our local schools go through for professional training, interventions, and in the classroom to ensure that students are developing their abilities in reading. My main focus was on what our school’s process was, how support is given, professional training offered, and what more is needed to be done to increase success for students.

Griffin, T. (2014, September 18). Utah Education Network. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from Multimedia in the Classroom: www.uen.com/multimediainclassroom

We are currently living in a digital age where our students are notably technologically proficient. This poses a challenge with how some of our students are currently learning (or trying to learn) in our classrooms. Many students have grown tired of reading dense texts for homework assignments and tired of listening to long, boring lectures from teachers at school. The way in which students are currently analyzing and interpreting texts that they read and videos that they watch have not been up to our standards here at North Windsor High School. The thing is, a lot of our teachers are also struggling between teaching with both print text and by digital means. North Windsor High School acknowledges the fact that many seniors graduate not having the digital skills and print text literacy necessary to lead successful lives after high school. We are beginning to implement some changes with our teaching methods and hope to incorporate technology and print text in different and more engaging ways.

For this assignment, I completed a survey to assess my school’s literacy program by using a survey that was adapted from by Patty, Maschoff, & Ransom (1996) to analyze the instructional program and the school’s infrastructure. To be able to answer my survey, I needed to go colleagues of mine in the English Department and to my administration to help with these questions. Being a math teacher, we hardly ever discuss the literacy and the students’ acquisition of it in our department meeting during staff development days. Since I am not truly current with literacy acquisition in education, I am hoping to understand more from this process so I can help all my students. I want them to be able to read texts related to math and find

Course content and technology connect in a variety of ways. The Common Core Standards focus on what students need to be able to do by providing standards to help students reach college and career readiness by 12th grade. Students that are college and career ready in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language are able to demonstrate independence and use technology and digital media strategically and capably. However, it is up to the teachers how they want their students to meet these standards. As long as students are able to meet the standards, it is the teacher’s choice how they teach it. Therefore, teaching in the 21st century requires educators to connect content through the effective use of technology in their instruction.

Being accepted into the English Teaching Assistant Program for Ukraine will grant me the opportunity to interact and engage through teaching. Through my experiences in Nerekhta, Russia, I have gained a deeper understanding of how cultural can be exchanged through language and expression. While teaching sports I was able to stimulate the English learning process through reaction. While in the Ukraine I plan to do the same. Through conversation and personal thought I will engage each of my students in the class room on topics they find interesting. While in Nerekhta, I brought my students on small field trips where new vocabulary can easily be learned and then reiterated that knowledge in the classroom through discussion. By asking the students to speak on their opinions and personal experiences, language is taught, and although grammar can sometimes be infringed on when speaking in a new language organically, I will also assign writing which will force the students then to think through the grammar. I believe that once a student has the confidence to speak freely, grammar can easily be incorporated. When teaching I want to ensure the students have the confidence to speak first and then comes the desire to make their thoughts more understandable through grammar training. While in Poland I was able to both learn Polish while teaching English, and will do the same in Ukraine. I will engage with my students in English in the classroom but will allow them to teach me Ukrainian on

My philosophy of literacy is centered on providing a learning environment rich in authentic literature, instruction that is engaging, fun, and balanced, collaborative, and also involving families in the child’s education. My ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to help children become lifelong readers and writers by providing the skills necessary to comprehend, construct, and make meaning of text, speak, and write. (Torgesen, 2002). According to the National Reading Panel, there are five essential components that must be taught in effective reading programs: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (Reading Horizons). According to Konza (2014), reading instruction should be changed to six foundational reading elements, adding oral language and early literacy. I also believe that early literacy should be

Sixty-two percent of teachers say they use digital media twice a week or more and 24 percent say they use it every day to help them teach. The numbers of teachers using TV and video content in the classroom are even higher. Over 80 percent of teachers say they use TV or video to teach a lesson at least once a month and 76 percent are streaming it from the web” (par. 2).