The main issues that Ms. O’reilly should focus on the most are language and the different roles of gender, race, ethnicity and class. In order to allow all her students to succeed, especially Maria and Brandon she needs to take in consideration the different factors and obstacles that each child faces at home and school. With the child Maria, Ms. O’reilly should focus on language and bilingualism in order to help her succeed. With Brandon she needs to focus more on the social economic status of his family. Both children face many similar struggles but are unique in their own way. It is best said by Daniel Willingham, he states “To compensate, teachers should offer in the classroom what these children are missing at home”. It is Ms. O’reilly’s …show more content…
The students that make up the school are mostly Latino, African American, West Indian and white. Language is the medium through which students gain access to the curriculum. (Tamara Lucas). For example, Maria was placed in a dual language classroom, since arriving from Mexico and when she entered middle school that was taken away. The teacher in her English class needs to realize it takes second language learners longer to develop fluency in academic English than in conversational English. (Tamara Lucas). Ms. O’reilly should take this inconsideration when it comes to the strategies used in the classroom. Social interaction will help Maria’s language development and a method that can be useful to promote social interaction is the use of group work. Using group work will allow Maria to not only expand her English skills but also learn from the other students. Tamara Lucas states; “Scaffolding learning for ELLs requires teachers to consider the relationship between students’ linguistic abilities and the tasks through which they are expected to learn”. Ms. O’reilly has set the goal of having all the students to be on the same level at the end of the school year, this might not be a realistic goal since each child comes from different backgrounds and learn at different speeds. Different scaffolding strategies should be use to accommodate the ELLs in her classroom. Group work, sharing about ones culture, knowing the child’s mother tongue and creating a comfortable environment where the students can raise their hand or ask questions without feeling dumb or like an
Allen, Ms. Chursenoff and Ms. Diaz were able to overcome many of the previously mentioned challenges by desiring to understand their student's challenges and realizing the responsibility that they hold in their education. Ms. Chursenoff observed that it was important to "become familiar with a variety of cooperative learning strategies" (Ariza – Whelan, Eileen N., p. 4, 2010). She also realized the importance of always "implementing instructional strategies that are congruent with Hispanic cultural traits" (Ariza – Whelan, Eileen N., p. 5, 2010), in her situation, but those strategies can be utilized for all cultural traits, as well. Ms. Diaz "realized the only way she could help her students become successful in learning a second language was by learning what she did not know about their culture" (Ariza – Whelan, Eileen N., p. 7, 2010). That excites me! I would love to study and research other cultures. I strongly believe teachers do "have the clearest understanding of what needs to be done to successfully educate students in today's world" (Ariza – Whelan, Eileen N., p. 7, 2010), contrary to what the majority of people may surmise. I absolutely love how Ms. Allen advocates for her students. She stands firm against the ideas of policy makers to be the ones who make the laws for the children in her classroom. She shares the same beliefs and values that I have as a teacher. I truly admire
Ofsted (2012) discovered on inspecting schools that children with EAL made the most progress in and outside the classroom when they had good language and learning role models. Children with EAL can copy what other children are modelling to them and also learn the language in a child friendly way. On the other hand, Morrison (2014) suggests that children benefit more from having no initial social interaction with other children and that they should be taken out for intervention instead to learn the basics of English. However, this method, one that was widely used since the 1960s (Mills, bilingualism in primary schools), is not considered the best method when looking at children’s integrating successfully socially. Webster (2011) suggests that whilst many think taking children outside of the classroom to provide specialist language support would be most beneficial for children with EAL, it is actually more beneficial for their social integration to learn alongside the rest of the class in a real and meaningful context. Yet, findings from Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University (2014) found that not only do children with EAL benefit from being immersed in their class they feel more comfortable alongside speakers of the same language and that in many case studies children benefited from
The curriculum for English-Spanish Learners (ESL) or English-Language Learners, was created to assist students who do not speak any or little English. Angela Valenzuela describes in her article, “Subtractive Schooling, Caring Relations, and Social Capital in the Schooling of U.S.~Mexican Youth,” that
Many of their learning needs are similar to those of other children and young people learning in our schools. However, these learners also have distinct and different needs from other learners by virtue of the fact that they are learning in and through another language, and that they come from cultural backgrounds and communities with different understandings and expectations of education, language and learning”. (NALDIC, 1999).
All these strategies gives all students an equal opportunity to practice English, participation and involvement. ELLs students when it’s time to read or participate in class they may be reluctant to speak because of their lack of proficiency in English or feel uncomfortable in an environment where they have to share their ideas. ESL teachers must provide a positive and supportive environment that offers significant influence on student comfort level, success and participation that requiring ELLs to use the language in front of class without force them
When an educator walks into her classroom for the first time, she needs to be prepared to encounter students that come from a variety of backgrounds. The children will be in different stages of language development, and the educator must accommodate for each of these students. Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera (2013) state, “The US Census Bureau projects that by the 2030s, children whose home language is other than English will increase from roughly 22 percent to 40 percent of the school-age population” (p. 9). This increase in second language learners will cause the educator to accommodate for those needs. Second language learners “need teachers who welcome them and recognize their unique abilities, what they know, and what they need to learn” (Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera, 2013, p. 10).
The instructional setting is two eighth grade classrooms with class sizes of 28 and 32 students. Of the 60 students, ten are Hispanic, four are Asian, and one is African-American. All ten Hispanic students are bilingual with overall California English Language Development Test (CELDT) classifications of: one student intermediate, three early advanced, and one advanced. The remaining five Hispanic students have been reclassified to English proficient and do not require EL support. Four students are foster youth. Nine students receive special education support.
Since most of the school's population comes from a hispanic/latino background 36.5% are English Language Learners. The school offers intervention for those students or students struggling with english. In my classroom there are a total of four english language learners, one monolingual spanish speaking students and the rest are ELD. Usually when the teacher is explaining a lesson I sit and explain in depth and with more examples to the ELL’s. While we do reader's workshop I work with them on their sight words and have them read to a buddy. When the students practice reading I have them coach each other if they don't know a word. When i sit with them to
Step 1: In the case study, “Two Moms”, there are multiple problems brought up. The first problem is Denise, a student with two moms, is getting picked on by her classmates. The second problem is the teacher, Ms. Ribiero, is not sure how to bring up hard topics in her classroom, such as homosexuality, and the different ways families can look. The third problem is the backlash received from the parents.
She also notes the difference between academia language also known as CALPS: cognitive academic language proficiency and meaningful language - BICS: basic interpersonal communication skills. She mentions how academic language requires more comprehension of the language than interpersonal language; which is more informal and contextual. She also illustrates the importance of treating students for who they are going to become, not the by the fact that they are struggling. A methodology that is represented throughout the book that illustrates the ways teachers can accommodate their language learning students is with scaffolding. Scaffolding is a variety of instructional techniques that are used to assist students to move towards a better understanding of the content and towards independence when it comes to their learning processes. The teacher provides a form of temporary support that will assist the students reach increased levels of understanding and skills acquisition that would not be achievable without aid. All in all, this book will be great for all K-12 teachers and professors; but, I did not review this book because I already did a book review for this book in a different course and it would not widen my prospects of learning more about special
Diverse cultures within the United States are rapidly developing and growing and the educational sector is the number one target to ensure that English –learners are receiving adequate education. Within the educational sector there are administrators and teachers who are involved in students lives on a daily basis to ensure that education is equal. In order to achieve the vital objective of equality, socio-cultural influences on ELL students, bilingualism and home language use, parental and community resources, and partnerships between families and schools all have to be considered to provide an opportunity for equal education.
The second classroom I observed was a first grade class of twenty-five students. Students in this class were all of Mexican descent and labeled as early intermediate English language learners. The
When trying to communicate diversity issues with parents about certain needs in your class for their child may be difficult. Especially, when trying to communicate among parents of ELL (English language learners) and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students. Some of the difficulties you may run into are language barriers, misunderstanding of dialect, offensive gestures, and even frustration. As teachers when need to keep a cool head on our shoulders and approach this situation with a positive attitude, a plan, and a great expectation of the outcome.
The article Principles and Practices of Sociocultural Assessment: Foundations for Effective Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms, is written to inform the readers about different types of practices that teachers can take into action when working with ESL students. In this article, it mentions how different principals help to accommodate the ESL students. One of the principals that was mentioned was is that learning is social. In the article, it was mentioned that learning is social because it helps students to understand and use interaction with others to share meaning in a social setting (Smith, Teemant, & Pinnegar, 2004, P. 39). In the article, another principal that helps ESL students is that teaching is assisting. The meaning
During the 1990s the immigrant population expanded quickly and by a large amount. According to Eggen and Kauchak (2007) “experts estimate that by the year 2020 two thirds of the school population will be African American, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American. This means there will be great cultural diversity in our society and in our schools.” Educators will need to be educated on how to teach in a diverse classroom. Teachers will need to have an understanding for English-language learning children and the way they learn. All educators must be able to teach ELL students while encouraging them to continue to use their native language while learning to speak English. Teachers must also remember to try to keep all families