Esl Classroom Observation

The teacher demonstrated her patience by helping the student with his presentation and not hurrying him or making it seem like she was just ready to get it over with. I also learned that students respond to positive emotions sent their way. Another one of the things that I thought she did that was important was changing her lesson so that the students that were not interacting with other students on their own could feel included. I believe that may be the most important of all the aspects of the emotional regulation she chose to use. I know I will definitely be using her “student artwork” idea throughout my classroom as well as having a calendar to celebrate student birthdays so as to not make any feel left out. Overall I enjoyed this observation because I related to it some with my past and I know if I had a teacher like her in my life, I may have developed differently in a more positive light. The reason why I want to be a teacher is to make a difference in children’s lives just like my observation teacher has done in her classroom and continues to do every

Good, M. E., Masewicz, S., & Vogel, L. (2010). Latino English language learners: Bridging achievement and cultural gaps between schools and families. Journal of Latinos & Education, 9(4), 321-39. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2010.491048

Based on the observation, yes the student were aware on the language and content that was being used to access the activity. The children were asking questions and observing the examples giving to do the activity lesson; and there were assistant when they had difficulties. During the lesson there were a few children who needed more help trying to figure out what to do; because they were not getting it. The language the teacher used and the content was clear and consist of every detail, to understand what she was teaching and what she wanted them to learn.

I propose to you a case study on a pre-kindergarten English language learning student through qualitative research. My goal was to find out if he faces any problems with regards to his behavior, academic progress and attitudes towards his teachers, classmates and parents. His name is David and just recently came to the United States from Russia about two years ago. He has a complicated time understanding what goes on in his environment because of the language barrier. The one positive aspect for David is that my assistant in the class is Russian as well. Even though he has a hardship speaking the English language and understanding his peers, my assistant helps translate words from Russian to English for him and vice versa.

According to Gleason and Ratner (2013), “In the United States, the proportion of children who are raised learning more than one language is estimated to be about 20 percent, with Spanish becoming the most common second language (Gleason & Ratner, 2013, p. 75). My interview this week was with a teacher, Mrs. T, who teaches young English learners. Mrs. T teaches children who are in the first grade. Because the school has a growing Hispanic population, the native language of the children she teaches is Spanish. The interview took place in her classroom during the last hour of the school day. I observed as she worked with one of her students in particular who seems to

The Hispanic population is one of the fastest-growing minority populations in the United States. Despite their growing number and the great strides taken to narrow the academic gap, students learning English as a second language remain among the most educationally disadvantaged groups in the country. Madrid states that, “poor academic achievement of Latino students is indicative of a complex, multifaceted problem that must be addressed because as the Latino student population continues to grow, their poor achievement especially in mathematics and reading has significant implications not only for California’s public educational system, but also for the state’s and nation’s social, political, and economic future.”(2011). Schools across the country, both those that have served Hispanic students for many years and those that have new and growing populations, must take steps to improve the likelihood that Hispanic students reach the same high standards expected of all students.

I interviewed an Instructional Aide that I work with at Cottonwood Elementary. Her name is Marcela and she works with the Kindergartners. She moved from Argentina to New York when she was 3 years old and her first language was Spanish. Her mother put her in preschool when she turned 5, to help her learn English. Marcela shared with me that when she went to school she felt very sad, disconnected and was constantly looking for other children that spoke Spanish. She did find a girl who spoke Spanish and she became “buddies’ with her. The girl that she befriended would help her by translating everything the teacher would say, which was all in English. Marcela said she was speaking English by Kindergarten, but she must have had a strong accent because they put in her in speech

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.

Education in the New Latino Diaspora also discusses how language barriers can occur within the schools. Yolanda told me that she experienced language barriers here plenty of times. While her daughters have the advantage of being native English speakers, Yolanda does not. The reading states, “In some places, growth of the new Latino diaspora helps explain the proliferation of classroom trailers and the shortage of teachers, particularly those trained in TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages)” (Hamann and Harklau, page 160)

To often the teachers don't realize that language is just part of a greater culture. So they miss the point that understanding the complete culture of the students they are teaching needs to be comprehended. I would say, especially when dealing with ELL students who are very new in the USA. The teachers can confuse the lack of interference is a lack of interest, when actually the Hispanic culture values education a great deal and those who teach it. They see the teacher as the specialist and therefore respect that teacher’s decision almost explicitly. They also confuse what appears their lack of time for their children's schooling as a lack of interest in the student’s education. They work very long hours and end up showing up at off hours due to their challenging work schedules. However, if they send an older brother or uncle or grandparent in their place they are saying I am engaged though it may not appear so to the Anglo teacher. The item that will get them to respond more quickly

Ms. Tavarez’s parents’ native language is Spanish. When her parents moved to the U.S, they tried their best to learn and speak English, but it was much more comfortable to speak Spanish. Also, their neighborhood and restaurants they frequent did not require much the usage of English.

I think about students that come into our schools straight from Mexico. We cannot expect them to just read, write, and speak in English. As educators, we have to help them by scaffolding the language for them and work with them to become proficient in English. Gutek (2013) wrote, “The justices stated that “basic English skills are necessary to children to participate in the public school educational program; children who do not understand English will find their classroom experiences wholly incomprehensible and in no way meaningful.” (p.

Conducting classroom observations are very important to the prospective teacher. Observing helps show how experienced teachers manage their classroom. For this observation it was important to notice how the classroom was arranged, how the teacher interacted with the students, the teacher’s management style, and interview the teacher.

From experience, working in different districts where there has been an increase of Latino students in the classrooms as well as my own experience in my education I can see where Latino students can be overrepresented as well as underrepresented. I want to focus on what I experienced, which also reminded me as I read the chapter on cultural and linguistic diversity by Nicole Patton Terry and Miles Anthony Irving. From my experience, and experience of students I worked with, when parents fill out registration forms for school in elementary and are asked what language they speak at home. Parents who pick other languages other than English, their students are automatically placed in ESL or ELL program at their school. Some schools handle this differently. There are school who will pull the students often from the classroom, which was my case growing up. At

Watching videos in English. As observed, they are keen on this activity. At the end of every class they were shown a video about the vocabulary presented in the lesson. Videos often include songs, personally I think it is a good combination between visual and audio materials.