I enjoyed my interview with Ms. Zacarias. She provided a lot of information about ELL students as an ELL teacher. Teachers with ELL students must use different strategies to help their students in the classroom. According to Wright (2015), all teachers share in the responsibility of meeting the language and academic needs of ELLs. So it is really important to know the successful strategies to help students. Ms. Zacarias did a wonderful explanation of successful strategies to help students. Some of the successful strategies she mentions are more visuals, more think time, and more collaboration.
Visuals are really important to help students to recognize the meaning of the content while they learn the language. Therefore, teachers need to think about what types of pictures and anchor charts to display for the students to help them understand the content. Teachers need to think about how they can provide more opportunities for visuals. The teacher can use visuals to help build background knowledge of content.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Zacarias. (2019, April 3). Interview [Personal interview].
According to Wright (2015), extra time is an accommodation used on students to help them on the test. As Ms. Zacarias mentioned, ELL students need more time and collaboration to be successful. Therefore, it is important to provide opportunities to use the think pair share strategy with the students. Students just need to receive extra time so they can read and make connections. Then, the students can discuss with their peers to help them develop their understanding.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Zacarias. (2019, April 3). Interview [Personal interview].
Hello Tiffany, I liked that you were able to interview someone with so much experience in the ESL field. Her view that content should not be dumbed down or slowed down really shows that she cares for her students. The strategies that she mentions, such as showing pictures, is something that wright and our class has always put a big focus on. Hearing her tell the story of how students who just came to the country don’t have the same experiences as non-esl students really highlights the difficulty of teaching ESL students because we can never assume that they will know what we are talking about. “Choose texts with illustrations that your students will enjoy and that will expand their understanding.” (Wright, 2015, p. 183)
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hey Rusty, I agree with your statement that teachers should not have to “dumb down” the content. According to Wright (2015), outlines and graphic organizers can help them [ELL students] identify the main ideas and information. Therefore, it is better to provide different ways to showcase the information instead of breaking it down. Students need more graphic materials to connect the abstract concepts to the pictorial models. Pictorial models allow students to make connection without words. It can help create more background knowledge for the students. The students will get a better sense of the information by taking over their learning.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteSomething that stood out from your interview was that Ms. Zacarias taught in a school were a transitional bilingual education program was used. Wright (2015) states that these programs tend to follow an assimilationist discourse that sometimes mainstreams children before they are ready. What was great to hear, however, was how committed Ms. Zacarias seemed to be to getting her ELL students to comprehend what she taught. By providing visual aids and extra time instead of “dumbing down” the material, as Ms. Zacarias put it, she ensured that her students were getting the help and accommodations she saw they needed.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.
Hi Cecilia, it is important to not get behind the assimilation ideology. According to Wright (2015), the assimilation ideology is when immigrants to the United States willingly abandon their language and culture. This ideology will cause problems because students may feel that they do not belong in society. Therefore, teachers should not support the ideology, but they should encourage acculturation. The teachers can support collaboration within the students to create connections. Then, the students can see the similarities and differences between each other, so they can create new identities in the new environment.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Tiffany,
DeleteI definitely agree that teachers should avoid assimilationist views. Not only will avoiding this create connections like you mentioned, but it will also allow students to grow in the classroom. As Wright (2015) mentions, knowing our students’ home language allows us to provide primary language support that can speed up the development of their English and academic instruction skills. By supporting English language learners through acceptance of their cultural background we are promoting their development in both their home language and English.
Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.
Hi Tiffany, I really enjoyed your video! I really liked the point that Ms. Zacarias made when she said that the students need to collaborate with their peers. According to Wright, the students benefit a lot from small group interactions with their peers because it gives them a chance to practice in a comfortable environment (Wright, 2015, pp.157). Talking to their peers also gives them a chance to bounce ideas and strategies off of each other and debate different answers they may be getting. After watching the video, I can tell she really cares about her students and their academic success by the way that she is always thinking of ways to keep them motivated in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hello Emily, I agree with your statement that students need to collaborate with their peers. According to Wright (2015), an example of collaboration is shared reading. Shared reading allow students to use text closer tot he reading ability and getting them involve. This technique allow the teacher to build a community of readers were students can discuss their ideas from the book with each other. Therefore, the students will have a bigger comprehension of the book. The teacher can ask questions about the book for comprehension. The students can express their different ideas.
DeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.