Final Reflection

Personal Philosophy and Major Learnings

                For the final post of the class, I would like to reflect on my developing understanding of teaching English language learners and how my personal philosophy has developed and reinforced. The most rewarding part of the class has been realizing that the key elements that make great instruction for ELLs has been the same principles that I have been taught over the course of my teaching career and use in the classroom. The components that should be incorporated with ELL students, I believe, should be used with all students. It is just good instruction and can help any student with their learning.

                I did learn the stages of a second language acquisition and the characteristics of each stage. This knowledge was new to me and now I know why it is so important to know where ELL students fall into the stages. I also appreciate and found very useful the different resources we created or obtained during the course. Create the spelling guide for parents and the graphic organizers were useful and already used in my own classroom.

                Finally, this class has helped me deepen my philosophy of teaching English language learners. I believe the students deserve the best instruction we can provide them and it is our responsibility to incorporate the following elements in our classrooms:

                -objectives

                -nonlinguistic representations

                -feedback

                -self-reflections

                -graphic organizers

                -cooperative learning

                -differentiated assignments, assessments, and homework

                -instruction driven by assessment data

                -Classroom Talk

                -Developing background knowledge and vocabulary

                -higher-order questioning and thinking skills

                -hands-on activities    

                -engaging and interactive lessons

Running Records

Personal Experience

                For the personal experience of conducting running records, I wanted to practice with a different grade level then I normally test. I pick a first grade classroom that is very diverse and has multiple English language learners. I conducted the oral reading fluency for the whole class and also conducted the nonsense portion for the ELL students using DIBELS. I kept track of errors to be able to do an analysis on the miscues for meaning and syntax.

                The whole experience was very different compared to testing and analyzing fifth grade data. The younger student made many more errors than the older students. Some of the ELL students were difficult to understand at times because of their pronunciation of some of the words. Endings were a common error among the ELLs and differentiating between the different vowels also was very prevalent in the results.     

In Class Observations and Instruction

                The in class observations with our guest speakers was also very enlightening. Many of the same findings from my personal experience were the same as the ones observed in class. The pronunciations varied greatly depending on the individual students. All the students also had the same errors with ending sounds and vowel combinations. A lack of background knowledge was visible in the observations for class. Students did not have the vocabulary to support their understanding of the text, which interfered with their fluency.

Recommendations

To build background knowledge and vocabulary, a teacher could use picture cards with the word and the picture on the card. A lesson would need to be done to explain each word, its meaning, and examples. If the word can be related to a word in their culture, that would be very helpful. Practicing segmenting words would help with the ending sounds. Students need to practice reading the whole word and segmenting and blending can help with this. A vowel lesson on rule and practice with lots of repetition will be very valuable for the vowel errors.

Homework

             Homework and independent assignments should be used as a tool to reinforce and practice the concepts developed in class. Allowing student the time to apply their knowledge and extend their learning will allow students to develop the concepts and skills taught in the classroom.

 Homework should never be new skills never practiced in the classroom. It is much harder to teach students to undo bad habits developed through faulty practicing, then to teach the concept right the first time. It is also important that all homework is meaningful and not just assigned to give homework. A student can demonstrate their knowledge of a concept by doing five to six problems. For example, it does not take thirty problems a night for a student to demonstrate what they know. If a student goes home and practices a skill wrong for thirty problems, they will develop bad habits. Less is more in this case.

Meaningful homework should be differentiated for all the students and allow the students to apply their knowledge they have already developed. Teaching fifth grade, I believe that all students should be reading every night. The text should be at their independent level. Students also need to have a purpose for reading. Completing reading logs every night based on a skill learned in the classroom will set this purpose for the students. For the ELL students, the reading log can be composed of graphic organizers to help organize their information. Visuals on the graphic organizers will also help support their understanding of the different reading skills. The key to all of this will be to model what is expected from the students and what a proficient reading log looks like.

Along with reading, student can have a variety of problems that are from any of the other subjects, but all the problems need to have an example for how to complete it and should never be more than five or six problems for each topic. At a fifth grade level, students should not have more than an hour homework, which included the thirty minutes of reading. The objective for any homework sent home is to apply their skills and demonstrate their learning. Most of my students do not have access to a computer, but for the ones that do, I encourage using it to support their learning. Students have an account with the math program my school has, which allows them to practice their skills online. Technology can be a wonderful tool if students have access to it.  

Students need to have feedback about their homework nightly. First thing in the morning, I will grade the homework and discuss any issues or how to improve on each assignment. Students also get to track their progress on a homework chart that charts their points and each night students give themselves an effort grade. Self monitoring one’s own learning is very powerful.  

Graphic Organizer for Expository and Narrative Texts

The graphic organizer that I created combines the two types of reading genres into one organizer. Having both types on one page will allow for the English language learner to compare and contrast both types of writing. I used the terms expository and narrative for the two types of genres because those are the labels that I want the students become familiar with in the fifth grade. The only element that is the same for both genres is author's purpose. Students in fifth grade need to be able to identify the author's purpose of any text. 

The expository side of the graphic organizer just focuses on finding the main idea of a text by identifying three important details. I limited the expository text just to these comprehension skill because it always seems to be very challenging for all students not just English language learners to find the main idea of a text.

The narrative part of the graphic organizer has the following elements:
-characters
-setting
-problem
-beginning
-middle
-end/solution
All of these elements are important for any student to identify within a narrative text. Breaking down these basic components will help the students develop their comprehension of the text. The challenging piece that might arise is making sure the students have the understanding of the basic vocabulary used in the graphic organizer.

Sheltered Instruction

Sheltered English instruction is a set of components to help teachers scaffold learning for ELL students, build background knowledge, and connect new content to students’ prior knowledge. Sheltered instruction makes grade-level academic content more understandable for ELL students, while at the same time helps promotes English language development. There are eight essential components that help teachers guide their instruction and lesson planning. The eight components are:

·         Preparation  - stating the student friendly objective and use meaningful activities in the lesson

·         Building Background Knowledge – linking new concepts to prior knowledge and directly teaching new vocabulary

·         Comprehensible Input – clearly explain tasks/directions and use a variety of techniques

·         Strategies – students use multiple strategies, higher level questioning, and teacher scaffolds the techniques

·         Interaction – cooperative learning, predetermined grouping, and wait time for the students to process and respond

·         Practice and Application – multiple materials and manipulative and integrate all language skills

·         Lesson Delivery – engaging students 90-100% of the time and support objectives

·         Review and Assessment – assess on vocabulary and key content concepts, and provide students with feedback on their performance

During my four years of teaching, I feel like all of these components are just essentials to being a great teacher and supporting all students’ needs. I the district that I am teaching in, most of these elements are required of all teachers and need to be present for any lesson. Objectives are always posted in student friendly language and referred back to during and at the end of the lesson. All students can benefit from having the new concepts connected to their prior knowledge and having many types of strategies used in a lesson. Every student has their own learning style. Assessment is a vital part of both the teacher and the student. I our district we have DOL or demonstrations of learning at the end of every lesson. The teacher can quickly assess what students understood the material and what students need to have a re-teach lesson. Students are also able to monitor their own learning too.

After watching a sheltered lesson found on TeacherTube.com, I was also able to observe all the eight components being used in one lesson. The lesson being taught was a math lesson about patterns. The teacher clearly stated the objective and stated off build accessing all the students’ background knowledge.  The teacher asked the students where they see patterns in the real world and also showed some examples of patterns she found. The students used hands on manipulative during the lesson and all key vocabulary was stated with a student friendly definition and a picture to accompany it. When a student solved a patter, the teacher used higher level questioning to make sure the student clearly understood how they can to their answer. The students also worked cooperatively in groups and with partners during part of the lesson. At the end, the students were assessed on their gained knowledge. The teacher walked around the room and gave immediate feedback for all the students. Sheltered instruction in my opinion is just great instruction that can benefit any student.  

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/mc-principles.shtml#compon

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum/biling/teares-sims-sioipovTOT.pdf

http://www.brocktonpublicschools.com/page.cfm?p=1259

http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=34815&title=New_Instructional_Model_Helps_English_Learners_Succeed

Learning vs. Acquisition

Entry Six

Learning/word recognition (L) or Acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic (A) for Some Activities

The Student:
L - Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
A - Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
L - Practice sounding out words
L - Read in round-robin fashion
A - Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
L and A -Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
L and A -Group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
A - Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings from the same sound
L - Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know
A - Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
L - Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
L - Divide words into syllables
L - On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound
A - Make alphabet books on different topics

The Teacher:
L - Preteaches vocabulary
A - Does a shared reading with a big book
L - Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
L- Has students segment words into phonemes
A - Writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words
A- asks student to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
L - Uses decodable texts
A - Sets aside time for SSR
L - Teaches Latin and Greek roots
A - Has students meet in literature circles
L - Conducts phonics drills
L and A -chooses predictable texts
L and A - Teachers students different comprehension strategies
A - Does a picture walk for a new book
L - Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

Explanation:
      Learning and word recognition views are beliefs that combine the idea that learning the written language must be learned and that students must identify words to get the meaning of a text and students need to be directly taught how to produce a well written piece of writing. Both begin with the parts of each area and build upon those individual parts. Students start with learning the phonics rules to sound out words and start with the basic parts of forming words to build into writing a whole text. The teacher directly teaches the students the concepts that need to be achieved and the teacher will also correct each piece of writing for the students and orally help students when learning to identify a word. The teacher plays a large role in instruction and the success of the students for the learning and word recognition learning views.
      Acquisition and sociopsycholinguistics view, on the other hand, give more power to the students for their learning. These views believe that learning language is innate and can be acquired by all students. They believe that readers us their background knowledge to construct meaning from the text. Oral language is acquired by focusing on the meaning of the text and the students study word parts only during linguistic investigation. The teacher places more of the responsibility on the students by teaching the strategies for comprehension and peers also help when it comes to editing and developing a piece of writing. The focus is not just on the teacher. During writing, these views take on the writer's workshop instructional places where students have choices about what is written, conferencing provides feedback, and the teacher uses mini lessons to help the students meet their needs.

Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Writing and Second Language Acquisition. In L. Bridges (Ed.), Essential Linguistics: What you Need to Know to Teach  (pp. 23-48). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Children's Books

Entry Five
The Great Fuzzy Frenzy, by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
This children's book is a wonderful example of all six traits for writing. The figurative language and voice in the story are excitement examples for students to have as a model for their own writing. The four areas that might be an issue for ESL learners are some of the vocabulary, figurative language, text structure, and the dialogue. All of these areas would need to be scaffold for the students before the reading and some during. It would be important to pre-teach some of the vocabulary words with real life examples or even models. For example, fuzzy is a word that you could have the students touch a tennis ball to feel what fuzzy meant. Figurative language can be a difficult skill for ESL learners because it cannot be taken literally. It would be important for the teacher to explain that these terms are meant only to create a visual picture for the reader and not a literal definition. The text structure is very unique. The font is different sizes for a specific reason and the text also bounces around the page. Explaining to the students that this was done for a specific reason and explaining why will help them develop an understanding of text structures. This could take place during the read aloud.

Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg
          Zathura is a science fiction story. Again ESL students can have difficulties with ideas that are not literal or are not real life. The first component would be to go over elements of a science fiction story. The illustrations are a key aspect to the comprehension of the story. Helping the students to make that connection from the pictures to the text is a key element. You could discuss how the author uses imagery to create a picture like the illustrations but using words. Drawing conclusions is a major element in the story. This is an inferring skill that ESL students need help to develop. Finally, I would make sure to cover the different literacy devices used during the story. While reading I would make sure to draw the students attention on how the author created suspense and humor.

Text Comprehension

Entry Four
     After choosing a text book about computer programing, I tried to sit down and comprehend the text and the meaning. After just the first two paragraphs I was lost and asking for help. I lacked the background knowledge and vocabulary to be able to relate the text to my own knowledge.
     i tried the approach of looking of the definitions of the words that I did not understand, but that led to definitions that I did not understand. I even tried looking up on the Internet computer programming for dummies to help give me at least a starting point. I was unable to find the material I needed. Finally I had to go to the person that owned the book and get an explanation. He even had to demonstrate using a computer because I am a visual learner.
    As teachers, it is important for us to remember that our students might not have the background knowledge to be able to comprehend a text so it is important we always pre-assess for background knowledge. It is also vital we take into account the different types of learners. We need to make sure we are meeting all of our students' needs. Finally, we also need to teach comprehension strategies for when students do get stuck and don't have anyone to help them. They need to be able to have some independence.

Oral Language and The Reading Process

Entry Three
      Reading Process                                                Oral Language Process
-Making connections                                       -three components: the phonological, semantic, and syntactic
-Story Structure                                               -babbling, first words, sentences
-Picture and story connection                           -positive renforcements
-Early print reading                                           - natural learning process
-Early strategic reading                                            
-Self monitoring                                                     

Writing Instruction

Entry Two:
     After receiving many classes about writing instruction over the course of our masters, the way I perceive writing has grown and deepen. I believe that writing instruction has two vital components. First, students need to have the opportunity to explore with their own writing. Writing should be a task that students find enjoyable and not just another assignment. Teachers need to help develop or cultivate that passion for writing. Allowing for writer's workshop, free writing, and celebrating each child's successes is a vital part of this process.
    Next, after allowing students to have freedom with their writing, I believe that they also need to have lots and lots of modeling from the teacher and from their peers. As a teacher, I model every step of the writing process with the students. It is so important that they understand what is expected for them. Modeling is also very vital for your second language learners. They need a visual example to follow as they learn to find their own voices.

Philosophies of Teaching Literacy

Entry One:
      After discussing our philosophies of teacher, Mr. Howll and I agree on most points. Teaching literacy has to be a partnership between the teacher and the parents. Ideally literacy starts at home beginning at birth. Patents need to expose children to a wide range of literacy even before entering school. Talking and having meaningful conversations with their children will also provide an opportunity for language, vocabulary, comprehension, and background knowledge development/growth.
     At school, teachers need to provide students with a literacy rich environment. Students need to have the opportunity to explore texts and hear fluent reading. The five components of reading are a must when it comes to any well developed literacy program. Teachers also need to assess students knowledge to drive instruction and scaffold whenever needed.