ELL Placement
As a sophomore in college, I haven't had much experience with teaching in an actual classroom setting, so when I heard that I'm going to be tutoring an ELL student once a week throughout the semester was definitely exciting and anxiety-inducing!
Last Thursday, I had my first experience working with a class. Originally, a group of three students were planning to go to our school district and aid learners in writing; however, Wednesday was a snow day in the school district, so teachers and students alike were frantically redesigning the schedule. Instead of writing help, we were allowed to sit in on "Literature discussions" in which students are in groups with about seven other students in grades five through eight and they discuss the book their group is reading. This was a really interesting and informative process as we were able to observe the coordination and planning that goes into teaching.
While snow days as a student are fun, as a teacher, the stress increases as the snow increases! It was apparent that the various teachers were scrambling to adjust the schedule while also guiding the three of us on where to go, and directing the students on what to do. Flexibility is essential to having a productive and efficient classroom. I think that the teachers handled the changes with grace and were able to seamlessly transition from the original plan into a modified version.
My second visit to my placement allowed me to work with the students on a more personal level. I sat in on a fifth and sixth grade classroom. There were two English Language Learners in the classroom I was in, but they did not need our help. Surprisingly, the students who do not speak English at home were the students with the best vocabulary and writing skills. This definitely surprised me because I was expecting to work with a student who needed help with writing and grammar, but what I found was that the other students, the native English speakers, needed more help than the students in the ELL program.
One of the challenges the native English speakers faced was the aid of technology. They relied on autocorrect to fix their spelling and grammar mistakes, so they did not actually understand how to fix them. Because each student has a Chrome book, they rarely have to think about their word choice because technology does it for them. I think that this will be an interesting challenge as we move forward throughout the semester and hopefully allow the students to grow in their writing skills.
This was definitely an eye-opening experience and I will continue to adjust my help based on the students I work with each week as I will be moving around rather than working with the same student every week.
Last Thursday, I had my first experience working with a class. Originally, a group of three students were planning to go to our school district and aid learners in writing; however, Wednesday was a snow day in the school district, so teachers and students alike were frantically redesigning the schedule. Instead of writing help, we were allowed to sit in on "Literature discussions" in which students are in groups with about seven other students in grades five through eight and they discuss the book their group is reading. This was a really interesting and informative process as we were able to observe the coordination and planning that goes into teaching.
While snow days as a student are fun, as a teacher, the stress increases as the snow increases! It was apparent that the various teachers were scrambling to adjust the schedule while also guiding the three of us on where to go, and directing the students on what to do. Flexibility is essential to having a productive and efficient classroom. I think that the teachers handled the changes with grace and were able to seamlessly transition from the original plan into a modified version.
My second visit to my placement allowed me to work with the students on a more personal level. I sat in on a fifth and sixth grade classroom. There were two English Language Learners in the classroom I was in, but they did not need our help. Surprisingly, the students who do not speak English at home were the students with the best vocabulary and writing skills. This definitely surprised me because I was expecting to work with a student who needed help with writing and grammar, but what I found was that the other students, the native English speakers, needed more help than the students in the ELL program.
One of the challenges the native English speakers faced was the aid of technology. They relied on autocorrect to fix their spelling and grammar mistakes, so they did not actually understand how to fix them. Because each student has a Chrome book, they rarely have to think about their word choice because technology does it for them. I think that this will be an interesting challenge as we move forward throughout the semester and hopefully allow the students to grow in their writing skills.
This was definitely an eye-opening experience and I will continue to adjust my help based on the students I work with each week as I will be moving around rather than working with the same student every week.
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