BLOG ENTRY 3 "ELL TEACHER INTERVIEW"
I wanted to compare three different point of views on the same questions for my interviews.
For my 3rd Video Blog Entry I wanted to see what different opinions three ELL Elementary school teachers had to say for the same three questions. I do apologize for background noise I tried to do the interviews when the teachers weren't as busy.
First I started with Ms. Curbow in which I was actually a student in her class as a pre-kinder. Ms. Curbow's class consists mainly of Spanish speakers. Ms. Curbow loves teaching and working with her students parents. Ms. Curbow says being patient is a main concept for any future ELL teacher coming into the field.
For my second interview I went to Ms. Hawson who teaches Pre-kinder as well. Ms. Hawson much like I stated in my previous blog says one of the challenges is learning the alphabet in both languages. Ms. Hawson likes working with ELL's because she likes to see the progress towards the end of the year build up as a result of working year long to help the students learn English. Ms. Hawson advice was to "Try to enjoy it" and to do a lot of integrating in the class and having the literature along with the science, social studies and Singing as the students don't feel as pressured and they are picking up the rhythm of the language.
Finally the 3rd Teacher I interviewed was Mr. Carvajal who also teaches pre-kinder. Mr. Carvajal says he has many students from Latin countries Ex:( Mexico, Salvador,Panama) and most of their parents also don't speak English, so these students would be considered sequential bilinguals as Wright suggests (Wright, 2015). Mr. Carvajal likes working with his ELL students because he likes to see how they improve their language skills everyday. His advice is to work with parents to help the children learn much better and also knowing about your students background "social economic status" and being patient as well. Since he mentions this information about their cultural backgrounds to help engage with the children as Wright suggests (Wright, 2015, p. 55,56).
Wright, E. W. (2015). Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Caslon Publishing.
Hi Jesus! Like some of Mr. Carvajal's students I am El Salvadorian and am a sequential bilingual. Although my parents knew some English I grew up learning Spanish as my first language and didn't really start speaking or learning English until I started attending school, pre- k. I strongly agree with Mr. Carvajal about getting to know your students background. Wright has even mentioned in the text about how it is important for teachers to know a student’s ethnicity and country of origin (2015). I feel that knowing where your students are from and actually taking the time to connect with them builds great student teacher relationships. This also makes the student feel like his teacher actually cares and wants him to succeed. Teaching is all about building relationships!
ReplyDeleteHi Emely! Thank you for your input on my video, I also agree with your view on getting to know your students background. This help us as future educators to get to know the child, and be prepared to connect with them through their background information. This makes the child feel safer in a way since you're talking and engaging with him/her through his experiences and thus the child will be more likely to learn since he/she will want to come back and learn excited. In Wright's text it says, "To help students succeed in the classroom and in school, teachers need to "think linguistically", that is, teachers need to understand language as an integral element in the content they teach, the contributions that their students make in the classroom, and how these students participate in lessons and activities" (Wright, 2015). Also like you mention this makes the student feel like the teacher actually cares about him to succeed because we do, we want all students to have a great learning experience.
DeleteWright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hi Jesus,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you interviewed three different teachers to get a significant amount of opinions and research. I agree with Mr. Carvajal and his advice to work with parents as well as to help student learn and engage about their backgrounds. It is important to make sure that students are being taught to embrace their cultures and know that it is alright to have both aspects. It is great to know your background and learn a new language. It seems that Mr. Carvajal thrives for "additive bilingualism" (Wright, 2015), because it isn't his goal to make the students forget their language or who they are, but it is to help and work with students in a new language.
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hi simrah! Glad to see you enjoyed the video Interview, I thought It would be interesting to see different opinions from three teachers. I also agree on your view on how Mr. Carvajal's advice is all about engaging with the students through their background, we need to help the students learn and embrace their roots because that's who they are and they should be proud of it. By doing so the students feel safe in their class room environment as Wright states, "The teacher's job is to provide comprehensible input in a safe and enjoyable classroom environment." (Wright, 61.) Learning a new language for a child can seem hard at first but with scaffolding and persistence from the teacher we will slowly work with students on learning English and keeping their native language Spanish intact so they understand both languages.
DeleteWright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hey Jesus!
ReplyDeleteI really think this was a great video well thought out you got different opinions and perspectives. I think you got more than enough insight from different teachers. Ms. Hawson mentions how some of the struggles she faces is trying to teach the students in both languages, “dual language programs aim to develop bilingualism and biliteracy, academic achievement in two languages, and cross-cultural understanding.” (Wright, 2015). I can see how a student could find school more challenging I also speak from experience learning the same material in both languages is very hard to do. Both frustrating to the student who is trying and for the teacher who is trying to help the student move forward.
Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hi Hilian, glad you enjoyed my video I was trying to see the mix of opinions from all three teachers. I also agree with you on how Ms. Hawson says that some of the struggles is to teach the students in both languages, since the student already feel slightly overwhelmed with being in school and learning now, add that they are learning English now they have more tasks to do in a whole new language being taught to them. I also know what that is like since I had to go through that, learning English in Elementary through a reading induced program with many tools to help us learn the language while keeping our native one intact. (Wright, 2015) mentions that “the purpose of primary language support is to make instruction in English as comprehensible as possible for ELL's so they can learn the content and acquire more English.
DeleteWright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.
Hi Jesus,
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed watching your video. I appreciate that you took the effort to interview three different teachers to get multiple point of views on how different teachers approach their English language students. The teachers you interviewed show to be passionate about what they do, I believe it is this way because they can relate to the struggles their students are having. One teacher mentioned her students struggle mainly with learning two languages at once being that her students are so young in age. I believe she is practicing “additive bilingualism” being that she wants her students to acquire a second language while maintaining their native one (Wright 2015).
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.