This week was my first week in a middle school classroom. I was placed in an EL classroom with 8th grade students. While I was sure that I was prepared for anything that I would encounter there in theory, the reality was a very different picture. When confronted with the students actual English proficiency levels I was surprised to see most of the students preforming at a third grade reading level maybe fourth grade. I worked with two students pretty specifically and from my short time working with them I was able to diagnose some of the problems having to do with vocabulary in the readings they were doing.
This worked out kind of conveniently because this week in class we have been focusing on vocabulary strategies. If there is one thing I have learned from this week of teaching one-on-one, it is that you can learn everything possible about pedagogical strategies but when it comes to reality and actually helping students - a teacher must use everything she/he has in the arsenal.
I found myself relying on strategies that I learned to use with elementary students. Relying on resources like dictionaries and computer games are not enough for these EL students. While they are good for backing up instruction with practice, one thing I learned is that nothing can beat direct instruction one-on-one. One student I have worked with for two days now, is starting to trust me and actually asking me questions on vocab. I found that building that trust with the student is necessary in order to properly teach the student and this goes for every student. It doesn't matter where they are from, what school they go to, or how old they are, every student wants to be heard and I am going to try and make every student feel that way.
This week I have been brainstorming activities to use while working with students on vocabulary in this ELL classroom. I have decided that highlighters will be my best friend for the next few weeks. It is easy for me to try and pick out which words students will struggle with but my choices are never going to be 100% accurate. I have the luxury of working with these students one-on-one and am able to create specialized groupings of words for each of them. I want to use this time to the best of my abilities. I am going to attempt to specialize my instruction to each of these students in hopes that we can find a way in which in of them learn best.
This practicum has already opened my eyes to the struggles and triumphs of an EL classroom and I am very excited to see in what other directions this practicum will take me!
I also found that trust is super important while working with students. Some students will warm up to you faster than others, but one just has to be patient and figure out how to create that trust. I could also directly use what we learned during middle level class to help students. We are so lucky to be able to have such great instruction and an opportunity at a school to utilize these strategies.
ReplyDeleteI always think of what I would do if I was in the teacher's situation. Clearly, the teachers are passing on the students because they don't want to deal with them for another year. However, I don't think that this is helping out the children at all. I know that I would have a tough time telling any student that they should repeat a grade, but I think that it is necessary sometimes for teachers to hold students back.
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