Response to Andrea Simmonds-Wong chapter 2

Response to Andrea Simmonds-Wong chapter 2

 I agree with you that the more we get to know our students the easier it is to meet their needs. I teach a SH K-6th special education class and my students stay in my class for years. The one thing I love is that I get to know my students and their families. It helps knowing their culture and experiences to teach them. I think we do need to provide are students with so much more than just teaching standards

Response to Hayward

Response to Hayward Chapter 11

I found the recitation pattern to be very interesting. I observed a classroom that used this method and found that most of the students were engaged in the lesson. My only concern was that the same three students were raising their hand to respond. I was wondering if that was other teacher’s experiences. Reading you example about your students matched what I observed in this classroom. I am sure it a wonderful teaching method but I think it's important to figure out a way for all students to participate in the lesson.

Response to Hayward Chapter 8

I agree with you I think that drama is a great way for all students to learn. It gives them a relaxed atmosphere to speak in. I am a SH special education teacher and all of my students are nonverbal so my students don't use drama in class. As a teacher I use puppets to tell stories to my students. My own children love when they work in small groups and have to react a story or read a script. I think it's wonderful that this works in your classroom.

Response to Hayward Chapter 5

 I think it is very important that students learn to make choices and learn to become independent. I agree with you that with elementary students we still need to guide our students are many things. It is great that you can find the opportunities for your students to make independent choices. It does make students proud when they accomplish things on their own. It sounds like you have a great classroom with a positive attitude.

Response to James Hassett

Response to James Hassett: Lunch room.

That was a rude way to approach the kids but that is a hard situation. My son did his first year of Kindergarten (he repeated k) at a school that most of the students were English learners and spoke Spanish. When he came home the first day from school he told me he needed to learn "Spanish". That nobody talked to him in English. As a mom that broke my heart for my son. It made me mad that my son is going to a school where English is the primary language and he is told he needs learn Spanish. I disagree with the idea that he should learn Spanish at five years old. It's not that this is America and that English is the only language we should speak but it is the primary language. I think it is hard situation that the teacher was facing. The teacher could of approach the situation a little better.. The teacher should of approach the situation better.

Response to James Hassett Chapter 10

I think this is a subject that so many teachers think about. I am a special education teacher in Thermal and the school I teach at is 85% English learners. They do have different types of EL programs that students can go into (it’s up to the parents). One program is they are taught in their primary language for K and 1st grade and are introduced to English for only 30 minutes a day. Then it increases each year. The other program is like the one you discussed where they are taught in Spanish and English. The last program is a regular classroom. It's interesting that many parents want their EL student in the English class and not in the other programs. Personally I think every student deserves the support that they need to learn.

Response to Bob Perez

Response to Bob Perez Chapter 10

I really like your summary on chapter 10: Culturally Based Language Teaching. Bob Perez talks about the roles teachers play in a classroom and how we have to be open. I agree with you that as teachers we need to be open to learn and celebrate other cultures. We do need to find the best in our students and the gifts that they have to offer. We all need to open our minds and hearts to our students.

Response to Kerrie Richardson

Response to Kerrie Richardson Chapter 5

Kerrie Richardson talks about how teachers in a mainstream classroom need to think outside of the box. She shares great ideas about teaching EL students. I like your example of having students who speak the same language work in groups. I teach at a school where the primary language is Spanish and it's very difficult when you don't speak Spanish. I am always looking for others to translate for me with my student’s parents. So it would very hard for me to how my students speak Spanish in my classroom.

Response to Kerrie Richardson Chapter 3

 I think it is great that you get to see so much growth in your preschool class. It is a advantage for children to learn English early in their education. I work with severe special education elementary students. My students are non-verbal and are English language learners. It is interesting to learn that so many teaching methods that work for EL students also work for special education students. I would like to learn more on how to teach EL non-verbal students.

Response to Kerrie Richardson Chapter 2

 I love the example you give about giving every student the opportunity to have a chance to participate. I have been in many classrooms where only the same three students participate in a class discussion.
Also, I agree how hard it must be for English learners to have to speak English for social class advantage. It is hard enough to work towards a great education and a good job in our society. I think it's so important that teachers understand how challenging it can be to learn a second language

Chapter 15

Chapter 15 discusses project based leaning (PBL). Project based learning is based teaching concepts related to the real world. PBL in the classroom gives students the opportunities to develop as individuals.   Students are engaged in real world questions. They are challenged to come up with their own ideas and research those ideas.  They get the opportunity to work in groups, with teachers, and build a learning community. Students learn by developing their own ideas and projects.   
PBL in the classroom gives students confidence, independence, and teaches responsibility.  When working on a project students work in collaboration and build relationships with each other. With cultural barriers PBL is a great way for the barriers to come down and student start opening up to each other.  Students learn to work with others and build communication skills at the same time.
What I really enjoyed in Chapter fifteen was Teachers as guides.  “Teachers act as coaches or tutors, providing not only cognitive help in framing issues and assessing possible solutions but also met cognitive help as they assist students to set goals plan, monitor ongoing effort, and evaluate progress.” (Diaz-Rico, Pg. 388) I think that teachers are mentors and role models for our students.  We guide them in the learning process and help them develop as individuals.  We are coaches on a daily basis cheering are students on.  Teachers play so many different roles in our classrooms.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 388

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 discusses different ways to teach English Language Learners (ELL).  Teaching a student to learn a second language is a challenge.  The big question is “what is the best way to do this in a school setting?”  This is an ongoing controversy in education.  In chapter twelve we are introduced to different methods of teaching a second language. Bilingual education in the most basic form has three components. The first component is continuing development in the primary language.  The second component is introducing the second language.  The third component is instruction in content areas. There are different models in educating English learners. Submersion is when a student is put into a full English speaking class and is expected to sink or swim.  Transitional Bilingual education (TBE) supports the use of primary language in the academic setting only long enough for the student to know enough English to make the transition.  “This chapter specifically promotes dual immersion as the preferred model for education English learns.”(Diaz-Rico, Pg.316.) The dual immersion model promotes the growth and development in both languages.    The dual immersion models are developmental bilingual, second-language immersion, two-way immersion, and EFL foreign language partial immersion.  
I think this is a hard subject to talk about as an educator.  We all have different ideas how ELL should taught in our classroom.  I have met parents of students who speak Spanish who want their child placed in a full submersion classroom.  Who are we to say that isn’t okay for that student?  It is a challenging question to answer.  I think a dual immersion is the most beneficial to an English Learner in a classroom setting.  The more research I read the more I see evidence that EL students learn better with a dual immersion model.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 316

Chapter 11

What I found interesting in chapter eleven was the recitation pattern.  The recitation pattern fall into three parts, these three parts are known as IRE.  The “I” stands for invite, the teacher ask the students a question.  The “R” stands for respond, the students respond to the question. The “E” stands for evaluation; the teacher evaluates the students answer and provides feedback.  I found it interesting because I have never used this in my classroom.  With nonverbal SH elementary students this is something that wouldn’t work in my classroom.  When I observed a teacher using the recitation pattern I found it very interesting and a useful for a teacher to evaluate her students. “This evaluation of the student seems to shape a teacher’s academic expectations for that student.” (Diaz-Rico, Pg.303) Most of the student was very engaged in the lesson. They were listening to the teacher, interacting with the teacher, and listening to their peers.  The teacher was collecting data on the students as they responded to her questions.
My only concern with the recitation pattern was that only a few students were responding to the teacher’s questions.  During the lesson the same six kids kept raising their hands to answer the question.  It was great that these students wanted to respond I just felt it didn’t give an opportunity for all students to respond.  I wonder if this is common or just something I saw in this lesson.  I would like to observe more teachers using the recitation pattern to see if there is a different outcome.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 303

Chapter 9

Chapter nine discusses integrated language skills.  I was very interested in the integrated skills approach.  In this approach teachers teach Language for a meaningful purpose. “Speaking, listening, reading, and writing are not separate subjects, taught as though they were an end in themselves. Instead, they are tools to be used in service of something greater” (Diaz-Rico, Pg.244). I think that language can be part of all academic areas.  If a teacher is teaching a science lesson they can combine language skills:  vocabulary, writing, reading, and language.  As teachers we are always teaching and modeling for our students. We need to take every opportunity during our day to be teaching.
I liked how they discuss how home and schools are integrated.  It’s very important that students can take what they learn in school home with them.  Learning is constant and it’s important that they continue learning at home.  In my SH classroom when I am working on a specific skill with a student  I make sure that the parents have been informed what we are working toward accomplishing.  It’s so important that schools and home integrate for our students.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 244

chapter 6

Chapter six looks at how students learn best when they already know something about the subject matter.  English Language Learners (ELL) knows the most about their primary language and their culture. As teachers we need to look at student’s prior knowledge and use it in our teaching methods.  “Vygotsky believed that children learn to engage in higher level thinking by learning first how to communicate” (Diaz- Rico, Pg. 146).   This is very true for ELL their foundation for learning is in their primary language.  Teachers need to build on a dual language acquisition. The oracy process is how people learn to listen and speak in a second language (Diaz-Rico, 2008).Communication has a lot of different aspects to it including speaking, listening, writing, and reading. English learners need a lot of support in all of these areas to learn English.  Oracy skills are important for ELL to participate in society.
Listening is important knowledge for English Learners.  They need to learn how to separate meaningful units from just streams of speech.  Listening pulls a lot on a student’s prior knowledge and their understanding of the meaning. This is very challenging for English learners if they don’t have the prior knowledge of the subject matter.   When listening to others speak it’s also important that students repeat exactly what they hear. Teachers can help students with listening in different ways.  They can read aloud to students and have the students answer questions about what was being read.  They can use poems, nursery rhymes, and songs.  It’s important that teachers help English learners learn how to listen.
Speaking is hard for any child to learn but to learn how to speak in a second language can be very intimidating.  As teachers we need to give students prespeaking activities to warm them up to the subject and build their confidence.   There are many ways students can do this for example; a student can interview someone on the subject to get understanding of the subject.  After a student does a prespeaking activity a student is going to do a speaking activity.  A teacher can offer many different situations to help a mixed ability classroom.  She can have students work in small groups, informal class discussion, or a formal presentation.  It’s important that teachers give students the confidence and opportunity to learn to speak in a classroom.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 146

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008.

Chapter 5

Chapter five looks at learner control and academic competence.  As an English Language Learner (ELL) student need to be taught how to take control of their learning English.  Teachers need to learn strategies to help students to be in charge of their education.   “How the learner takes responsibility for second-language acquisition (SLA) and what strategies can be used to foster the ability of the learner to be in charge” (Diaz- Rico, Pg. 104).  As teachers we need to help students become in control of their own learning.  To do these teachers must look at two areas the learner autonomy and focus on learning strategies that teach student to become in charge of their education.
Learning autonomy is the learner’s feelings about how they are learning for themselves. This helps build self-motivation and gives students the desire to manage their own education.  If students feel empowered they are going to learn and want to learn.  They will focus on using the second language and feel proud when they accomplish a task.  As teachers we need to look at all students learning autonomy. It’s important we teach student to self manage their own education.  
There are many types of learning strategies that teach students to become in charge of their own education.  “A major aim of classroom instruction should be to equip learners with learning skills that they can employ on their own.” (Diaz- Rico, Pg. 104).  As teachers we need the time to work one on one with students or in small groups at the same time we need students to be able to work independently.   There are indirect and direct learning strategies.  Indirect strategies are used at a level of unconscious or automated performance.  This is usually a preferred activity. Direct strategies are used by learners in a direct way; they are processing the information and trying it out.  Using indirect strategies and direct strategies can help students learn to become in control of their education.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 104

Chapter 4

Chapter four looks at performance- based learning and assessment.  Performance- based learning looks on how the student is learning.  For English Language learners (ELL) this is very important when it comes to learning English.   In a lesson plan English is taught for the purpose of communication or a content concept. For ELL it’s important that lesson plans have certain objectives.   The content must be in a subject area or domain of communicative competence.  The learning strategy has to be clear and allow the student to process the information.  The lesson must be Language based.  For ELL student performance based learning is the way we can make sure the instruction supports their language needs.
When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed assessment became a major issue in education. NCLB requires that every district and teachers is responsible for the each student’s progress.  Instruction became align with local, state and national standards. The organization TESOL, Inc came up with English Language Proficiency standards.” The Document serves as a complement to other standards documents and specifies the proficiency that English learners need in order to become fully fluent in English.”(Diaz- Rico, Pg. 71). These standards are aligned with the national standards to make sure ELL is making progress.  These standards help us assess ELL progress in English.
There are different ways to assess a student progress in the classroom. There is formal assessment and informal assessment.  Formal assessment for ELL is standard based testing, such as the CELDT.  Informal assessment can be teacher observation, data collection, or interviews.  The best type of assessment is a combination of formal and informal assessment.  Using both types of assessment give us an idea of a student progress.

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 71

Chapter 3

Chapter three begins by introducing different types of teaching methods.  It talks about philosophical strategies, educational psychological behavior, educational psychological cognitive, humanistic education, and cultural strategies.  There are many different approaches to teaching; each approach looks at different factors of learning.  In Philosophy teaching strategies instruction is based to not conflict with the values and norms.  In psychological-behavior strategies instruction is based on " how a child learns'.  Each strategy looks at different ways a student learns and the best way for their culture.  As fascinating as all of strategies are what I enjoyed most in chapter 3 was the section on the teacher as a counselor.

I believe all teachers do some counseling in our classroom. When we are teaching a curriculum to a child we are teaching to the whole child.  You can't teach just a lesson and not address other parts of a student. The statement " Teachers may need to address students' emotional needs by responding to emotional problems or crises, resolving interpersonal conflicts, referring students to school study teams for special education evaluation or otherwise assessing guiding students' emotional and social growth (Kottler &Kottler 1993- Diaz-Rico, Pg 57). This statement is so true when you think about teaching.  We teach children and children have feelings, emotion, anger, and so many other parts to them. We have to look at a whole child in a classroom setting.

As teachers we always need to look at the students and their needs in the classroom.  There are three ways to help students adjust to school.  First we have to look at the way we teach.  Teachers need to provide a safe environment that shows kindness, self- respect and cooperation.  Second teachers need to be available to their students. They need to provide a safe place for the student. For example, offer one one conversation, group discussion, or use teaching methods that touch on social factors.  Last Teachers need to help students focus on school.  Make learning fun and challenging to keep students engage.  Teaching is not just taking a curriculum and teaching it to students, teachers do a lot more than just teach...

Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, 2^nd Edition, C. Pearson Education Inc: Boston 2008. Page 57

Chapter 2

Teachers influence the daily lives of students in their classrooms. They can create a climate of warmth, acceptance, and high achievement for English learners, supporting the home language while fostering the growth in English (Diaz- Rico, 22). This statement at the beginning of chapter two is a strong statement that I believe represents our jobs as teachers. We influence students lives daily in our classroom.  We teach students in a safe environment where they feel accepted.  As teachers we don't only do this for English learners we do this for all students.
In Chapter two we are introduced to critical pedagogy.  Pedagogy is "the process through which student learn to critically appropriate knowledge existing outside their immediate experience in order to broaden their understanding of themselves, the world, and the possibilities for transforming the taken for granted assumptions about the way we live" (Diaz-Rico, 29). Using pedagogy as a method is helpful for teachers.  Teachers learn about their students by observing their living conditions, their homes, and their families.  They talk with the families to learn about students.  As teachers we have to learn about our students culture, past experiences, and families to help them in the classroom.

(i)                   Diaz-Rico, Lynne T. Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners. 2^nd Edition. C. Pearson Education Inc.: Boston 2008. Page 22 and 29

Chapter 1

  Chapter one starts by introducing us to English Language Learners (ELL) and the people who teach them. English Language Learners are "English Learners who are learning English as a nonnative speaker." (Diaz-Rico,2008) They are learning English as an additional second language.  In this chapter we see how teaching English is more than just teaching a language--it's about teachers learning different cultures, beliefes, and social status.
  I found this chapter interesting because I have always considered ELL classes to essentially teach the English Language. I never thought about how a teacher has to be educated and compassionate towards a child's primary language and culture.  In teaching special education I have always seen the need for compassion and understanding. We teach by making modifications to meet our student's needs in a classroom environment. I never realized that ELL students need the same compassion and modifications in a classroom environment.
  Teaching ELL students comes with a lot of challenges. Teachers need to motivate students and understand the cultured in which the they come from. Then and only then, can they provide a structured curriculum. In this chapter I liked the statement, " One learns from mistakes and when teaching English learners, many more errors are possible then in monoculture settings. But they will be fascinating errors."(Diaz-Rico,2008) I found this statement universal; representing any students . As a teachers we make mistakes and we learn from those mistakes. Often it is our mistakes that help us become better teachers. Teaching ELL students is challenging and rewarding and takes a special type of teacher. The website TESOL, (http://www.tesol.org/) can answer questions and give you ideas about teaching ELL studetns.