After reading the article on improving the education for English Language Learners I really got an idea of how difficult the job of an ESL teacher is. We've been discussing lesson plans and how to be prepared for each day of teaching and learning and I have always felt that I will become a capable planner. The reality that this article makes clear is that no matter how prepared you are you also have to be constantly ready to come up with new strategies when working with learners of the English language. It also occurred to me that there was so much information in this one article. It was clear that we are just coming to understand how to teach learners of a new language and I feel like ideas and concepts are being tested all of the time. We are always learning how to teach.
One thought that stuck out to me was this statement that "All high school teachers, ... need to understand more about the language of the content area they teach and how learning in a second or third language might affect content learning"(2). We have focused on literacy this semester and the importance of helping students master the objectives and goals of our content, ensuring that they carry the greater concepts forward. In order to help students with a language barrier we need to make an effort to understand what specific challenges they will face when learning the concepts and language simultaneously. This will require a greater effort to differentiate, using more teaching strategies than we may not have been prepared to do. Many times the language we use in our content is not part of everyday speech. There will be little to no expectation that they will understand words or concepts like polygons, plot, or civil rights without taking some time to research them. It will take a greater effort and cooperation between the student and the teacher in order for them to become more fully educated as students.
One of the first things we need to do to begin this is to create an environment of trust (5). If I had to choose one part of the article that was most important it would be this. It is a risk to open up when you feel insecure, know you don't understand something and to say you need help. For students with special needs, that is the first step in opening the opportunity to educate them. Once you show them that you are there to support their learning they begin to open up. Your reaction and how you handle each situation will determine how the student will react the next time they struggle. It's important for us to reflect on our own feelings and reactions to ensure that we are fostering a safe environment for learning and teaching.
There is so much more to discuss but the overall idea I came away with is that as teachers not only do we need to be ready to teach but we need to be ready to learn. Every student will be different and have a "special need". It will be up to us to learn about our students, so we can be better teachers of our content.
I really don't think you could have said it better! What you say really emphasizes the idea that teachers are life long learners. I think sometimes teachers forget that. They often latch on the the idea that their sole job is to teach the students but they also have to be willing to learn from them.
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