Monday, May 28, 2007
ESL Students
After a few weeks being with my teacher and her sixth grade language arts classes I was unable to notice which of the three students where the English Language Learners. So after she pointed them out to me my response was that thoses are some of the students who participate all the time and are the ones who are always want to write the answers on the board. My teacher told me that they are the hardest working students out of all her classes. In a way it seems they are showing off (in a good way) all that they have learned in the ESL program. These three students always call me or my teacher over to check their work and they are always trying to write new vocabulary words in their essays. So now I understand why I would have never noticed that English is their second and sometimes third langauge. It is because they work very hard. Some of the other students who I would have guessed as being ELL are in fact just quiet or don't do the work because they don't want to. I found this out because once I started working one on one with them they where able to do the work just fine. So from this experience I have found out the the ELL students work hard and are involved in this class for most of the time. This desire for them to work hard may come from their parents or they like the positive attention they get from me and my teacher when they participate and say or write correct words and sentences. Beacuse of this and the fact that they are in sixth grade the teacher and myself never have to worry about these students falling behind.
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3 comments:
This is a great little story Rebecca. In my observations I have also noticed ELL students and their work ethic. It reminds me of hard working adults/college students. Day in Day out, you work your hardest and want to be recognized for all of your dedication and effort. I always assume that this drive and motivation will follow them for the rest of their lives. I also think that what you said about “never having to worry about them falling behind” was great. Sometimes these students come from homes where everything is not just handed to them. They know the benefits and consequences of hard work and they try to keep their motivated frame of mind.
I have kind of a similar situation in my school, Rebecca. In my classroom I have seventh and eigth graders and most of them speak spanish. They also speak English and they speak it so well that I can't even tell that it was not their first language. I asked my teacher if he would ever have ELL students in his classroom and he said he has never. In my school, by middle school most students can speak English very well. So it is difficult for me to notice any ELL students.
However, I do notie that many of the students who come from a different background are extremely motivated as well. It is a really nice thing to see and I wish that some of the other students would do the same. I have several students that I work one on one with also and I notice that they will not particpate in class because they don't feel like doing any work. It is weird though because when I work one on one with them they will actually do the work. I feel that some students just need to be given more attention for them to do any work. It's encouraging because once you push them they actually see that they are capable of doing good work.
After reading your blog on ESL Students, I just had to comment on it. Even though I have not worked with ELL students from my sophomore or Junior field experience, I definitely agree that they work hard. I grew up in Elizabeth New Jersey where the majority of civilians are from Spanish-speaking countries. Ever since I was in grade school, I have noticed how ELL students always strived to achieve the highest grade possible. I believe that they try more than twice as hard as other students because they want to achieve success in their school work. Even as a college student I have observed this attitude. For instance, when I was a student at Union County College, there was a female student in my biology course. She had a heavy Spanish accent because she had only been in America for a few short years. She ended up getting one of the highest grades in the biology class because she did not hesitate to ask questions, read and reread her notes and she went for tutoring when ever she had the opportunity. I honestly admired her because she was extremely determined to excel. I sometimes wish that everyone tried to reach their highest potentials as she did. Interesting blog posting Rebecca!
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