Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Field Experience in a Duel-language environment

I have already completed my Junior Field experience. Last semester, I was placed in Donald Stewart Early Childhood Center in Elizabeth. I taught students ages 3 to 5. The entire school had a duel-language program! The school was divided into quads. Each quad consisted of two classroom on either side of the hallway. One classroom on each side was an all English speaking classroom. The students in this classroom learned everything in English. The other classroom on each side was an all Spanish speaking classroom. The students in this classroom learned everything in Spanish. This all sounds great, but what was even more amazing was the fact that every two weeks the 15 children in each class switched classrooms so for two weeks all the children learned everything in English and for the next two weeks, learned everything in Spanish. Every child coming out of that school would speak both Spanish and English fluently. There were also several students in my class who's first language was not English or Spanish but a completely different language. One little girl was completely fluent in English, Spanish and Polish. There are a lot of English Language Learners in Elizabeth, so this way of teaching the students really helps them to feel at home in a classroom becuase there will always be someone else learning the language as well. Everyone is included in learning a new language. It really was an interesting experience working there. All the teachers spoke Spanish, and I kind of felt left out since I don't speak it. It still was a lot of fun, and I did pick up a few words while I was there.

1 comment:

Chrystianne R. S. said...

That does sound like an amazing experience. I cannot stress how important it is for children to learn a second or even third language at a young age. Not only does it make them more accepting to the various cultures around them, but it is also an educational advantage.