Welcome--I'm really excited for you!
It's my pleasure to welcome you to this meeting place. My intention is that all of you will read with avid interest all of the handouts I give you, talk with ELLs, observe teachers and students, search the web, converse with others and then you will come to this meeting place and share what you know and want to know about teaching ELLs.
This is what I envision:
You are out in the field (e.g. classroom) teaching. First of all, that's pretty exciting. You're probably already examining your feelings about being the teacher. Don't you want to include all of the students in your classroom? Aren't you feeling a little nagging thought that maybe you didn't reach every student with that last concept you were trying to bring across? In these three weeks you'll be learning methods and techniques by observing, reading, discussing (in person and here) and actually trying things out on students in your classroom.
The great thing about these "ELL" methods and techniques is that they don't only work on ELLs. The information and tips you learn during these three weeks will serve you well with all kinds of students (and people in general). And it's a little like acquiring a wardrobe. You try things on, sometimes they fit well and sometimes they don't. You see the outfit on someone else, but it just doesn't work for you. Or, you change the belt and shoes and that's all it took to make it great...you get the idea.
Some suggestions:
- Tell us about your day teaching; in this setting, we are most interested in the ELL angle
- Discuss your reading assignments in terms of your real life situation in the classroom
- What have you found on the web that would benefit/interest the rest of us?
- Anecdotes about your or others' ELL experiences
- Questions
Tips:
- Write well--clear, concise, good spelling & grammar...
- Don't mention names when you're relating your experiences from the classroom--even if what you're writing is complimentary
- Respond to others' entries--answer questions, give examples, make suggestions
- Don't be inhibited; this is a fun learning tool
PS: This is the first time I'm using this tool with a class. I'm pretty excited about it and hope you will put in and get a lot out of it!
3 comments:
I just wanted to comment on the story of how the Chinese boy got his name which is on the first page/chapter 1 of the reading packets. I think it's interesting how much language barriers can affect one's life. In this case, "Dean" did not understand what he was being asked and spoke the only word he somewhat understood. This misunderstanding led to the creation of his American name.
It's only natural for Dean to remember this day as if it were today because it's going to be a part of him for the rest of his life.
adding to natalieh 's comment and Dean’s story, something similar happened to me when I first came to this country. I did not get my name out of not understanding English but it was very hard not knowing anything.
I first arrived in Union City NJ a “Cuban” town so for the first month I wasn’t interested in learning English since everybody spoke only Spanish. When I decided that it was time to start college I had to wait a whole year because I did not speak one word of english. I couldn’t even fill out the admission’s application. It was very hard and difficult.
Hi Everyone! I am a little embarrassed to admit that this is the first time I've "blogged", but I had to share a funny story with you. I work in a after school program for my daughter's elementary school and I was telling one of my bilingual mom's about our class. She was very excited that Kean is requiring a class like this for ELL students. She then offered to teach me how to speak Spanish so that I could be a honorary multicultured person! I thought this was so great and now I'm on a daily schedule of learning a new word every day. (She's only teaching me the words she thinks are truly necessary, so I'll bring my list in when we have class again.)
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