Philosophy Statement
This course opened up my eyes to everything related to ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS, I never knew the struggle that they faced on a daily basis. I could not imagine being somewhere and not understanding what anyone is really say8ng. I grew up in a big school, a school where most parents were ELLs, their children being their spokesperson/translator. My school offered ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE as a class for those students who were ELL could take it. I never thought it was fair, I wanted that easy A, to taken ESL instead of my Spanish class, but these students were hardly ever included in our "normal" English or Math classes, they stayed in there to learn all subjects. You would think with my school being so big that there would be a PULL OUT ESL class, for those students who can participate in some English and go into the "normal" classroom.
As I am becoming a future educator I want to really get a grasp on anything and everything ELL. I want to ADVOCATE for my students, getting them all the help possible. I want them to have opportunities for the BILINGUAL IMMERSION PROGRAMS the district offers. There are many opportunities for our ELL students that the school will not tell us about, look it up, take LAU REMEDIES as your motivation to help them. As a future educator, I would want my students parents in the know, I want them to know I am doing all things possible for their child's education. I would let them know their child is going to excel and show them why, and if not I will help that parent advocate to get their child into the DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM. I only want what is best for my students. This program is great for getting your slower or new students, it only benefits them and their needs.
In the classroom you can never be BIAS you must look at each ASSESSMENT as though it were the same. I am here to help my students grow, not give a guilty grade, but rather go over the assessment and show the student what it is that they did wrong and how to fix it. After I get my students going and they are all excelling on their assessments, I will begin SELF-ASSESSMENTS. These help students grade themselves, seeing what they know and checking their own work. We could start with PHONICS this is a must for all people everywhere, without phonics we could not read. But phonics will also help our ELLs get the hangout English, it basically shows them the ropes. WORD WALLS are so important, too, we could begin to implement these when we begin phonics. Showing them two things in one go round. Each classroom has GUIDED READING groups, I would have all my ELLs in one group, providing them with a book that has English on one page and their native language on the other. This will allow them to make connections on their own. Once they have read through this book with me a few times in English, I will begin RUNNING RECORDS. Running records can be scaring, you see the teacher making marks and writing things down, you feel pressured and mess up. I do not want my students to feel that way, so my strategy would be to instead of doing it all in front of them, I would record them as a video or voice memo, allowing me to go back later and fill in my sheet. As a class, there will be carpet time for READ ALOUDS over books that further our education but are interesting to the students. We will also have INDEPENDENT READING time, allowing students to pick a book of their choosing from the DUAL LANGUAGE BOOK pile and read it to the best of their ability. Before I could begin INDEPENDENT WRITING I need to be sure my students know their phonics and are able to make connections with words to create sentences in English. After that my students will have independent writing time once a day, allowing them to create stories and use their imagination.
Each student goes through a SILENT PERIOD not really talking to anyone, but rather finding themselves and learning quietly. This does begin to fade away once our LANGUAGE MINORITY STUDENT gains confidence in themselves. Our students do not shut down because of us, their teachers and the ACCOMMODATIONS we provide, but because it is a lot to take in. They are learning so much and do not really know what to do with it all. We provide all of our students, not just ELL with DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION. Each student deserves this differentiated instruction, it benefits them where they need it most. They could receive this instruction in learning English with LANGUAGE SOCIALIZATION, this is where an ELL is partnered up with a native English speaking student. It has been researched that students learn better just by having a conversation with another student, gaining their trust. Once this ELL is comfortable with their partner, I will have their partner begin a PEER ASSESSMENT. This will help me lead into doing a FORMATIVE and SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT. Formative assessments are given at random, while a summative is given at the end of each quarter to see what the student knows and is capable of. The last assessment I will do is a PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT, this assessment is an accumulation of all the assessments my students have taken filed nicely. I will go through this portfolio assessment at the end of the year to see what my students have learned and EVALUATE them.