Hope Turner

It is critical to understand students cultural beliefs, religion, and race. Getting to know the families of your students can help bridge the gap between the home/school connection.

This section of the module touched on the importance of assessments. As instructors, we need to make sure that we are not assessing students' English comprehension. Rather, we should determine what we are assessing and what is the goal and make sure that we provide accommodations, whether we are using a human reader, anecdotal records, or learning logs, to make sure that we are truly assessing our students abilities fairly.

I learned that a teacher can positively grow his or her ELL students by providing reading, metacognitive, and social/emotional strategies. I think that one of the biggest take-aways is to make sure that teachers are treating their students as the age they are, and not treating them like babies. Just because they do not comprehend and understand all of the English, does not mean  that they are not educated and capable to learn.

In this section of the class, I learned that it can take years before students are fully able to transfer a new language and be able to fully comprehend it. The teacher can help their ELL students be successful by embedding comprehension strategies into what they are learning, make sure that they are teaching vocabulary, allow students to work with their peers, and finally make sure to hold high expectations.

I learned that the most common disability is with a student's reading and writing. Asking the student what helps him or her learn allows the student to advocate for themselves. Chunking assignments, giving extra time, and allowing for verbal instead or written responses are some of the ways you can modify assignments.

In this section, I learned that not all students are going to come with the same ability levels. Building vocabulary is one of the main strategies to help with understanding. Giving a word, definition, picture, and experience will help students best understand what is being taught. It is best to give students 5-7 vocabulary words at a time. It is also important to set the room up so that you can monitor student progress. Giving students chunked tasks will help you see how much is being retained.

Grouping students is extremely important. This allows students to learn from one another. You can have formal or informal groups. Formal groups are teacher-driven allowing for students to be in groups that are diverse or homogeneous based on what is in involved. Group work should be rigorous, but not so rigorous that the students give up. Making sure each group member knows their role and what they are responsible for doing in the group is also important. Students can be graded as a group, individually, or self-assess.

In this module, I learned about how to communicate what my students will be learning to them in a concise manner. I found the buffet example particularly enlightening. Just like looking at all of the items on the buffet can be overwhelming, so can the amount of concepts we teach students. Practicing the pause, chunking lessons, allowing for time to have students respond, identifying the key points of the lesson, and making sure directions are clear and concise will be things I focus on in the classroom and when supporting new CTE teachers in their professional development.