Justin Stevenson

ESL 3
12/21/13
Cary and Tomlinson Articles
Synopsis
As a teacher who works in a very heavily populated ELL population, this article serves as
a great reference for terinology and differentiated instruction ipleentation
techni!ues" Strategies suggested for ensuring grade level content is #eing taught to ELLs
are useful for #oth the regular classroo and the ESL classroo" $ feel it is pro#a#ly
!uite easy to get off of grade level content when in the isolated setting of an ESL
classroo and focusing on language ac!uisition" %owever, since tie is #eing taken fro
regular classroo learning to have ELL students in the isolated setting, it is crucial to
keep the language ac!uisition siultaneous with grade level content" Soe suggested
techni!ues were& #ringing in artifacts rather than 'ust pictures, using visuals which were
colorful and inforative, taking the language #eing used #y the instructor into
consideration in an attept to ake it ore #asic in hopes the ELL students will
understand, and colla#oration (or group work)" *he article also ephasi+ed aking
lessons differentiated yet relevant to the lives of the students in an attept to teach
aterial to their utost potential while having the inforation gra# the #ased on a
eans of the student relating to the aterial" *he article also suggested varied support
systes to incorporate into the classroo, such as& audio #ooks, note taking organi+ers
which highlight crucial inforation, flow chart usage, and #oth peer and student/teacher
entoring"
%ow $ ,an -se *his $nforation
*here are any ways to use soe of these techni!ues in the classroo" $ liked the idea of
#ringing in artifacts for students to o#serve" ,urrently, $ try to incorporate as any
visuals as possi#le. either words displayed in a presentation for students to connect the
audio to the written te/t, or pictures which help illustrate an idea, concept, or word" $ feel
it would #e great to also #ring in actual artifacts for the students to look at" $t would
ena#le the to use ore of their senses to identify o#'ects and conceptual thoughts" $
currently also have y students set up in groups to help with colla#oration" %owever, $
feel it ay #e a good idea to assign seating in which $ feel ore fluent speakers could
assist ELLs" 0ight now $ allow students to choose their groups, and $ feel i/ing it up a
#it would #e #eneficial on any different levels, including assisting English language
learners" $ currently do not have any audio #ooks in y roo, #ut this is a useful strategy
$ have seen other teachers use and $ would like to incorporate it into y classroo" 1or
instance, $ have seen teachers set up learning centers where students rotate around the
roo copleting tasks for an esta#lished aount of tie" 2ne of the centers is often a
literacy station which re!uires students to re3read the story while listening to an audio
tape" ,olla#oration #etween students helps keep all on task while teacher onitoring also
ensures students will stay on task while serving as a eans of assessing the a#ility of the
students to follow written te/t while listening to audio"
Justin Stevenson
ESL 3
12/21/13
Food For Thought
4hat kind of activities do you use to have your ELLs learn a#out the environent,
social issues, and science or history thees5
*he school that $ teach in has a very high percentage of ELL students and is
predoinantly ade of Asian and Latino students" *herefore, $ tend to incorporate any
of the A6,7s of ESL instruction into y lessons in an attept to help all of the students
learn a#out the environent and thees of the su#'ect area we are studying" $ a
currently teaching a science class and see students fro 839" A few of the A6,7s $ use
are&
3Adapt : $ try to keep y language speed slow, repeat inforation ore than once, and
give students an e/tended aount of tie to answer !uestions when called on and when
doing work at their desk"
36uild : $ also attept to help students gain prior knowledge #y relating the e/perients
or inforation we are covering to everyday occurrences"
3,oprehensi#le3 $ try to siply difficult wording we often coe across in our science
te/t to #asic language that ore of the students can understand"
3Epathy : $ try to always put yself in the shoes of the student when e/plaining
inforation on a level they ay #e a#le to coprehend with their liited English skills"
3;raphic 2rgani+ers : *his is soething we use often in our science 'ournals to record
inforation"
3$nteraction : Students are often put into groups to conduct e/perients" $n fact, all
students are grouped with others in aounts of 2, <, and 9"
Journal : Science 'ournals are the ain eans of note taking and inforation in this
class" *his is also a graded portion of the class since so uch ephasis is put on keeping
a great note#ook"
3La#els : =uch of the science e!uipent in the roo has a nae and la#el on it which
helps all ELLs with identification of o#'ect as well as the native English speaking
students who are unfailiar with the science e!uipent"
%ow do you present the inforation5
=ost of y presentations are done through the use of power point" *herefore, students
are given the chance to not 'ust understand what $ say, #ut also follow inforation that is
displayed visually" *his also gives e the opportunity to include pictures of o#'ect along
with words to help students #etter identify the words $ a using" $ a a#le to highlight
iportant inforation $ think students should write down while including video segents
which also further visuali+e the inforation"
4hen you plan lessons, do you think of specific strategies you want to use to teach a
particular thee or concept5
-ntil reading the A6,7s of ESL instruction, $ #asically incorporated strategies without
reali+ing the" 2ver the past few years of teaching this particular population of students,
any of these strategies #ecae o#vious to use and now see to find their way into
lessons unknowingly" %owever, reading a#out the this in depth has given e the
chance to reali+e the strategies $7 using, fine tune the a #it, and try to incorporate new
strategies $ have not #een using"
>o you vary the approach5
$ vary different techni!ues for different grade levels" 1or instance, $ place a large aount
of ephasis on 'ournal keeping for y older students while y younger students have
ore ephasis put on interaction, kinesthetic, and #asic coprehension" %owever, after
reading the A6,7s of ESL instruction, $ plan to try to incorporate and vary y teaching
strategies and student activities to help ore students have the opportunity to display
what they know and are a#le to do"
Justin Stevenson
ESL 3
12/21/13
Food For Thought Chapter 4
%ow do you learn #est5
$ have always felt $ learn #est #y doing" 4hile reading a#out ideas and concepts is
also useful, $ feel $ a not a#le to truly grasp a skill or concept until $ a a#le to
attept it on y own and actually coplete the task"
4hich =ultiple $ntelligence is your strength5
$ think #oth spatial (visual) and kinesthetic (#ody oveent) intelligences are y
strengths" $ have always #een a#le to #etter understand a task if $ a a#le to see it
visually either as a deonstration or presentation and when $ a a#le to personally
coplete the task with y own hands"
%ow do you teach5 1ro your strength5 2r do you vary the ways in which your
lessons are presented so that the ELLs ay learn in different ways, doing different
activities as they learn5
$ feel $ do tend to teach fro y strengths since $ know they have worked for e in
the past while learning, en'oy using the, and a failiar with favora#le techni!ues"
%owever, as a student $ was never a fan of group work ($ suppose $ was ore
intrapersonal than interpersonal), #ut $ do include a large aount of group work in
y lessons since $ have seen the iportance of colla#orative learning. especially
when dealing with a student population that is largely ELL"
Look at your lesson plans for your students and list the ways you use the =ultiple
$ntelligences" 4hich ones do you use the ost5
*he =ultiple $ntelligences $ use are&
3Spatial (through use of power point presentations and other deonstrations)
38inesthetic (#y allowing students to ove around the roo to gather scientific tools
and research during e/perients)
3$nterpersonal (students are seated in groups and coplete any activities through
colla#oration with group e#ers)
3$ntrapersonal (students regularly keep a personal 'ournal)
$ feel the =ultiple $ntelligences $ use the ost are Spatial and $ntrapersonal" 4hile $
do incorporate others, $ regularly use the aid of a power point to help illustrate words,
ideas, and concepts" $ also regularly have students answer !uestions in their Journals
and take notes during presentations"
Justin Stevenson
ESL 3
12/21/13
Teaching and Integrity
$ntegrity in teaching has always #een soething $ place uch personal ephasis upon"
As a student $ can ree#er #eing a#le to tell the difference #etween the teachers who
seeed to truly #elieve in what they were saying and teaching, and those who 'ust
seeed to #e going through the otions" $ also ree#er caring uch less a#out su#'ects
where the teacher seeed not to care and putting uch ore work and validity upon the
classes and work which contained a teacher, or professor, who truly seeed to #elieve in
what they were doing" *herefore, when it cae to #eing a teacher yself, $ try to
constantly relate y lessons to the everyday lives of the students and assign activities and
assignents which are relevant to learning and don7t feel like #usy work"
*his integrity also needs to transfor into the actions of the teacher" $f $ tell students
soething is inappropriate, $ odel that #ehavior #y doing the sae" 1or e/aple, not
talking while soeone else is addressing the entire class is a rule of ours" *his goes for
when $ a speaking to the class, #ut the sae also goes for when a student is speaking" $t
helps the students understand that it is rude to talk over soeone (whether it is an adult,
teacher, student, or child) and also helps ephasi+e the iportance in what the students
are saying. showing $ care a#out their opinions" 2ther ways to iic #ehavior would #e
participating in school wide evens such as >"E"A"0" (>rop Everything And 0ead)"
Students are e/pected to do nothing #ut en'oy a #ook for 3? inutes each day, and $
ake sure to do the sae to help the understand the iportance of this progra" 4hat
kind of validity would one #e giving to this progra if they were to #e grading papers or
planning lessons. it would underine the entire idea and invalidate the integrity of the
progra"
2ne last point of integrity $ feel is iportant is teacher fairness and relia#ility" $ try to
keep all rules and regulations in the roo e!ual for all students and therefore validating
#oth the iportance of the rules and routines and helping avoid a feeling of favoritis in
any way #etween students" $f all students are e/pected to adhere to the sae level of
aturity and professionalis, hopefully less #ehavioral issues will occur and students
will feel they are #eing held to a higher level of learning and therefore place ore
iportance on acadeics and truly legitii+e the integrity of learning"