In Course 6, the extended time spent in the classroom put the focus on the student more than

in previous courses. I had the opportunity to really listen and read student work and gain a much
better knowledge of language in the content and ESL classroom, albeit for one particular student.
This gave me time and opportunity to pay close attention to language insofar as pronunciation,
syntax (written and spoken), and doubts/confidences about language skills.
Working closely with a student in Course 6 also gave me more time to discuss within the
realm of social language non-content topics such as family life, living abroad, ESL studies, etc. I
was able to learn many interesting things are that new to the student in the US- calling people
Mister or Mrs. and the equivalent in Chinese (uncle) and more about customs- holidays,
family structure, etc. I see that the ESL instructor is instrumental in helping the ELLs assimilate
into the US culture and also how important it is to understand where the student is coming from,
literally and figuratively.
Observing, planning, implementing and managing instruction was a whirlwind of activity. It
was helpful in this course to get into the teaching of an ELL for the express purpose of learning
something myself. One thing I realized is how much ESL instruction needs to be adapted for
every student. I was very busy with just one student- I see that managing an entire classroom will
require much work and constant supervision and bridging to help each and every student.
Assessment was the focus of this course, and what I learned here is that assessment mainly is
for the purpose of determining where the ELL is and how to help that ELL progress forward.
While this is the same in every class, I think sometimes teachers use assessment to simply end a
unit or have grades to show in the gradebook. Too seldom in the content classroom (at least in
the HS stage) can we use the assessment to see where to go next. Usually the next place to go
after an assessment is the next unit, period. This class made me see that assessment is indeed a
tool, not a punctuation mark.
Professionalism is always of the utmost importance and working with new students is often a
time to do a self-check. Teachers can get into a familiar grind with their normal classes, but this
class reminded me to ask myself- am I being clear, doing my best, etc.? This class gave me a
chance to take a moment and reflect on how others see me.


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