Samantha Kellar

August 28, 2017

Reflection

1. As a teacher, what challenges did you face when trying to teach your

lesson/content to the class?

a. From the beginning I didnt think there would be many challenges when

teaching my lesson since all the students had to do was copy from the

board. However, while in the process of teaching, I realized that although

all of the students caught on and drew the correct shapes, what would I do

if a student didnt catch on? How would I tell them how to draw it

correctly in a way they would better understand instead of just drawing it

for them?

2. What did you do to overcome these challenges?

a. Since I was not actually faced with the challenge, I didnt have to

problem-solve right in that moment. However, if I was presented with the

challenge, I would end up sitting next to the student while the rest of the

class shared and discussed what they drew. The main reason for sitting

next to the student would be to focus on the directions I am giving to the

student. In that meeting I would be able to break things down to a level in

which that student would better understand. For example, I can use certain

signals and phrases that pertain to their primary language.

 b. If I were faced with the challenge of more than one student being stumped

with the lesson, I would finish my lesson but then go back and do a quick

reteach with more visuals and ques.

3. As a teacher, how did this activity simulate trying to instruct one or more ELL

students in your classroom? How did you use language in your instruction?

a. My lesson was taught in Spanish as well as with the use of a visual

drawing. The activity was able to stimulate any student who spoke

Spanish but also any other student who did not and spoke something

different. For example, the Spanish-speaking students were able to

following along by listening while the other students were able to follow

along by watching the drawing as well as watching my hand signals. I

used language in my instruction by delivering my entire lesson in

Spanish. My greeting, instruction, assessment, and dismissal were given in

Spanish.

4. As part of the class, how can you relate this activity to the experience of ELL

students in an English-speaking classroom?

a. When the roles were switched and I was apart of the class, I realized

that if this were actually the case, and I were unable to understand

anything that my teacher was saying, Id be pretty miserable and

unfocused. This can be related to any ELL students in an English-speaking

classroom. The ELL student would have no idea what was going on and

would pretty much pay attention for short-term memory instead of long-

term. For example, when another teacher was teaching the numbers in
 French, I had no idea what I was saying. I responded to their assessment

by remembering what I could but also by joining in and repeating what my

classmates had said.

5. Overall, what do you think was the purpose of this activity?

a. I believe that the purpose of this activity was to put us as future teachers in

the shoes and mind of an ELL student. We were able to understand how

difficult it was to teach and assess in a different language to a class that

may or may not get one word you are saying. We were also able to

understand how challenging it was to learn from a teacher who is speaking

in a language that you have never been exposed to.