What is a campfire effect? I have been trying to look it up online, but I have come up with nothing. In the article that we read this week, the term was not defined well. I understand the feeling that the author is trying to convey. Like pretty much everyone I know, I have sat around a campfire with friends and family and stared at it for hours. The calming effect that a campfire has is undeniable, even if the reason for the calm is unknown.
I feel as though a class about ELL students and how to best serve them in the classroom would be very helpful. Some of my fellow students are taking a class that has to do with ELL students. I have not heard if they feel it is helpful yet, but I will be interested to see if they feel more comfortable with the topic at the end of the semester.
Although I have not taken a class specifically for ELL students, I do remember one experience relating to this population that has stuck with me. Last year, in my science methods course, we had a class with the math students. As a group, we were taught a physics lesson completely in spanish. While the topic was one that some of us were familiar with, it was one of the most frustrating classes because we were not allowed to talk in our native language. It was absolutely ridiculous to not be able to speak English. There were students in the classroom who could have helped me because they knew Spanish, but they were not allowed to help me understand what was going on.
We did the assignment (a worksheet) 3 separate times. One time, there was no helping sentences written on the sheet. Another time there were starting sentences, and the last time we were allowed to speak English in order to complete the assignment. The sheet with sentence starters was the most helpful for me because I could remember key words and phrases and fill in where they were appropriate. I felt empowered because I knew what I was talking about. I think this experience will help me when I have ELL students in my classes.
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4 comments:
I agree with you. I don't have one experience with ELL's that sticks with me either. I wrote in my blog as well that having classes on this topic would be very helpful. I find the activity you talked about very interesting and think if I had an experience like that it would help me to better understand where these students are coming from. I have never had to sit through a class in which the language was not my native one. I feel that is a very valuable experience.
Hi Carolyn,
What an amazing experience! I think sometimes the best thing for us as teachers is to try to put ourselves in our students' shoes!
I had a similar experience. I've been trying to become fluent in Spanish so a while back I started going to a Spanish church on Saturday nights. I wanted to be around the people and the language. The first night I had no idea what was going on! Even when the minister greeted me and made a small joke that I "looked lost" and everybody laughed, I still didn't know what was happening. I felt very uncomfortable. I know this experience will help me to relate to future students.
Nicole
I also remember that particular assignment in which we tried to communicate in a language other than english. I found it very interesting but at the same time a little easier than most people had it. At one point we were all required to take some type of foreign language and the majority of people opted to take spanish. That assignment allowed people of different spanish speaking levels to somewhat communicate. In an ELL classroom we have to remember that these students may arrive with no English speaking ability. This was somewhat reflected during that assignment becuase someone in my group did not take spanish so in order to communicate we ended up making pictures for them. This gives us great insight into how to deal with new ELL learners: we can use pictures, one side with the picture, and the other with the english word to reflect key items such as the bathroom, drink, sick, etc.
That must have been a really cool and valuable experience! You were able to experience school from the lens of an ELL student. I think ELL students face even greater challenges than just learning a new language. They also have to learn a new culture, new ways of doing things (some rules of what's acceptable may never be explicitly stated in our classes), moving to a new country, making friends, etc. The list could go on and on. Therefore, as teachers, we have to be really creative. I know it's not easy because you have 19 other students with different needs in your class. My question is how do I balance meeting all of my students' needs, making sure no one gets left out?
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