Entry 1: Course Introduction
Jeroy Williams' Blog
Welcome to the first entry of my blog!
Below the video is the written script of my dialog. Enjoy and thank you for watching!
Hello, my name is Jeroy Williams, I am a senior at the University of Houston and currently student teaching at Melillo Middle school in Pasadena Independent School District. I began my college career at Galveston Community College as a EMT student which somehow lead me into the Engineering program and now I am one semester from becoming a Math Teacher. I received my Associates in Science at Galveston College and then took a year off from school before applying to the University of Houston to begin my degree in teaching. Through all of my experiences with changing majors and taking different classes, I’ve experienced both students and teachers who are English Second Language Learners and Speakers. I’ve seen first hand, my peers struggling to understand certain information given by our professors and I’ve always been willing to simplify that information so that it would be easier for them to understand what is being asked. Right now, I am student teaching in Pasadena ISD which has a large Hispanic community and lots of students that need teachers who are knowledgeable in working with ELL and ESL students. So far, I have used pictures, video, dictionaries, and thesaurus’ for my students this year to help them understand words that are foreign and words that have multiple meaning.
I have not recently taken any foreign language courses at the University of Houston, however, I have taken both Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 in high school. I remember saying words in Spanish over and over again until it became natural to speak and I was able to use it fluently in sentences. I remember being so frustrated while taking quizzes and exams, as all of the wording was in Spanish, but I couldn’t seem to remember what I had studied the night before. This has taught me how difficult it can be to learn a new language and how important it is, as a teacher, to simplify and differentiate content using pictures and examples that my ESL and ELL students can understand. I have found technology to be extremely useful for students who are learning English because it makes content more accessible and helps teacher differentiate their content better. If I show students a video in my classroom over content we have learned, I can also give my students access that video on their laptops provided by the school. Students can then re-watch the video multiple times if needed. Students will also be able to pause and rewind any section of the video that they need for either clarification, or an opportunity to take notes.
As a teacher, it is important to stay updated on different tools and strategies we are able to use for our students. Not educating ourselves on what will benefit our students will only be a disservice to both ourselves and our students. Incorporating student culture into the lesson can motivate students to learn what is being taught. Simple inclusions such as adding a type of food to a word problem or mentioning a nearby neighborhood when trying to find the perimeter of a square, can keep students engaged in the lesson. To further help my students learn English better, I will collaborate with other teachers that my students may have to make sure that what they are learning, stays consistent throughout the entire school day. As a math teacher, I understand how important reading is, as we have word problems that all students need to be able to dissect and comprehend what the question is asking for. Vocabulary is what my main focus will be when teaching ELL’s since most word problems will include them, so, if students can’t fully understand every word in the word problem, they can use vocabulary to get an idea of what the question is asking. I also want to keep parents as updated and involved in their child’s academic growth as possible, I believe that parent involvement has great benefits in their child’s success in school. Sending weekly emails of what I have planned, notifying them on major changes in their child’s performance, and getting them involved in daily assignments such as homework and study material I have created to help with language and vocabulary.
It’s a privilege to be able to work with students from different cultures and backgrounds. Not only are they learning from me, but I am also learning from them as I build relationships throughout the school year.
Hi Jeroy,
ReplyDeleteI too am doing my student teaching at a heavily populated Hispanic school. By becoming a part of this school and talking to colleagues about other schools, I have come to the realization that there is a fast growing population of Hispanic students storming into the public school system year by year. Wright states in chapter 1 of our textbook, Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners, that ¨according to the analysis of the U.S. Census and American Community Survey data by the Urban Institute, in 2009, 16.8 million children between the ages of 0-17 were children of immigrants (Wright p.6). This tells me that by the time I become a teacher and am settled in my classroom, there will be an even larger population of Spanish speaking students than before. The school where I am doing my student teaching is already at a high percentage of Hispanic students a I have previously stated. They are making almost 80-90% of the student body. This information was taking in 2009 and that was ten years ago, so I can only imagine what the statistic show now. I think it would be in our best interest to slowly start to learn simple Spanish and subject related jargon in Spanish, so we can create some type of communication with our ESL students in a way that makes them feel comfortable.
Hi Lawrence, thanks for your comment. Before I wanted to become a teacher I've always stressed how important it is to learn Spanish if you are living in the state of Texas. I'm slowly learning new words and how to form sentences but it's very challenging since I've been speaking English my entire life. I think it's important to learn words and phrases that are school related, such as "I need help", "I don't/do understand", and those "what and why" questions. This will help you better understand your ELLs and make it easier to formatively assess them throughout the lesson.
DeleteHello Jeroy! I know the feeling of excitement of being so close to graduating to become a teacher! My journey begins January of 2020 so by December I should be graduating. I, first of all, applaud you for using many resources in the classroom for the ELLs. During my Developing Teacher semester, I was placed in Pasadena ISD for my observations and it was indeed a high percentage of the Hispanic community. As Wright states in the textbook, it is important for the teachers to identify and use supplemental education materials for use in the classroom (Wright p. 24). The students in that district are provided with their personal chrome books and utilizing videos that are accessible to them is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteHello Patricia, thank you for commenting. I remember my developing teacher semester and how I was so amazed by how the teacher I was placed with, went back and forward between English and Spanish to teach both his ELLs and English-speaking students. I can tell that it was exhausting to repeat the same instructions twice, in two different languages, but he did it flawlessly and the students were learning. It's extremely important to differentiate instruction whether there are disabled and ELLs in the classroom or not. Every student has a different way of learning so differentiating and finding out what's the best for your students will end with nothing but positive results.
DeleteI agree with what you said about how teaching has changed your ideas of importance of ells and esl students. I have started at a school that is predominantly second language learners and it has become very difficult effectively communicating with the the students. I am in HISD and I have found through the district demographics that over 30% of the students in the district are ELL and according to Wright Texas has 15% of all the ELL students in the nation (Wright p. 7). This was a large awakening tome and is a struggle that I never had to go through personally, but now see the struggle that students are going through because I can see how understanding the reading is causing them to not be as successful in math as they could be.
ReplyDeleteHello Andrew, thank you for commenting. When I was in High school, I saw that our Spanish speaking students were always in different classes and moved together throughout the years. I had no idea the importance of these classes or what was even happening in there, I just knew that they were segregated from everyone else. As I've student taught, and have visited different schools, my outlook on those programs have changed because I see the progress and how much these students learn both, how to speak socially and professionally in the English language.
DeleteYou don't really realize how real the issue of ESL students is until you've observed a number of different schools with large Hispanic communities. I plan on taking some sort of language class when I have more time (I work or observe at my school 7 days a week currently) so that I can at least partially communicate with ESL students. I am planning to create a website that will have all the information I teach at school on it, sort of like what you were saying with videos, but I want to bring it to the children's homes as well. I'm also planning on providing numerous videos covering all the lesson I will teach throughout a school year that are in Spanish. Until I'm able to communicate with ESL students I want to be able to provide secondary options that will help them not fall behind the rest of the class.
ReplyDeleteHello Eric, thank you for commenting. I think you have some great ideas that will help your students and their parents keep track of what is happening in the classroom. Your website idea is definitely something I will consider doing so that all students will have access to it at home (if possible). I am currently trying to learn phrases and important words that will allow me to formatively assess my ELLs. I want to know what they are struggling with and how I can help them.
Delete“Language learning was viewed as mechanical habit formation accomplished through dialogue memorization and drills focused on particular language structures.” (Wright. 61)
ReplyDeleteWright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.