As of right now, my driving question is for sure going to revolve around my English Language Learners. I have a large portion of re-designated English Language Learners and a smaller portion of students who are ELLs which are brand new to this country. Have none to little understanding of the English language in speaking, writing or reading. I will be honest with you. Going in to teaching, knowing that I am fluent in the Spanish language I thought that I would be able to support these students to a point where they wouldn’t struggle in my class. But that is not the case where I have a classroom of 36 students and nine students who are fairly new to our country and are going through a big change in their lives. I have realized that there is more to just talking to these students in Spanish after I have lectured the class in English. Therefore, they are my focus throughout this program. Because if my instructional strategies and teaching practice helps them I truly believe that it can benefit my entire group of students.
The first impression I got from the IRB form was that most of what we talk in our class, the research, and our blogs are some of the things that I will have to include in this form. Part of the form talks about “describe” this or that. Therefore, in order to address my driving question appropriately I need to make sure that I am applying the proper research which will benefit me at the end, in other words, getting the best understanding of my driving question. Some of my “need to knows” might be more important than others or they might be equally important. As of right now I am not completely sure. But I think that some of the things that I have on my Mind Map are just pieces of a big puzzle that I am trying to put together. Some ways that I can measure my “need to knows” is through my research that I will do in the classroom which can be through instructional strategies that I implement or observe how students are working in groups through a structured activity.
3 Comments
2/11/2018 11:09:31 am
If I remember correctly, I think you said that you taught 9th grade math. I see the struggles that my 8th graders have without the added difficulty of a language barrier thrown on top of that. I think that your focus on your ELL's will definitely benefit you going forward. I have also encountered students in my class who were brand new to the country, or didn't speak English very well. I was always just basically told, "just do the best you can." I will be interested to see how you focus your research and hope that I can learn some strategies from you along the way.
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James Macariola
2/12/2018 08:44:37 pm
Your DQ is well supported in the book, The Flat World. Your DQ can be correlated by the lack of funds education today is receiving creating more of a problem for students, especially ELL students. This "inequality" in education is widening the gap between the "well-off" students / school sites and their counterpart of "diversified" schools / districts. This can also relate to the whole issue of DACA and our government stance on this issue and the lack of support these students are getting. Very deep issue.
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Kendra Parsons
2/13/2018 02:09:00 pm
I think it is great that you identified the students that are redesignated in addition to the current ELL students. I think often once they are redesignated and don't have the targeted support they once had and it is easy for them to slip through the cracks. I have noticed at my site we have very few ELL students; however, when you look more closely at struggling students, they are often redesignated. I look forward to seeing where your research takes you and to share strategies.
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