Hello everyone!
My name is Hannah Gooch, and I chose to interview the ESL specialist, Mrs. Gonzalez, at my school (Decker Prairie Elementary) for this blog post. Mrs. Gonzalez had a lot of great advice to share with me. She started off by sharing why she became an ESL teacher, and how she moved from out of state to Texas for this job. She had to immediately get her ESL certification because it was required in all the districts she wanted to work in. She said something that she loved the most about being an ESL teacher was that she can see such clear growth in her students. Mrs. Gonzalez does this by getting to know each one of her students really well to avoid stereotypes and generalizations (Wright, 2019, p. 19). This also helps her to make sure each students needs are met and that she can help them succeed.
She also explained that an important tool used in Tomball’s district is
Summit k-12 which focuses on mastering skills required for ESL students. This program
helps ELL students with proficiency in English by targeting the skills of listening,
speaking, reading, and writing for mastery (Wright, 2019, p. 94). Ms. Gonzalez
also explained how she had a language kit that she also uses with her students
along with Summit k-12. She then went on to give me advice as a future teacher
of ESL students that sentence stems were a helpful tool to have in the
classroom to act. Overall, this was a very successful interview, and I learned a lot
of helpful skills and tools from her.
References:
Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for
Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (3rd
ed.). Caslon Publishing.
Hi Hannah, great interview with the ESL specialist. I too was informed of a lot of great advice from watching the interview. The fact that her favorite part of being a ESL teacher is that she can see such clear growth in her students, shows the passion she has for teaching. After all,
ReplyDelete"There is a growing use of terms such as "multilingual learner," which may capture a broader range of students who are bi/multilingual or who are learning, and learning through more than one language." (Wright, 2019). She seems to not put labels on her students and truly focus on ensuring each students needs are met and that she can help them succeed.
Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (3rd ed.). Caslon Publishing.
Hi Jasmine!
DeleteThank you for your insight! I love your thoughts about how Mrs. Gonzalez does not put labels on her students. She figures out their strengths and weaknesses, and uses what she knows to help them improve and reach their goals. Mrs. Gonzalez "provides the appropriate use of assessment" to make sure she can figure out what her students need to work on to be able to succeed in her classroom (Wright, 2019, p. 153). She showed me how passionate she is about helping her students and I hope to be like her when I get my own classroom. Her students feel loved and cared for her in classroom.
References:
Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (3rd ed.). Caslon Publishing.
Hello Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI loved this interview with Mrs. Gonzalez! I am so glad you got insight on the positive and challenges of being an ESL specialist. She described very well how some kids are learning different things because of the different grade levels she works with. According to Wright, "The amount of SLIC needed will vary from subject to subject and from task to task, in accordance with the language demands of the specific task within a given content area"(p.45). Your ESL specialist exactly explained this aspect of language that she sees everyday when working with her ELL students. Awesome video!
References: Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (3rd ed.). Caslon Publishing.
Hi Jennifer!
DeleteThank you for your insight on my blog post. I like how you pointed out that she has struggles within her classroom and that each of her students are different. Being a teacher is not easy, but we have to work with each individual student to make sure their needs are met in the classroom. Mrs. Gonzalez works to understand language so she can, "determine how best to help each student meet these demands to ensure his or her English language development and academic success in the classroom (Wright, 2019, p. 94). As I interviewed her, I could tell she has a love for her students and her job.
References:
Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (3rd ed.). Caslon Publishing.