Entry 4: Reflection
In this class I have learned a lot about second language and how it effects people not knowing another language. When I first started working at the rec center I had some parents that just would not learn English and I never understood why they did not want to learn it. I never understood the process that it takes and how hard it maybe. Especially if you have been raised your whole life not knowing it and did not learn it as a child. I never knew the facts behind learning a second language and that learning has so many different factors that have to do with learning a new language, like, the motivation and the age of someone.
I have learned so much in this class on how I will take certain things and incorporate them into my classroom so that anyone that is a second language leaner can be successful in my classroom. I have seen many different factors and how teachers use motivation in their classroom to help their students and I would have never thought about the certain things that teachers do to help their second language learners learn. When I did my interview with a Bilingual teacher I got to see how she has taken English books and have pasted the Spanish translation onto them because they did not make that book in Spanish but the teacher needed to read that book for the lesson. She used brownie points for her kids to get motivation but then she also used individual positive rewards for the students that needed that extra push and saw them showing grit in learning something difficult for them. Seeing how that teacher works so hard for her students and all of her ideas really influenced me on how to set up my future classroom and ideas that I can use.
I think the topic in this class where great and I learned a lot about them. I think motivation was a big topic in this class and the teacher’s part in the classroom. I liked how we did those topics and I feel like that is what I took away the most from this class was learning about the background of second language acquisition and how it has all these factors involving the students learning. The thing that sticks with me the most is motivation and what can teachers do to motivate their students into learning because if students do not have the motivation then they are not going to learn anything because they do not want to listen or be at school. Making that classroom environment and making the connections with students is very important and something that I am going to strive to achieve when I have my own classroom.
The Vblogs made me learn a lot because you could see how teachers today are dealing with ESL and how they are making changes to their classroom. I also learned a lot from the blog where we had to interview someone that did not know English as a first language. I learned a lot about how schools have changed and that not all schools had an ESL program for their student’s and how those certain students learned when they could not understand anything that was going on in the classroom.
Hi Taylor, I agree that when starting the course, I did not realize the extent of difficulties facing ELL students coming into an English-speaking school because I myself did not have much interaction with ELL or ESL students prior to this. These students need as much support as they can get from their school environment because they may not be receiving it elsewhere, and that is not always intentional, it just happens depending on the parent’s history with a second language. I mentioned previously how much I admired the teacher you interviewed and her ability to make adaptions to her classroom library to make all material in her classroom accessible to all students. As future teachers, we must think about the needs of all our students and what we must do to make them successful learners.
ReplyDeleteHi Devon! I agree with what you are saying when you say that the students may not be getting the support that they need at home so they have to get it at school. I never saw no home support when I was younger because my mom was always helping me with my school work. Now that we are in the field I see how these students that do not get any support at home how they are affected at school and their learning growth.
DeleteHi Taylor! I love that you allowed this class to expand your horizons, and let it help you understand where second language learners are coming from. It is definitely important to be able to connect with your students, and I think that it is great that you are willing to put in that extra effort for your kids. I also like that you noted that your teacher has to translate certain texts herself because they are not already translated. Second language learners are not focused on enough in the classroom, and they should be. It definitely is important to be able to provide materials that they understand and can actually connect to, and the fact that you want to be able to put in this much effort as well shows that you are going to be a great educator!
ReplyDeleteHi Noor! I like how you mentioned that I am willing to take the extra effort because that is how I feel like the students will see me trying to help them learn and if they see me taking the extra steps into helping them learn then they might be motivated by that. I appreciate you for saying that I am going to be a great educator!
DeleteHi Taylor, I also did not know that there were so many different factors that affected learning a second language such as age, personality, and motivation. I agree with the point you made about motivation because students take charge of their learning when they are interested in the topics. According to Ortega (2013, p. 190), “attitudes toward the formal learning context have been shown to exert a lasting and important influence on motivation.” Your teacher motivated her students by pasting the Spanish translation into the English books and rewarding them for their effort. In doing so, their attitudes towards learning the second language perked up, and they were more motivated to learn.
ReplyDeleteHi Angela! I think motivation is very important when learning because even as adults if you are not motivated in a class then you are going to do the bare min to pass. Even students today when they are not motivated they will not do the work, as a future educator you do not want your students to not feel motivated because they are so young and they have a long ways to go so I think it is important to set that first couple of years motivation for the student.
DeleteHey Taylor! I had absolutely no idea that there were so many factors that played into learning a second language. Like you, I also never understood why some people couldn't learn the native language around them especially when it comes to helping their child in school. But, after this course I have a new view on how difficult it can be for someone to learn a second language and what goes into learning a second language. I am glad that we have both extended our views on this topic. After this course I also feel so much more prepared to be able to help my future second language learners!
ReplyDeleteHi Lesely! I felt the same way about people not learning a language when it came to helping their child because when I am a mom i will do everything in my power to help my student succeed, but after taking this course I see that it is a lot of work to learn another language and it is time consuming and harder when you are an adult. That is why as future educators we need to try to help our students as much as possible.
DeleteHi Taylor! I appreciate that you were able to get new insight on second language learners. As a daughter of parents who were raised in Mexico and were not exposed to English as children it was defiantly a culture shock when they moved to the U. S. Because of this they were very motivated to learn English in order to get a high paying job. Ortega calls this type of motivation extrinsic motivation, where in a person is motivated by actions outside of one’s genuine desire to learn the second language (2013, p. 176). It is important for us as future teachers to know about the motivation and effort second language learners go though and I am glad we were able to get this insight thanks to this class.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen! Motivation is very important and even as adults we need motivation to succeed sometimes. As future educators if we help students get motivated young then they will be able to find that motivation when they are older in order to succeed so I think it is very important to set a good foundation for the students.
DeleteHi Taylor. I think for me, like you, the way teacher motivate ELL students is what I noticed the most in the classroom. Before taking this course, I always worried about how I could motivate and differentiate instruction for ELL students, especially not being able to speak any languages other than English, myself. Ortega mentions that “…being motivated nurtures more successful L2 learning, but, conversely, experiencing L2 learning success also boosts motivation to even higher levels (p. 189, 2013). Motivation is extremely important for successful learning in L2 learners and it is up to us to figure out what motivates each individual student.
ReplyDeleteHi Asia! I completely agree with you that motivation is the key to helping students learn. I teach the ELL students at my school when we are in the action lab, I have picked up on a few phrases and they have helped me , but I have made the lab fun and motivating to where they are trying their best when it comes to math regardless of the language barrier.
DeleteHola Taylor, I was glad to see how you noticed how much of a big deal motivation is in the classroom for those students who require it. As student teachers we are able to view this in our own classrooms and it become important for successful learning in L2 learners that allows us to take each students personal learning into consideration.
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