L400/500 FA19

As I was reading the case studies for this week, and learning about best practices for teaching ELL students, three specific things came to my mind. I decided I would devote this blog post to all three, even though they are not closely related. When I was read the case study I thought about the idea of language being taught not as an isolated thing, but as more of an inter disciplinary learning. The text notes that teaching a language, even from the beginning, is not teaching the language in isolation. “No language is ever taught in isolation from content. Even at beginning levels, when learners are working to gain interactional fluency in everyday uses of language, they are always also learning something else: how to greet someone how to ask for something, how to tell about an event, how to enact a culture.” That quote made me think of the way I was taught Spanish in high school, and the way I tend to teach English. When I was in high school we learned vocabu...

Acquiring a Second Language is No Small Task! Especially while learning math, social studies, and science! Acquiring a new language is tough, or it can be for most people especially if done after you’ve acquired a first language.  But imagine being responsible for learning all academics in that new language at the same time you are working to acquire it.  I grew up learning a visual form of communication in my own school with friends that used a form of visual English. This is not the same as American Sign Language, which I learned later.  This form of visual English was acquired easily for me - it was a secret way to communicate with friends in class without being loud and it also followed the same grammatical structure as English.   Fast forward to college and I’m sitting in my freshman American Sign Language class thinking “I got this!”.  Guess what, I didn’t...I didn’t understand much of what was happening and I was one of the lucky people...

Bilingual AF As I sit at my computer preparing for my day, I receive a most unwelcome email. Before opening it, I look at the subject and feel my heart began to sink. The subject line reads, “New Student.” As I open the email I think to myself, oh please be a well-behaved student. I am already under so much pressure.” I open the email and read. “Ms. M you will be receiving a new student, Cruz Lopez (name was changed) who speaks only Spanish. He will be a car rider.” My heart sinks further. I look for another teacher to vent to. “I’m getting a new student who is ESL,” I say to my colleague. “Oh boy,” she says with a look of sympathy. “I sure hope not.” These conversations take place among many teachers at my school, including myself. It is so interesting that when many monolingual teachers get new students, we are secretly hoping for a mirror of ourselves and of the students we think we like most: monolingual, well behaved student. After all, hanging over as teachers i...