I do not have my placement but they are thinking of putting me in a school in Mokena and I should have a placement by the end of this week! Last semester I went to a Kindergarten class in Worth. It was so fun to be with children who are starting on the bottom on the list. They all diverse in culture, mostly Arabic and Polish... As one of my Presentations in this class, I did pick to do ELL because it is always growing and my Fiance was born in Mexico and came to America as a Sophmore. I am so proud of him how he is connecting to the American culture as I try to connect with his family is the Mexican Culture, I am trying so hard to learn Spanish still as its been 3 years, In two years my last name will be Ortiz and I will have to get more into the culture as my students will benefit from it if I decide to go for my masters in ELL. Right into the book it Page 4 it starts off with talking about "About 25% of US children under 18 are living in immigrant families" As going more into just chapter 1 there is a subtitle on page 9 with a bilingual first grade as most of the kids in that example have a Latin culture as most the kids in my class where Arabic they had a teacher that was there three times a week and it worked out that I was there the other two. I did cross paths with her to meet her and got to know her, she was Arabic-American and she would be the one who would talk to the children's parents who were Arabic to help the teacher because there were so many children.
She let me even teach some lessons to help me learn more even though it was just for observing. I thought it was so funny when I first started with some lessons like the daily calendar and talking about the weather, I did not know the order as well as it was my first time and all the kids said no that is wrong you do this first... So I just played alone as they were teaching me. They were so used to how their teacher does the order they were lost when I went off order. As on page 45, there is a whole list of lessons for teachers and with this situation, I feel like it relates to number 4 because of how the children reacted and also the number because my teacher told them after that it is okay to go out of order sometimes because not everyone is the same and we all do things a bit different. In this class, I did learn a lot... I do really want to teach High school but I like going younger as it teaches me more and be Well Rounded. I will still try and visit the kids as they grow and learn even more in their class and I can not wait to see where I get placed this semester and to grow even more to be an amazing teacher!
I love the idea of culture and diversity in your blog Natalie. it sounds like you have a truly deep passion for teaching students who are from other countries. I myself came to the united states of america at the age of four and took a class in the 3rd grade for English as a second language. Thanks to my ELL teacher i am a fluent english speaker. She made a big difference in my life and made english a breeze for me. I think you will do the same as a ELL teacher. Your job is not a small one. Your job is actually one of the most important jobs out there!
ReplyDeleteNatalie, you're right about the variety of cultures that are already represented in schools, and will likely become even more diverse. It should be interesting for you as you are trying to assimilate more into your future husband's culture. I commend you for trying to learn Spanish.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of lessons for teachers in Woolfolk. What other ones could you connect to what you have seen in your experiences?
Hi Natalie!
ReplyDeleteWhen you were discussing your fiancé, I couldn't help but to think about chapter 5 of the reading we had to accomplish for this week. Chapter 5 dealt with language development, language diversity, and immigrant education. I wonder if it were extremely difficult for him to assimilate to American culture and learn the language? I am curious because the book stated that the milestone/sensitive period for language development was between the ages of 2-6. So this means that this age group is the ideal time for people to be able to learn different languages. As the chapter goes on, Woolfolk says that it still is possible for adolescents and adults to learn a new language, but "after adolescence it is almost impossible to learn a new language without speaking with an accent"(187). The whole idea of learning new languages fascinates me. Also, good luck as you learn Spanish and congratulations on your engagement!