Last ELL Teach

Today, I met with my ELL student for the last time. I  had a worksheet with reading material about apartheid and Africa. We started off by doing a vocabulary worksheet to establish an understanding of the vocabulary that is relevant to apartheid. We did a vocabulary table that consisted of him writing down the definition and then using the word in a sentence that he created. Loaded with our new vocabulary, we took turns reading the packet. While we read, we did a graphic organizer of the main points; it was a bubble graphic organizer. We took the headlines from each section and added the relevant info beneath it.

Todays activity went off without a hitch. My student was very focused and was already familiar with this type of activity, considering we have done it before. Without much instruction he drew out the graphic organizer, only occasionally glancing over at mine as I modeled the activity throughout the reading. Going over the vocabulary in the beginning made the reading process a lot more understood. It was not very often I had to explain what a word meant.

In reflection, I see good things for my ELL’s future. In the same sense, I also see good things in my future of working with ELL students. Taking the time to describe some basic things concerning the English language will make all the difference in teaching ELL students. I expect this experience and training to work well for me in the field. Another reinforced idea I’ve learned throughout the block was that modeling and routine are key structural elements that make teaching and learning easier for both the student and teacher. I could tell my ELL student got more comfortable around me the longer the semester went on; he more openly spoke Spanish to describe English words and I translated to English. This type of comfort level will be important for not only ELL students but also the majority of the population of students. My ELL experience was well-rounded  and I feel more prepared to take on the responsibility of ensuring all students learn in my class.