This whole class has been one big adaptation for me. I have never once thought about teaching ELL students and never had any ELL's in my classes growing up. From all the different lectures, presentations, and readings throughout the course of this semester, however, I have started to see that the way in which material should be presented to ELL's should carry over to general classroom education. By this I mean that why should the teacher speak at a rapid pace, move through lessons quickly, and not repeat directions over again in multiple ways? Sure, the teacher in a general setting isn't going to have to worry about language barriers, but what about cultural barriers, disability barriers, or just plain not paying attention. The way in which teachers of ELL's are taught to engage the students isn't something that should be foreign to teachers of speakers of the same language. There is little difference, in my opinion, between students who speak different languages than their peers than students who are visual learners when the majority of the classroom are audio learners. The teacher should still find ways to present the material in a way that all students can understand, despite what the difference in understanding may be.
Though I don't plan on teaching ELL's and was skeptical at first as to what I would be able to take away from this class, I have enjoyed watching the SIOP model, discussing experiences with working with ELL students, and reading the texts about different strategies and ideas about teaching language learners. I plan on taking some of these ideas and incorporating them into my teaching of English speakers.
Thanks for sharing, Danielle! I'm glad you were able to not only stick it through, but come away with valuable insights for your own future teaching. I agree that the basic principles of good teaching can be applied to any teaching context, whether it be ESL or not. We often talk about "ELLs" as a group because it's likely that they share a lot of the complexities that stem from having an additional language background. But yes, at the end of the day, it just comes down to being able to accommodate as best we can individual students with different linguistic, cultural, educational, experiential backgrounds, and different learning styles, aptitudes, personalities...the list goes on and on! I'm glad you're able to look beyond the simple division of ELL vs. native English speakers, and think about how our discussions apply to your own teaching!
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