ESL Teacher Reflection #3

            For my TE 401 class, I was placed in a 6^th grade classroom.  Last Friday, I had the opportunity of helping an ESL student write a one-page essay.  The teacher told me that he had an essay written already, but needed help editing it to make sense.  Before we started writing, he told me that he moved to the United States from Africa two years ago and that his family speaks little English.  I instantly connected with him and I loved how comfortable he was with me right away.   

            He told me that his essay was about, “what he was going to do for work” because his sister recently told him that he needs to start thinking about what he is going to do to make money.  So we decided that we would write an essay about what he wanted to be when he grows up.  We talked about all the different types of jobs that you could have and what interested him.  He said that his first pick would be to become a professional soccer player and secondly, he wanted to work with cars because, “Cars are cool!”  He seemed excited to have someone work with him on his essay.  He asked me how write things so they made more sense in his writing, and occasionally asked me how to spell words.  He was not distracted in any way and finished his essay very quickly.

            When I helped other students in the class with their essays, they seemed not to care as much about their assignment.  The other students that I worked with could not think of topics to write about, got distracted very easily, did not ask for my help often, and took a long time to write their one-page essay.  I found this very interesting.

            I loved how eager this ESL student was to write his paper and how determined he was to turn it in to his teacher in a way that she would understand what he had written.  Compared to the other students, I was amazed on the work that he had done as well as the short amount of time that he took to complete it.

            Overall, I learned yet again something from ESL students.  It is important to keep in mind that each student is different and that all students have a different learning style.  The other students may have been bored with this assignment, however the ESL student thoroughly enjoyed it.  When planning lessons it is extremely important to keep this is mind.  I also really enjoyed pulling out this ESL student from the class and working with him in one-on-one setting.  When I did this, I learned how smart he was and how well he is able to tell me what the wants to write.  It was easier for me to recognize his proficiency level working with him one-on-one, which in turn made it easier for me to scaffold him.  I enjoyed working with this ESL student, and I am excited to watch him grow as the year goes on.