LLT Reflection 2 (Martin)

I am currently working in a classroom of sixth grade language arts students at a local middle school.  I am starting to be put in a small group with four or five girls who are struggling readers, and whose first language isn't English.  I've noticed that they're all at varying levels of reading, writing, and sounding out vocabulary words.  It's challenging to help each student individually, even when they are in a small group, because they all want to try and answer the question, leaving the slowest learner to simply write down the answer.  Some strategies that I've tried using to help all of the girls get a chance to talk is going in a circle.  They each answer one question and then it goes to the next girl.  The other students are not allowed to answer the question when it is another girl's turn.  This seems to work really well because they each get to talk which they like, but it also allows me to see when a student is struggling and work with them on a more individual level when we're in a group setting.  I'm trying to think of other strategies to use for later on this week and next week during tutoring.

During my time at the middle school I also lead a book club.  This is with ESL student and native English speaking students.  It's all girls and there are 8 of them who have been coming periodically.  Typically how we've been running it is that I read one chapter and then each girl takes a turn reading a page aloud.  The students are really excited to have me read aloud first because then they can follow along and enjoy the book without the anxiety of reading aloud.  When I ask who wants to read aloud after I do every one of them raises their hands, regardless of their reading level.  This is really encouraging to see as a language teacher because it shows that even though the girls are at different levels, they are all comfortable with each other and with me to read aloud.  It has been great practice for each of them to read aloud and they seem to really enjoy it.  I'm excited to keep reading next week!