LLT Reflection #3

I thought the article that we read in class today was very interesting.  Even though it didn't directly relate to ELL students, it could be applied to any type of classroom.  I think what struck me the most was the influence that the community as a whole had on education.  For example, in Roadsville the entire community taught the children to simply read a text and not pick it apart any further.  I would be incredibly intimidated to teach in this type of community because you would be teaching against the grain of the entire community.  You would not just be dealing with students, but you would be dealing with social norms and parents as well.    In an ELL classroom this could also be the case.  If you are teaching overseas, for example, the type of community that you may teach in will most likely be very different from the community you, as a learner grew up in.  I think trying to find a balance between teaching in a way that make the students feel motivated and encouraged, while also trying to teach them new content or ways of learning will be challenging.

This also connects to the presentation that was shown today.  If students are used to being taught reading in a certain way they may have difficulty learning another way in your classroom.  Also, it could be difficult to pick which way to teach reading to a class that you have never taught before.  Different strategies may work for different classes and different students and it is up to the teacher to figure out what best way that might be.  It could also be different if you are going to teach overseas because as a community those students may learn a different way than students in the US.  Again, it will be a matter of adapting content and reading methods to each individual class, and each individual student.  I am excited to try and put these reading methods into practice because there is so much debate about which method works best.  I would like to try the methods and see for myself.