Vblog #1 Jade Amirie
Hi, my name is Jade. I am a senior and will be graduating this fall. I will be pursuing a career and education as an elementary school teacher. I am excited and nervous to start my journey.
My native language English I would say that I know the language well since it is the only language that I speak. We all know that the English language is complex when it comes to the rules of writing in the English language, and even some of the pronunciations and spelling. When teaching phonics I do find myself questioning the rules of English as it is my native language. I sometimes do not understand the rules.
I started learning English as kid from hearing my parents talk to me and of course as I developed into the talking stage, I spoke English.
I believe the influence that my parents and siblings had over the development of my English language skills is the way that they taught me certain words and pronunciations. I believe the way I hear certain words is incorrect. Learning proper letter pronunciations as an adult is funny, because I may say something and may not sound quite right. I think it is funny when I am working with the students, and I pronounce certain words they may giggle or mimic me. I also think living in Texas we have an accent. I have a best friend who is from California and we both speak different languages. So, I believe the people that you are around influence your language skills.
I’ve always desired to learn Spanish, but never fully put the work in to actually learn it but I think some of the best ways to learn a second or foreign language would be to start as young as possible and if you are older, I think having patience to practice the language is helpful.
As a teacher I will help my ELL students develop their English language skills by encouraging them to use English with confidence. I will create an environment where they feel safe to make mistakes within the language. Another simple yet effective tool to help is using hand gestures. One time a teacher started talking to us in a different language. Then she asked us what she said, and we had no idea. Only thing we could make out was paper. Then she told us again using hand gestures. Then asked us what she said. We did not know 100 percent what she meant but we had an idea that she wanted us to put the paper away based on her showing her the folder and putting the paper inside.
In my experience so far, most ELL students I have met are either advanced or advanced high. I mostly think advanced high because I am usually surprised when I see their ELL status. The thing that I have noticed is that some of our students may be that they speak the language at home with family so maybe you hear an accent. My teaching beliefs or philosophy is anyone who is willing to learn can be taught. I will remember to stick to it as I meet ELL Students throughout my journey.
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ReplyDeleteHi Jade! I really liked your take on this Vblog and finding a way to connect your background to ELL students. With my experience a lot of students who are ELL struggle with confidence and self identity. The students that I personally worked with were scared to speak in English because of fear that they would say something incorrectly and be bullied. As educators we "need to know which language problems will resolve themselves and which problems will need attention" according to Wright 3rd edition in chapter 2. I use this quote because what I understand is you are building a safe and welcoming classroom that will alleviate a lot of problems.
ReplyDeleteHi angel. Thank you for responding. I believe confidence is key in anything that we do. For me I always try to imagine myself in someone else ‘s shoes. I want to create an environment where mistakes are allowed, and it is a judgement free zone. Yes my goal is to set clear boundaries that we are accepting to diverse background and that will help me solve issues as you stated.
DeleteHi Jade,
ReplyDeleteAfter watching your video it made me think back to my philosophy of teaching ELL students. I want all my students to feel a part of the class. I also felt that the way I pronounce words is inaccurate as well so I never make my students feel bad for how they speak. If they get something wrong I simply just model the best way to say it so others can understand them. I think the big idea with my students is getting them to understand it's not about just right or just wrong but how well can you be understood and understand your peers.
As Wright talks about language socialization, it important we help students make social connection with each other through language. It we make them feel isolated that can hinder not only their language development but their social development as well. The sociocultural context has a big impact on their acquisition. Language and cultural differences can influence how students treat each other so it's important that we as teachers make those interactions positive.