Reflections

Overall, I really enjoyed this fieldwork experience a lot more than many of the classes for this degree. I enjoy doing hands-on work to learn, and this class gave me some great ideas for my classroom. The coursework was very reasonable and not overwhelming like I thought it might be. I had a lot of fun observing the ESL teacher at my school and spending a few days with her in her classroom. I got to see what it's really like to teach ESL as opposed to 4th grade like I'm currently teaching.

Although we did not use a wiki in this semester, the blog posts were a beneficial way to reflect on the coursework that we have completed.

Literature Circles

1. What are your overall impressions of implementation?

Overall, I thought the implementation of the literature circles went relatively well. My students enjoyed the project and it is something that I would recommend for others to try as well. It was quite a bit of planning on my end, but it was a good experience for the children and they liked the books.

2. How did the students react to the literature?

The students really liked the books that I had selected. I selected several Jan Brett books, because she has beautiful illustrations and we've been talking about senses so it corresponded nicely with that.

3. How did students react to discussion?

Students were very involved in the the discussion. I was working with a group of three students and they were all three so eager to share that it was a little difficult to make sure that everyone was heard.

4. How appropriate are Literature Circles for ELL's?

From my experience, literature circles are an excellent way to involve EL's in reading instruction. I think that ELL's can really benefit from this small group, targeted instruction with literature.

5. What changes would you make next time?

In the future, I would like to try this technique with older students, and I would like to let the students choose the literature that we study instead of me selecting it.

6. What suggestions do you have for other ESL professionals considering it?

I would recommend that you try it and see how it works for you. I did a lot of research about literature circles in general on the internet and there are a lot of great resources out there. I would recommend checking that out to see what you can find to give you some ideas and direction on where to start setting up a literature circle in your classroom.

Reflective Fieldnote Blog #4

• What are your overall impressions of this observation?

My overall impressions of this fieldwork were very positive. The teacher that I worked with was amazing and I learned a lot from her and from the students in her classroom. I also was able to take back some of the information I gathered in this observation and use for my personal classroom instruction.

• What did you learn as a result of the fieldwork?

One of the things that I learned from this fieldwork was how important it is to really get to know your students. I learned a lot from doing the different projects on one student at a time, and I thought about how I wished that I would take the time to get to know every student like this.

• What is the value in case study research and analysis in terms of classroom practice?

I believe that case study research is the most effective way to improve classroom practice. Trying different strategies and techniques to see what works and doesn't can help improve instruction.

• What is the value of the ethnographic narrative?

The value of an ethnographic narrative is to gain insight on a child's perspective. Sometimes when I'm teaching a group of 25 kids and focused so hard on meeting the state standards and being ready for testing that I forgot that they are just kids. They need to play and have fun. They have lives outside of school and interests and hobbies. Doing a project like this makes me see a glimpse into their lives. I liked hearing about my student's family and what he enjoys doing out of school. I also learned about how his culture effects his life and how our lives are different because of our different backgrounds.

• How will this information assist future teachers (next year’s teachers) as well as yourself in

meeting the needs of this particular second language learner?

It will give information to the teacher about the student academically and socially. It will allow the teacher to see where the student comes from and a little bit about his background and also to see what he is like as a student.

Action Research

Section 1: Thoughts on Action Research

After completing this project, I realize that action research is a great way to improve practice as a teacher. One of the responsibilities of a teacher is to identify problems in the classroom and come up with solutions to improve them. In a way, I think teachers are always conducting action research, formally or informally. Taking the time to complete this action research project has helped me identify and address a problem that I see in my own classroom with my ESL students. My students seem to really struggle with academic vocabulary words in Science and Social Studies. These subjects, for ESL students, are difficult because many of them do not have any background knowledge on the topics that we study in fourth grade. Because of this, it is hard for them to connect meaning to the new and unfamiliar words in our textbooks. After seeing the result of keeping a word journal to record academic vocabulary, I realize how valuable action research can be in the classroom.

Section 2: Ideas generated as a result of my project

For my project, I had my ESL students keep a word journal of all of their academic vocabulary words in Science and Social Studies after being introduced to the words in class. For each word, they had to write the word, write a definition in their own words (not copy from the glossary of their book), write a sentence using the word correctly, and draw a picture to help them remember what the word means. After seeing how much my ESL students enjoyed this assignment and really showed improvement because of it, I have decided to start making my entire class keep a word journal to reinforce these words.

Section 3: Suggestions to ESL professionals based on your my findings

To ESL professionals, I would highly recommend the use of word journals for their students. I found that it was very beneficial in Science and Social Studies, but this idea could be generated across the curriculum. The teacher could have students keep a journal for any subject, it is not just limited to the two that I suggested. My students loved the part where they got to draw a picture for the word, and I think that drawing is a great way for students to attach meaning to a word even if they don't understand the words that explain it.

Observation and Problem Identification

Teaching Issues

During my observation, I noticed several problems in the classroom related to teaching and instruction. The first problem that I noticed was simply not enough time to meet the needs of each child that requires EL services. The teacher that I observed pulls out 30 kids a day at two different schools. She comes in early and starts a group, stays late, and has no lunch break. Even with this rigorous schedule, it is still a challenge to spend enough time with each small group throughout the day to give them the attention that they need.

In addition, some of the groups were too big. Instruction time would have been more effective if the groups had less children in them. The time restraints and lack of money to hire another EL teacher is the reason that the groups cannot be broken into small ones. Especially the kindergarten groups are too big and hard to manage. In those groups, instruction time is limited due to trying to manage that many K's that do not speak English.

Second Language Acquisition

The majority of instruction that I observed was in Reading/Language Arts. The teacher did a fabulous job teaching reading strategies to help her students be successful readers of English. She was reviewing the concept of visualization while I was there. I was amazed at how the students understood this concept and the vocabulary that the teacher was using with them. It made me wonder if my own regular ed. 4th graders would have understood this same thing! I also liked how she incorporated their native countries and languages into her assignments. She allowed them to share and listen to stories about their native countries that related to the visualization exercise.

As far as materials go, the teacher used SO many books the day that I observed. She had all kinds of wordless books, picture books, chapter books, leveled readers, and more. The students all had individual book bags and comfy places around the room where they loved to sit and read. I would have liked to see more technology available for the teacher. Both schools that she services are very nice, new schools yet they fail to provide adequate technology for the EL room. She does not even have a computer in either room at the two schools.

Ethnographic Perspective

As an ESL professional, I would like to have more background in different language other than English. I am not fluent in another language, and I believe having background knowledge of other languages and how they work would benefit me. The teacher I observed was able to use her knowledge of languages to help her understand the mistakes that her students would come across in the classroom.

As I said earlier, the teacher really incorporated culture into her assignments and activities. She had students share about their native countries and made it a part of the learning environment. The students had a neat opportunity to share and to learn about the native countries of their peers.

Blog Entry #1- Based on Classroom Observation

Teaching

The purpose of the lesson that I observed was to work on letter identification and sounds. Specifically in this lesson, the letter "H" was highlighted for the Kindergarden students. The lesson was structured around reading a big book with students with "H" words. After the book, the students reviewed a poem that they had been learning, and learned a new chant/song with motions.

The four K students that were part of this small group lesson were very interactive in the lesson. The EL teacher explained to be how important it is for them to be vocal in her class because they are not allowed to talk much in their general education room. She said that her EL's need to be encouraged to speak and use the language as much as possible, especially when they are pulled out to come to her room. During the lesson, the students were full of energy and eager to participate and answer the teacher's questions. They struggled with taking turns and listening when someone else was answering.

Community

There was definitely a sense of community in the classroom that I observed. The students loved to be pulled out of their class to come to EL. All of the materials that the students needed were already in the room provided for them. This is important for the K students especially because they have enough trouble walking down the hall without requiring them to bring things with them. As far as literacy goes, students were exposed to many books in the EL room and were working on beginning sounds and letters.

Ethnographic Perspective

During my observation, it was one little girl's birthday that was in this specific group. Her cousin, also an EL, was very distracted by her birthday crown that her teacher had given her to wear because it was way too big for her head and kept sliding down. He would reach over to her in the middle of the lesson and mess with her crown. The students were very excited and eager to learn in the EL classroom. The environment was very welcoming, thanks to the teacher. She made each child feel extremely special when they were with her and reinforced their efforts during the lesson. As a newcomer to the room, I felt immediately accepted as the children were holding my hand walking down the hall and insisting that the EL teacher give me a sticker at the end of the lesson, too. They did not want me to feel left out! I felt that this was a good representation of what they must treat new students like as well, accepting them into the community of the classroom. The groups that came were so small that is was easy to interact and watch the students interact.

Fieldwork Blog Introduction

I just started my second year as a fourth grade teacher! I am excited and looking forward to another great year. I am also working on a master's program that I hope to complete this Spring.