Blog Entry 3
For this entry I interviewed one of the teachers at the elementary schools I am doing my student teaching at. She has been working in Humble ISD for over five years now, and graduated from Sam Houston State. Hope you enjoy the video! Blog Entry 3: Interview
Reflection
The interview
with the ESL teacher went very well. She is a 3rd grade teacher at Atascocita
springs where I am doing my student teaching. She seemed to answer the
interview questions very well. The interview also helped me connect what we are
learning in this class to how teachers interact with students in the classroom.
Most of all from the interview I learned that there are many different methods
and strategies to teach English language leaners. For example, the teacher I interviewed
focused more on the audio-lingual method of teaching English. She started by
saying words or phrases to her students then followed that up by having
students get into groups and speak the new phrases or words to one another in
an authentic environment. I really connected with this method because I think I
would learn best if this method were taught to me.
Another great point she made was
about corrective feedback. She seemed very comfortable in giving corrective
feedback to students as she claims that she knows how to read students and the
corrective feedback she gives depends on the student. So, if she knew the
student needed more nurturing, she would be kind and not so harsh with her feedback
but still get her point across. In comparison with other students who need corrective
feedback cut and dry so they know exactly what they need to work on and understand.
Lastly
the teacher seemed like she knew a little about the theoretical concepts of English
language learners. She didn’t really present very many terms or concepts we are
learning in class by name, but she described them and I was able to understand
what she was talking from the information provided from this course.
Great interview. We could learn and see that this job we have chosen is a challenging one but the more we read and educate ourselves the best. I noticed, for example, that we should share with her the Vásquez and Harvey article so that she can see a more updated version of corrective feedback and how it should be done when teaching ELLs.
ReplyDeleteShawn, I definitely had a connection with your interview. The English Second Language teacher that I interviewed, Mrs. Flowers, also believed that all students can learn using the strategies that are commonly used for English Language Learners. I noticed that the teacher you interviewed also said that she likes to use manipulatives and MANY MANY VISUALS to help the ELL students. She also said peer interaction is great. After listening to many of our other classmates’ blogs, I quickly realized this is a very common approach. I see that many ESL teachers use the audiolingual method (ALM). According to Brown (2015), the audiolingual method focuses mostly on oral communication skills and pronunciation (pg. 36). As I have seen through observation of Mrs. Flowers, this is a method she prefers to practice often. She uses something called the Kagan Method to constantly change up who the students pair up with when having interactions. I really enjoyed watching your interview!
ReplyDeleteHi Briana,
DeleteYes, the teacher I interviewed is a big believer in peer interaction. She believes that having the students interact and speak with one another in the language they are trying to learn is beneficial to learning pronunciation and oral communication. I have never heard of the Kagan Method, but I am aware of the concept. The teacher I interviewed also uses this method, because she wants students to get the chance to interact with other to gain more knowledge and understanding. Thanks for the formal name for that method!
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI liked that your teacher talked about how she believed what was the best way to teach younger students like 3rd grade. She mentioned about building background knowledge as a very important step for English Language Learners. As learning vocabulary requires interactive, thought-provoking, and entertaining activities in order to retain the information, I agree with your teacher as she states that manipulatives and visuals are essential to vocabulary teaching (Wright, 2015). I also liked that you asked her about corrective feedback. Wright (2015) states that constant correction by the teacher every time a student makes a mistake can create frustration and could cause them to not want to participate anymore. Like your teacher stated, if she was to correct everything that the student said they would become discouraged from trying to participate. I believe that an effective method would be to give a positive and reinforcing response that would help students hear the correct form in response from their teacher (Wright, 2015).
Jennie, I am glad you mentioned the fact that constant correction can cause frustration within the student which can lead to a complete disconnection from the student. Speaking for myself, I can relate to that statement because I know I have gotten to that point before when I was younger. Constant correction was pointing out everything that I did wrong, which was very discouraging to me.
DeleteHello Jennie,
DeleteYes, I wanted to ask my interviewee how she would teach her 3rd grade class, just to see if there was any difference in the methods being used. I also agree with you on the use of corrective feedback. I think that corrective feedback should be given to children in the right moment and depending on the student. Because like Wright said, too much corrective feedback can sometimes cause frustration and loss of participation. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Shawn,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your interviewee how she believes in manipulates, visuals, and peer interaction. I believe that the best way for ELL students to learn is through personal interactions and physically, not through reading a book or a person just teaching to them. Students should have personal interactions to build their schema. This will help with ELL students with learning the language and also have connections with what they are learning. With this students in an authentic environment, students will feel less stress and more willing to speak and practice the language (Brown & Lee, 2015). Thanks for sharing!
Hello, Julie I agree with your point about personal interactions. Throughout this course we have learning about the importance of such interactions. Language is so much more that grammar and words. The strategies she brings into her classroom ins reflective of this.
DeleteHi Julie,
DeleteThe teacher I interviewed really likes using manipulates while teaching the English language, because students can see the word, see the spelling and hear how the word is said. The students can then get into groups or pair up and oral communicate the words they just learned. And like you said this student discourse help students with their oral communication and schema about learning the English language. Thanks for your feedback!
Hello, Shawn,
ReplyDeleteYour interviewee hit a lot of important facts and I admire that! I loved how she mentioned using so many different techniques such as pictures, visuals, charts, books, and peer interaction! I also really liked how she mentioned using background knowledge for young students because that is so important especially for young students. Students need to have a be able to recall on prior knowledge in order to progress. In my opinion that doesn’t always work especially in kindergarten because for most of these students this is their first time in a school setting. However, with your interviewee using pictures and other visuals I think these students will be successful in the end. When she mentioned using peer interaction I thought that was very encouraging because peer interaction among students is great! A lot of students learn from one another.
Hi Jolie,
DeleteThanks for your feedback! I agree with the student interaction also. Student interaction to me is one of the great strategies to use because it gives students a chance to talk the language and help each other learn. Charts and, pictures and visuals are also great, because this gives the students a chance to see the words and decode the words while it is being said. I really agree with this audio-lingual method of teaching the English language.
Hello Shawn I enjoyed listening to your interview and watching your video. I thought it was very informational and very easy to follow. I enjoyed hearing about the various methods and strategies that your interviewee employs in her classroom. The text states that " The choices that you make about what to do in the classroom are informed and guided by what you know about learner characteristics, institutional structure, student needs and purposes, and of course the all important set of lesson objectives that you have established" (Brown and Lee, 2015, pg. 219). I that your interviewee definitely following along with this. Her experience and knowledge of her students go into her choices.
ReplyDeleteHello Breanna,
DeleteThanks for the feedback from my interview. The teacher I interviewed seemed like she really knew the strategies for teaching English language learners. She knows the characteristics of 3rd grade students and know how their needs and ways they typically learn when learning a new language. Like you said the teacher in interviewed uses the information she has gathered to influence her choice in teaching strategy and instruction methods.
Hey Shawn,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great thing that your teacher likes to provide visuals to her students to help build a bit of background knowledge! I also liked that she mentioned providing her students with interactive activities. In general students do learn better when instruction is hands on and helps build their schema.