Blog Entry #4 Reflection Writing

Before this class I wasn't aware of the difference between the English Language Learners and the ESL students. After taking several tests and doing many blog entries within this class, I have gained a better understanding about the ELL students. Such as with the ELL students it can get very complicated to assist them on while doing certain lesson within a whole group. However, in order to overcome that problem it helps to work with them one on one sometimes to deliver the right understanding about a certain content. Also when the teacher is modeling and showing pictures about the certain task to the students it can be beneficial for them since it is giving them a visual understanding about the criteria. Also there are many techniques that can be used to help ELL students become successful in an educational manner. One of the technique that has became successful with students within my student teaching class is cooperative learning skill. Sometimes working one on one with the student can be beneficial but also having students working with their peers can be beneficial as well. Because students need to work with each other in different groups that way they can share their understandings and can always help each other out in a different aspect. Also when the students are working with each other and interacting with one another they are gaining a better understanding about the concept with a different aspect. Researchers have stated, "That is, any knowledge and any capacity to engage in regulated activity appears always first at the social, interpersonal level during activity with others and only later can be seen to operate also at the psychological, interpersonal level." (Ortega, 2011, Pg. 224). I think in a classroom there should be plenty of opportunities for students to work with each other, that way they can understand new concepts towards different concepts and can socially interact around each other as well.

However, I think this class has definitely impacted me towards professional practices. Because within my current student teaching class, I have five ELL students. So everyday I use a new technique I may learn about within this class to ensure whether the techniques are helping the students become successful as the researchers had stated or I can use a different strategy representing certain information towards the ELL students. And sometimes it does take a little time to get the message through the ELL students, but at the end once they understand the concept very well it is a cherish able moment I can value while teaching the ELL students. In the future when I have ELL students within my classroom, I can have them seated next to students that are at a higher learning level than them that way it is easier for the ELL students to receive help by asking quick questions when I may not be nearby. Also I think when I am working around the ELL students I should involve more visuals and hands on type activities to help the students understand the content better. Because the more visuals and hands on activity the students work on they are able to comprehend the task better and can make connections towards the task the next time they may see it somewhere.

Also while being a part of this class I have done numerous amounts of blog entries that I have not done before in my previous classes. I think the blog entires at first were very confusing and hard for me to do. But after doing multiple blog entires every week and posting videos on certain blog entires, I thinking using a process of posting daily blogs on my website where the parents have an access to it and can get the daily news about what had occurred within their child classroom would be very beneficial for me in the future. Because as a student while doing the blog entires for this class it really helped me stay on task with my assignments and stay updated with other classmates entires as well.  It helped me learn more about my classmates teaching experiences within their schools while currently doing student teaching. And I thought that was many experiences we learned about within our classmates blogs helped us stay on track with many things we may want to accommodate in our classroom as well to help us become successful too. I think in the future I can use a certain blog entry technique with my parents. That way they are updated about their Childs classroom. Also when there are any exciting events that may have occurred within the classroom I can post it on my blog that way the parents can visit it daily and stay updated with their child classroom.