The crede standards are something that should be utilized in every classroom. It is beneficial to ELL and regular students. The five standards given are the same ones that I use in my classroom every day. These standards make the classroom engaging to all students. By having these students working with you as the teacher and other students it brings in more information to them than by one person lecturing. The students are able to gather information from one another as well as the teacher. To do this in my lessons I try to group students in several ways. There are times when I group them with someone who is stronger. When in groups I have students use different colored pencils to be able to see who has done what. The students are to work together to meet a common goal. A part of the requirement is when the work is done both students need to able to explain how they solved the work. Other times I have students working in groups based on level. When they are doing this I monitor student progress and stop at each group and have a short discussion with them about what they are doing. Another one way that I group frequently with is students solve a problem on their own then have to chose a partner to check their work. If the partner disagrees they have to talk it out to see who is right. If a compromise can not be met they are to come see me. The person who checks the paper is different each time.
When working in these groups the students begin to dialogue. Through this dialogue the teacher is able to see where more time maybe need to bring a fuller understanding to the curriculum. It also spawns discussion that not only covers what is being taught but what the curriculum is approaching. There are students who start talking and asking about where this information leads to. The students start building the ideas before they are even mentioned by the teacher. This is an extraordinary event when the students start connecting the dots without the teachers input. When students realize that they are doing so they become exited and dive deeper into the matter. So not only does it show us as teachers where the students are having problems it is also showing us where they are accelerating. For our ELL students this means they are moving with these students in the class at the same time. In most cases the materials being presented are in a child friendly language that our ELL students are more capable of understanding.
When we are able to engage the students we can push them to more challenging lessons. The idea of doing something over and over is not learning its memorizing. The students need to be challenged in the idea of understanding why things work the way that they do. As a math teacher I do not want my students to memorize what is being taught. I want them to be able to explain why things work the way they do. To get the students to do this challenging level of thinking is difficult but they need to be challenged to this level. When they reach this point they are thinking for themselves and not trying to memorize what the teacher is saying. They can take an idea an develop the process by themselves. When they can do this they truly know what is being taught. Each lesson that I teach has H.O.T. question , which is Higher Order Thinking question. This is a question the students are presented with during the lesson that they are striving to answer. If they are capable of answer this question at the end of class they truly know the content.
As teachers we teach students things that relate to the real world. We need to connect the information with what they know. We also need to connect it to other subject matter that is being taught. When students can connect one thing that they are learning to several other things that they know or are learning in another class their can be a larger understanding of both areas. With these connections being made the knowledge tends to be practiced more and used more. The more ELL and other students use it the more they are going to be able to retain the knowledge. When planning activities with the students I try to relate them to real world application they can relate to. Whether it be video games or anything else the students do throughout the day. This is usually Incorporated with word problems so that the students are able to practice problem solving strategies and are to think of what process would make sense in solving it.
As far as modifying my lessons I want to incorporate more languages in the lessons to support the ELL students. Even though most of the students I currently work with are very proficient they should not lose their individuality.To help with this we have to respect there heritage. I want to relate the lessons to the ELL students and their families. I need to make sure as a teacher to understand their cultural expectation. We need to know how things work in the family when it comes to communication. As teacher we not only talk with the students but the parents as well. Parents are a huge resource that can be utilized to help the students succeed in the classroom.
2/15/10
Something that I think that needs to be added to my teaching is not just to my lesson but my classroom setting. I have a very plain somewhat boring room. I would like to incorporate a more multicultural feel to it while still retaining the feel of it being a math classroom. I think to do this I would add a number line with several different languages, create math posters that involve other cultures and occasionally change the cultural theme throughout the year. I think this would make it more inviting to the culturally different students and show them that I am aware of their differences. This may also make it more inviting to the parents as well. I believe they would appreciate the recognition of their own culture.
2/20/1o
Something that I want to be able to use more in the classroom is parent and community involvement. I have noticed that the parents and community help the school but rarely are they utilized in the classroom. I think that this would give the students a broader perspective of the things that are around them in their hometowns that they may not be aware of. This could range from having parents come in and share stories about who they are and what they. Of course the person presenting would be connected to the current curriculum being taught.
2/25/10
Today I had one of my ELL students share an activity that was from their native land just as a short break during the days lesson. It was amazing watching the class watch with intent as this students shared his game. In this case it was a Chinese yo yo. Personally I enjoyed the demonstration and so did the students. I think it really sparked their interest along with my own. I want to include things like this more often. It is a small thing but provides incite to the students and relates to them along with a comparison of a different nationality.
