This week I started in my ESOL placement. I was SO nervous! I was happy to see that we were reviewing information regarding teaching ELL's in our online class session. I felt more nervous for this placement than any other placement. I wasn't sure what the setup was going to look like. Would I be with a ESOL specialist and go with her to various classrooms (push-in) or would I be pulling students out in small groups by grade level (pull-out). My teacher met me at the front office to introduce herself and show me how to get to her classroom. She was very eager to have me and my nervous-ness started to melt away. She was very open and friendly. She happily answered any questions I had as well as informing me she wanted to make sure I got everything I could out of the three week experience. As the day progressed, I found out that I was placed with a teacher who has the same endorsement I will be earning. She did not have a specialist degree or any extra academic training. There are 16 students in her classroom and they are in 4th and 5th grade. Some of her 5th grade students were also with her last year. All of the students are considered ELL's and their levels of English Proficency varies from student to student. My teacher team teaches with another 4th grade class (the other class has a large population of ELL's but not all students are). My teacher instructs Language-Arts/Writing and Social Studies. The team teacher instructs Math and Science. The students stay in their classroom and the teachers just switch. I feel this system really works well for the students and teachers. My teacher admitted she prefers teaching Social Studies and Language-Arts and the other teachers strong areas are Math and Science. The students also get the chance to have another perspective and learning enviornment. Both teachers work really well together as far as planning. I also love getting the opportunity to work with two classrooms. Since my time is so short in this placement, being able to work with more than one group of students is a real treat. I'm really excited about learning more about ELL's and seeing best practices used in the classroom. Sadly, my students were just reviewing (BORING worksheets!) for the CRCT this week and they will take the CRCT next week. I can't wait to be back in the classroom and getting to know my new students even more :)
This week I started in my ESOL placement. I was SO nervous! I was happy to see that we were reviewing information regarding teaching ELL's in our online class session. I felt more nervous for this placement than any other placement. I wasn't sure what the setup was going to look like. Would I be with a ESOL specialist and go with her to various classrooms (push-in) or would I be pulling students out in small groups by grade level (pull-out). My teacher met me at the front office to introduce herself and show me how to get to her classroom. She was very eager to have me and my nervous-ness started to melt away. She was very open and friendly. She happily answered any questions I had as well as informing me she wanted to make sure I got everything I could out of the three week experience. As the day progressed, I found out that I was placed with a teacher who has the same endorsement I will be earning. She did not have a specialist degree or any extra academic training. There are 16 students in her classroom and they are in 4th and 5th grade. Some of her 5th grade students were also with her last year. All of the students are considered ELL's and their levels of English Proficency varies from student to student. My teacher team teaches with another 4th grade class (the other class has a large population of ELL's but not all students are). My teacher instructs Language-Arts/Writing and Social Studies. The team teacher instructs Math and Science. The students stay in their classroom and the teachers just switch. I feel this system really works well for the students and teachers. My teacher admitted she prefers teaching Social Studies and Language-Arts and the other teachers strong areas are Math and Science. The students also get the chance to have another perspective and learning enviornment. Both teachers work really well together as far as planning. I also love getting the opportunity to work with two classrooms. Since my time is so short in this placement, being able to work with more than one group of students is a real treat. I'm really excited about learning more about ELL's and seeing best practices used in the classroom. Sadly, my students were just reviewing (BORING worksheets!) for the CRCT this week and they will take the CRCT next week. I can't wait to be back in the classroom and getting to know my new students even more :)