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what
what is a sheltered classroom?

fantastic
I am so glad that you were able to do one for your ESOL placement!

The most enjoyable and worthwhile experience this semester was completing the Multimodal project. There are so many vidoes out there BUT being able to create a video that is specifically made for your students is SO worthwhile. I actually completed another multimodal for my ESOL placement lesson this week. The video needed to have simple vocabulary and pictures to match each set of words. I was able to create a perfect video for my students :). Also, I really enjoyed reading Fletcher's Live Writing. One of my weakest points is writing and I found this book to be very useful and practical. I felt like writing my own novel/story after reading the book (which NEVER happens!).

TypeWhile reflecting on my placements this semester, I really feel like I missed out on seeing a variety of literacy lessons. My 4th grade placement teacher had superb management and technology integration but I didn't get to witness my students writing. I know my teacher incorporated writing into many lessons and my students had writing portfolios, however, I rarely actually saw my students writing (to just write or for writing purposes other than worksheets, etc.).
Collaborative teaching rarely occurred in my 4th grade placement classroom. The reading specialist came in to work with the contentlowest students for thirty minutes each day but she merely mocked what my teacher was doing just adding more structure and support for the students. They never planned together or discussed lessons before the class period. I saw this as a great opportunity for my teacher to receive extra support and another perspective for helping with lesson plans, but sadly it was not used. However, I have been able to see collaborative teaching in my ESOL placement. My teacher team teaches with another 4th grade teacher and they work together to plan and incorporate the subjects they are responsible for with the others. My teacher is responsible for language-arts (writing usually) and social studies. Her team teacher is responsible for math and science. The teachers switch classrooms to teach the other class their subjects. I really wish I could see them working together in the same classroom but that’s not how they have their schedule set up. Also, my teacher really acts as an advocate for her students whenever they participate in other lessons. For example, my class went to the library for a lesson on bibliographies. My teacher inserted comments and suggestions throughout the lesson to make sure her students were understanding the information being presented. My teacher is really aware of your page here.what each student understands (as far as English) so when the librarian used a word that her students wouldn’t understand she made sure to explain it. The librarian worked really well with my teacher and the lesson really turned into a collaborative teaching lesson because as the lesson progressed my teacher was explaining or teaching at least half of the lesson.
Sadly, I saw very little reading and writing instruction. The main thing I saw impact student's motivation to write was creating the class book and individual books. My teacher took the time (and her money) to make a book with student's poems listed inside. She took it a step further by giving students time to create their own book online. Students could then purchase the books for $6.
One strategy that we discussed was used in my placement classroom. I incorporated the idea of writing poetry through PowerPoint into one of my lessons. The students loved being able to use the laptops and the students used their Haiku poems in their online books :) I added an 'about the author' section in to the powerpoint and my students seemed to have more fun completing that part than the poems. It was an excellent opportunity for me to get to know my students better and really see what they value. Some students went into great detail writing paragraphs about their interests, pets, etc. Overall, it was a great lesson for me and the students!
Through-out this semester (and through-out the entire program), I have really seen how important it is to involve reading and writing in the classroom EVERY day. Reading and writing should not necessarily be separated from other instruction/content but should be addressed every day. Reading and writing is the basis to education and learning English (for ELL's) so why wouldn't it be a part of every class day?? Even though writing and reading are not my strong point, I've learned to make writing and reading fun and enjoyable for my students. Incorporating student interests, fun activities (skits, plays, etc.), and visuals make reading and writing a positive and educational experience for students. My burning question is: How do I make sure I incorporate every student’s interest into lessons or the classroom?

I started my ESOL placement this week and I have had a blast! I am in a sheltered classroom with 16 students who are all served by the ESOL program. I was somewhat opposed to having ELL's separated in a room by themselves but as I've seen in my placement it really helps the students who are in the class. The students are taught in small groups most of the day and my teacher focuses on teaching the students strategies while incorporating content. The students have formed a real since of community and all of the students except for one speak Spanish at home. My teacher speaks Spanish and is able to help explain abstract ideas/concepts in Spanish. She uses alot of cognates when teaching and her students are really able to make the connection and understand. I've been able to see the best practices we've learned about in action. The biggest conflict I had with the instruction was the CRCT test prep. Instead of using meaningful lessons, my teacher had students complete practice packet after practice packet. Test taking skills are extremely important, but I felt the students weren't getting any content instruction out of the packets. I'm looking forward to seeing the classroom after CRCT is over :) Hopefully I will see more best practices!
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My second week in my ESOL placement was even more fun. I love getting to know knew students and my class is very interested in me and they ask me questions all the time. I really feel welcome in the classroom because of the way the students respond and the teacher. Sadly, I had to witness how the CRCT really effects the students and teachers this week. My students had to take the CRCT every morning. While they were taking the test, I had the opportunity to work in a 2nd grade classroom. I met the most adorable little boy and I got to work with him one-on-one pretty much the entire time. He usually has an ESOL specialist work with him in the morning so I just took her place since she was tied up with the CRCT. He was so motivated and I could tell he really wanted to become better at English. He got so excited when he could do anything by himself and his face would light up. He really warmed my heart to see how happy he was at being successful. He would take his completed work over to his teacher and without saying anything just hand the paper to her. She would look over it, smile, and then give him a high five or thumbs up. Her response made him light up even more! He really wanted to please his teacher by putting forth more effort :). I was sad to only have three days with him but at the same time, thankful for the chance to get to work with him. Working one-on-one with students is really a rewarding and enlightening experience. Seeing the progress happen right before my eyes is such a wonderful experience! At the end of the week he got a 7 out of 8 on his spelling test. The highest grade he had received on a spelling test all year :)

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I started my ESOL placement this week and I have had a blast! I am in a sheltered classroom with 16 students who are all served by the ESOL program. I was somewhat opposed to having ELL's separated in a room by themselves but as I've seen in my placement it really helps the students who are in the class. The students are taught in small groups most of the day and my teacher focuses on teaching the students strategies while incorporating content. The students have formed a real since of community and all of the students except for one speak Spanish at home. My teacher speaks Spanish and is able to help explain abstract ideas/concepts in Spanish. She uses alot of cognates when teaching and her students are really able to make the connection and understand. I've been able to see the best practices we've learned about in action. The biggest conflict I had with the instruction was the CRCT test prep. Instead of using meaningful lessons, my teacher had students complete practice packet after practice packet. Test taking skills are extremely important, but I felt the students weren't getting any content instruction out of the packets. I'm looking forward to seeing the classroom after CRCT is over :) Hopefully I will see more best practices!
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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 :)

it is hard
all the way around. it is hard to meet their needs when they are there and it is hard to watch them go!