Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Childhood Education...
Class Management in a Diverse Environment: Literacy and Learning in Early Childhood Education...: Classroom Observation By Samah salem Literacy and Learning in Early Childhood Education EDUC 5735 Dr. Robin Bright Kn...
Classroom Observation
By
Samah salem
Literacy and Learning in
Early Childhood Education EDUC 5735
Dr. Robin Bright
Knowledge is not something that can be
simply given to the learners; rather, that it is constructed by the learners
themselves through activities that prepared carefully by the teacher (Piget,
1977). One of the most visible features of the constructivist classroom is the
democratic environment as it is very much inviting and prepared to serve
students’ needs.
During my observation of a classroom at
the Montessori school, I noticed that students are highly self-discipline; they
are ready to interact, play and work with each others. Most of the time
students work in pairs or in small groups, it is impressive how they do that
naturally without referring to the teacher. This is a contemporary application
of Vygotsky’s theory, which encourages collaborative learning, activities are
interactive and in a student-centered system.
Activities in the classroom are prepared carefully to enhance students’
development and enrich their knowledge.
The teacher always makes sure that a first-grade student is combined with a
second-grade one, so they can support and learn from each other’s experience.
This also would help less advanced students to perform within their zone of
proximal development (Leong, 1998). Each student has a checklist of weekly
goals that they are expected to achieve by the end of the week. Examples of the
goals: “I will do language wipe off sheet reading booklet” or “I will work on
Raz-kids.com”. By keeping this checklist on their desks, students would keep
track of their goals. Having students set their goals and follow a weekly plan
would help them to be organized, on track; moreover, it would help them to take
ownership of their learning.
The constructive theory
regards students as investigators, who construct their knowledge through experiencing
natural materials; they need to see, feel and hear in order to understand and build
their knowledge. In the classroom, natural materials are scattered in centers,
even in the reading center, where students match realia or real objects with
the matching word card. There was snakes’ skin, stones, a beehive, animal
skeleton, bird wings, a turtle shell, a bird nest, scales, and many other
natural things that invite students to think, investigate, and explore. The
teacher tries to appeal all five senses during the activities; as an example, she
has many bells in her classroom, with each bell has a different sound. The
teacher rings a certain bell whenever she wants to draw students’ attention to
follow a certain command.
Classroom materials,
work sheets, educational games are prepared to facilitate and maximize
independent learning and exploration. Each student has a folder labeled with
her/ his name and this folder is full with activities and work sheets that meet
their literacy level. Students are free to choose and work on activities at
their own pace. The teacher makes sure that the activities range from easy to difficult
and while ensuring that the work sheets are at the student’s literacy level. For
example, in the literacy centers there are activities that sound/letter corresponding
and other activities that focus on breaking polysyllables word into syllables. The
teacher makes sure that scaffolding provides clear directions that reduce
student’s confusion to help her/him stay on task (Van der Stuyf, 2002).
The constructive theory
capitalizes on student’s interest, therefore; integrating technology in the
classroom is a priority of the Montessori school because it expands the scope
of students’ knowledge. In addition, it can assist teachers in developing a
more individualized approach of instructions to meet the diverse range of
students’ needs and allow students to work in their individual pace. Students
get to use the school computer lap as well as the class computer station.
Students can practice typing, do math exercises, paint and draw; however; they
focus mainly on programs that support phonological awareness and reading developments
such as starfall.com, pbskids.org, raz-kids.com, pbskids.org.
Books of all sorts
are available in the classroom library to encourage interest and exploration
during students’ aesthetic reading time. Book choices are varied; there are
fiction and non-fiction books; there are simple science, geography, history,
and space theme books. Books are arranged according to their levels, while the
teacher has a set of short story combined with literacy activities for each
grade level.
In the constructivist
classroom students are read to and they read to each other, it is common to see
three students taking turns to read one story. Book buddy is another approach to
motivate students to read. Each student is paired with another fifth grade student
where they spend around twenty minutes reading and discussing a book. Both
upper graders and younger students enjoy the learning partnership involved in
reading buddy time. The reading buddy will increase the upper graders’
self-esteem and it is a good opportunity for them to practice their oral
reading skills. Another approach to improve students’ literacy is by giving students
the chance to check out books from the bookmobile and the school library once a
week. Anther great idea that really inspired me is that students get to go to
the senior homes across the street to share their favorite stories with the
elderly once a month for thirty minutes, this will alleviate their self
confident as readers.
Story time is an
important, relaxing and entertaining time for aesthetic reading, where students
watch the teacher reads fluently with expression. The teacher helps students
refine their abilities and apply comprehension strategies. During my
observation, the teacher invited the students to the carpet and read a story
called “Groundhog and his Shadow”. The teacher started by asking students: “What
is so special about today?” then she stated: “It is Groundhog Day”. By doing
this, the teacher invited her students to activate their prior knowledge and
think about the theme of the book. The teacher stopped on key points and asked the
students to predict and justify the story events by using think –aloud
procedure to keep students engaged. The
teacher asked students what they would do if they were in the same situation, to
help them in making a connection with the story characters and the events. At the
end, the teacher summarized the main events and then she encouraged students to
ask questions and reflect on the story. After finishing reading the story, the
teacher showed her students a collection of stories related to the Groundhog
Day theme. What is unique about this, is
that the teacher showed these books only when it is Groundhog Day; that made
students enthused and motivated to explore this theme.
After choosing reading
books, students gathered in groups and started reading. During story time, students
take advantage of interactive reading time to strengthen their ability to read
aloud while the teacher makes sure that the groups are mixed of first and
second grade students and all students are actively involved in reading and
listening. When students read in small groups, they help each others to decode
unfamiliar word, they also explore strategies that their classmates are using to
figure out unfamiliar words. The teacher kept moving around the students
watching and listening to them; sometimes she asked questions to elaborate and
enrich their thinking.
Phonics and word
identification tasks in Montessori schools are acquired naturally through
reading phonogram books, playing with phonics games and by working on the
worksheets that focus on one task at a time. Many phonemic awareness display
charts are scattered on the wall, which is designed to organize the key
information, initial blend, long vowels, digraphs to help student discriminate between
the phonemes, pronunciation, and the spelling pattern. Students refer to these
charts to spell words and they use them for other phonics activities (Tompkins,
2010).
Since constructivist
teaching fosters critical thinking, the teacher takes advantage of centre time
to test students’ knowledge and enhance their critical thinking through discussion.
Every day the teacher assigns two students to write the morning message on a
small chalkboard before the carpet time and they have a chance to read the
message during the carpet time.. This is a good opportunity to show that the
teacher has confidence in them and away to enrich students’ development. During
carpet time; a first-grader and second -grader lead the quiz master session.
This would be a good opportunity for students to practice their oral language
skills and practice asking questions. For example, a student asked: “Fix the spelling of peeple” or “change
the word of may to make it means sweet potato” or “how many legs for 3
chairs”.
Students are given
different opportunities to express themselves and communicate with other
students as they write stories, journals, letters, and cards to each others. When
they write their own thoughts, they come to the understanding that they can say
what they think, write what they say, and read what they write. The difficulty
of vocabulary and grammar is determined by the students own use of language (.Halliday, 1999). This would help students to develop their concept about written
language and eventually would make them more confident and skillful. The
writing center is designed to be a comfortable place for students who work in groups;
they discuss their ideas and participate in the writing process. All the
materials that students might need during writing time are laid on the writing
center shelves: lined papers, blank and colored papers, sentence strips,
sharpeners, erasers, pencils and crayons all are available to fit different
writing purposes. The teacher tried to involve her students in authentic
literacy activates so she asked her students to write Valentine’s Day cards
every day from the beginning of the month until Valentine’s Day. Students write
descriptive sentences to their classmates and they read them to each other
after the first break. This help students maintain a good relationship with
their classmates and increase their descriptive vocabulary as well as develop
their writing skills.
One of the important
displays that caught my attention is the word wall chart. It is well-organized visual
reference that is used to organize and summarize key information. It is easily
accessible because it is hung on the writing center wall to promote
independency in reading and writing activities. Students do not need to refer
to the teacher to ask about word’s spelling. By visually displaying this
information on classroom walls, students have ready access to key concepts on a
need-to-know basis. Students work was displayed in the room, this part is an
ongoing display the teacher change it continuously, having students’ work
displayed in the classroom would give them a boost and will push them toward
excellence.
The second graders were pulled out for a guided writing session. The
teacher had a big stuffy penguin on the table, when students entered the room,
she let them come close to the table and examine the penguin. She started her
class by reading a short story about penguins. Students had the chance in a
previous class to brainstorm sensory words and categorized them in five charts:
sight word, hearing word, smell words, touch words and taste words. Students were
asked to write sentences describing the penguin using descriptive words from the
list. The teacher’s role in the classroom is a facilitator; during the writing session,
she monitored students’ progress and encouraged them to use proper space
between the words. The teacher drew students’ attention to the punctuation
marks. When a student struggled in spelling, teacher encouraged him to use his
best judgment and invent the spelling she asked him to segment the word and sound it out to figure
out the corresponding sound that represents each letter. She also reminded
students with the vowel rules, such as, when two vowels come together the first
one does the talking and the second on does the walking. This practice would
allow students to construct their knowledge about letter and sound corresponding
and apply this knowledge in their writing. Most students are between the
Within-word pattern stage and the syllables and affixes stage. Students are
empowered by their teacher, she keep praising her students to motivate them and
help them be more confidents and proud of what they are writing, she would say
“I like how you use upper case when you start your sentence” or “I like how you
stretch your sentence out”.
I enjoyed the
opportunity seeing the theory in practice, watching children learning reading
and writing in a constructivist classroom. In this classroom, I observed creating
an environment that produces meaningful learning experience for the students
that let students effectively engaged with the learning process.
References:
E.Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy in the Early Grades.
Halliday,
M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (1999). Construing experience
through meaning: a language-based approach to cognition: Cassell London.
Piaget,
J. (1977). The development of thought: Equilibration of cognitive
structures.(Trans A. Rosin).
Rosenblatt,
L. (1978). The Reader, the Text, the Poem (Carbondale. Southern Illinois
University. Van Der Stuyf, R. R. (2002). Scaffolding as a teaching
strategy. Retrieved December, 31, 2003.
Classroom meetings.
Piaget, J. (1977). The development
of thought: equilibration of cognitive structures.(Trans A. Rosin). Oxford,
England: Viking. (1977). viii 213 pp.
Van Der Stuyf, R. R. (2002).
Scaffolding as a Teaching Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/101/RTI/Scaffolding%20as%20a%20Teaching%20Strategy.pdf
Class Management in a Diverse Environment: Running head: Linguistic Diversity and Classroom M...
Class Management in a Diverse Environment: Running head: Linguistic Diversity and Classroom M...: Linguistic Diversity and Classroom Management Author Note Mary Elizabeth Curran, Rutgers Graduate School of Education, The State Univers...
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Literacy and Learning in Early Childhood Education
Classroom Observation
By
Samah salem
Literacy and Learning in
Early Childhood Education EDUC 5735
Dr. Robin Bright
Knowledge is not something that can be
simply given to the learners; rather, that it is constructed by the learners
themselves through activities that prepared carefully by the teacher (Piget,
1977). One of the most visible features of the constructivist classroom is the
democratic environment as it is very much inviting and prepared to serve
students’ needs.
During my observation of a classroom at
the Montessori school, I noticed that students are highly self-discipline; they
are ready to interact, play and work with each others. Most of the time
students work in pairs or in small groups, it is impressive how they do that
naturally without referring to the teacher. This is a contemporary application
of Vygotsky’s theory, which encourages collaborative learning, activities are
interactive and in a student-centered system.
Activities in the classroom are prepared carefully to enhance students’
development and enrich their knowledge.
The teacher always makes sure that a first-grade student is combined with a
second-grade one, so they can support and learn from each other’s experience.
This also would help less advanced students to perform within their zone of
proximal development (Leong, 1998). Each student has a checklist of weekly
goals that they are expected to achieve by the end of the week. Examples of the
goals: “I will do language wipe off sheet reading booklet” or “I will work on
Raz-kids.com”. By keeping this checklist on their desks, students would keep
track of their goals. Having students set their goals and follow a weekly plan
would help them to be organized, on track; moreover, it would help them to take
ownership of their learning.
The constructive theory
regards students as investigators, who construct their knowledge through experiencing
natural materials; they need to see, feel and hear in order to understand and build
their knowledge. In the classroom, natural materials are scattered in centers,
even in the reading center, where students match realia or real objects with
the matching word card. There was snakes’ skin, stones, a beehive, animal
skeleton, bird wings, a turtle shell, a bird nest, scales, and many other
natural things that invite students to think, investigate, and explore. The
teacher tries to appeal all five senses during the activities; as an example, she
has many bells in her classroom, with each bell has a different sound. The
teacher rings a certain bell whenever she wants to draw students’ attention to
follow a certain command.
Classroom materials,
work sheets, educational games are prepared to facilitate and maximize
independent learning and exploration. Each student has a folder labeled with
her/ his name and this folder is full with activities and work sheets that meet
their literacy level. Students are free to choose and work on activities at
their own pace. The teacher makes sure that the activities range from easy to difficult
and while ensuring that the work sheets are at the student’s literacy level. For
example, in the literacy centers there are activities that sound/letter corresponding
and other activities that focus on breaking polysyllables word into syllables. The
teacher makes sure that scaffolding provides clear directions that reduce
student’s confusion to help her/him stay on task (Van der Stuyf, 2002).
The constructive theory
capitalizes on student’s interest, therefore; integrating technology in the
classroom is a priority of the Montessori school because it expands the scope
of students’ knowledge. In addition, it can assist teachers in developing a
more individualized approach of instructions to meet the diverse range of
students’ needs and allow students to work in their individual pace. Students
get to use the school computer lap as well as the class computer station.
Students can practice typing, do math exercises, paint and draw; however; they
focus mainly on programs that support phonological awareness and reading developments
such as starfall.com, pbskids.org, raz-kids.com, pbskids.org.
Books of all sorts
are available in the classroom library to encourage interest and exploration
during students’ aesthetic reading time. Book choices are varied; there are
fiction and non-fiction books; there are simple science, geography, history,
and space theme books. Books are arranged according to their levels, while the
teacher has a set of short story combined with literacy activities for each
grade level.
In the constructivist
classroom students are read to and they read to each other, it is common to see
three students taking turns to read one story. Book buddy is another approach to
motivate students to read. Each student is paired with another fifth grade student
where they spend around twenty minutes reading and discussing a book. Both
upper graders and younger students enjoy the learning partnership involved in
reading buddy time. The reading buddy will increase the upper graders’
self-esteem and it is a good opportunity for them to practice their oral
reading skills. Another approach to improve students’ literacy is by giving students
the chance to check out books from the bookmobile and the school library once a
week. Anther great idea that really inspired me is that students get to go to
the senior homes across the street to share their favorite stories with the
elderly once a month for thirty minutes, this will alleviate their self
confident as readers.
Story time is an
important, relaxing and entertaining time for aesthetic reading, where students
watch the teacher reads fluently with expression. The teacher helps students
refine their abilities and apply comprehension strategies. During my
observation, the teacher invited the students to the carpet and read a story
called “Groundhog and his Shadow”. The teacher started by asking students: “What
is so special about today?” then she stated: “It is Groundhog Day”. By doing
this, the teacher invited her students to activate their prior knowledge and
think about the theme of the book. The teacher stopped on key points and asked the
students to predict and justify the story events by using think –aloud
procedure to keep students engaged. The
teacher asked students what they would do if they were in the same situation, to
help them in making a connection with the story characters and the events. At the
end, the teacher summarized the main events and then she encouraged students to
ask questions and reflect on the story. After finishing reading the story, the
teacher showed her students a collection of stories related to the Groundhog
Day theme. What is unique about this, is
that the teacher showed these books only when it is Groundhog Day; that made
students enthused and motivated to explore this theme.
After choosing reading
books, students gathered in groups and started reading. During story time, students
take advantage of interactive reading time to strengthen their ability to read
aloud while the teacher makes sure that the groups are mixed of first and
second grade students and all students are actively involved in reading and
listening. When students read in small groups, they help each others to decode
unfamiliar word, they also explore strategies that their classmates are using to
figure out unfamiliar words. The teacher kept moving around the students
watching and listening to them; sometimes she asked questions to elaborate and
enrich their thinking.
Phonics and word
identification tasks in Montessori schools are acquired naturally through
reading phonogram books, playing with phonics games and by working on the
worksheets that focus on one task at a time. Many phonemic awareness display
charts are scattered on the wall, which is designed to organize the key
information, initial blend, long vowels, digraphs to help student discriminate between
the phonemes, pronunciation, and the spelling pattern. Students refer to these
charts to spell words and they use them for other phonics activities (Tompkins,
2010).
Since constructivist
teaching fosters critical thinking, the teacher takes advantage of centre time
to test students’ knowledge and enhance their critical thinking through discussion.
Every day the teacher assigns two students to write the morning message on a
small chalkboard before the carpet time and they have a chance to read the
message during the carpet time.. This is a good opportunity to show that the
teacher has confidence in them and away to enrich students’ development. During
carpet time; a first-grader and second -grader lead the quiz master session.
This would be a good opportunity for students to practice their oral language
skills and practice asking questions. For example, a student asked: “Fix the spelling of peeple” or “change
the word of may to make it means sweet potato” or “how many legs for 3
chairs”.
Students are given
different opportunities to express themselves and communicate with other
students as they write stories, journals, letters, and cards to each others. When
they write their own thoughts, they come to the understanding that they can say
what they think, write what they say, and read what they write. The difficulty
of vocabulary and grammar is determined by the students own use of language (.Halliday, 1999). This would help students to develop their concept about written
language and eventually would make them more confident and skillful. The
writing center is designed to be a comfortable place for students who work in groups;
they discuss their ideas and participate in the writing process. All the
materials that students might need during writing time are laid on the writing
center shelves: lined papers, blank and colored papers, sentence strips,
sharpeners, erasers, pencils and crayons all are available to fit different
writing purposes. The teacher tried to involve her students in authentic
literacy activates so she asked her students to write Valentine’s Day cards
every day from the beginning of the month until Valentine’s Day. Students write
descriptive sentences to their classmates and they read them to each other
after the first break. This help students maintain a good relationship with
their classmates and increase their descriptive vocabulary as well as develop
their writing skills.
One of the important
displays that caught my attention is the word wall chart. It is well-organized visual
reference that is used to organize and summarize key information. It is easily
accessible because it is hung on the writing center wall to promote
independency in reading and writing activities. Students do not need to refer
to the teacher to ask about word’s spelling. By visually displaying this
information on classroom walls, students have ready access to key concepts on a
need-to-know basis. Students work was displayed in the room, this part is an
ongoing display the teacher change it continuously, having students’ work
displayed in the classroom would give them a boost and will push them toward
excellence.
The second graders were pulled out for a guided writing session. The
teacher had a big stuffy penguin on the table, when students entered the room,
she let them come close to the table and examine the penguin. She started her
class by reading a short story about penguins. Students had the chance in a
previous class to brainstorm sensory words and categorized them in five charts:
sight word, hearing word, smell words, touch words and taste words. Students were
asked to write sentences describing the penguin using descriptive words from the
list. The teacher’s role in the classroom is a facilitator; during the writing session,
she monitored students’ progress and encouraged them to use proper space
between the words. The teacher drew students’ attention to the punctuation
marks. When a student struggled in spelling, teacher encouraged him to use his
best judgment and invent the spelling she asked him to segment the word and sound it out to figure
out the corresponding sound that represents each letter. She also reminded
students with the vowel rules, such as, when two vowels come together the first
one does the talking and the second on does the walking. This practice would
allow students to construct their knowledge about letter and sound corresponding
and apply this knowledge in their writing. Most students are between the
Within-word pattern stage and the syllables and affixes stage. Students are
empowered by their teacher, she keep praising her students to motivate them and
help them be more confidents and proud of what they are writing, she would say
“I like how you use upper case when you start your sentence” or “I like how you
stretch your sentence out”.
I enjoyed the
opportunity seeing the theory in practice, watching children learning reading
and writing in a constructivist classroom. In this classroom, I observed creating
an environment that produces meaningful learning experience for the students
that let students effectively engaged with the learning process.
References:
E.Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy in the Early Grades.
Halliday,
M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (1999). Construing experience
through meaning: a language-based approach to cognition: Cassell London.
Piaget,
J. (1977). The development of thought: Equilibration of cognitive
structures.(Trans A. Rosin).
Rosenblatt,
L. (1978). The Reader, the Text, the Poem (Carbondale. Southern Illinois
University. Van Der Stuyf, R. R. (2002). Scaffolding as a teaching
strategy. Retrieved December, 31, 2003.
Classroom meetings.
Piaget, J. (1977). The development
of thought: equilibration of cognitive structures.(Trans A. Rosin). Oxford,
England: Viking. (1977). viii 213 pp.
Van Der Stuyf, R. R. (2002).
Scaffolding as a Teaching Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/101/RTI/Scaffolding%20as%20a%20Teaching%20Strategy.pdf
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Running head: Linguistic Diversity and Classroom Management
Linguistic Diversity and Classroom Management
Author Note
Mary Elizabeth Curran, Rutgers Graduate School of Education, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey
http://faculty.weber.edu/rwong/edu3200/articles/ELLClassMgt.pdf
Summarized by Samah T. Salem
Introduction
With the increasing flow of immigrants to the US and Canada, classrooms are becoming more linguistically diverse. In this article (Linguistic Diversity and Classroom management ) M. E. Curran suggests strategies and methods to manage classrooms where educators can understand and cope with English Language Learners’ (ELLs) needs in a way to promote effective classroom environment.
Managing linguistically diverse classrooms is particularly important in Canada since Canada is a bilingual country with more than 250, 000 new immigrants arrive annually (Citizen & Immigration Canada, 2010). In this article, the author focuses on (a) understanding ELLs' perspectives and their natural responses as being engaged in a second language or diverse atmosphere, (b) the use of pedagogical strategies to help ELLs in acquiring the second language, (c) affirming the linguistic diversity identity of the classroom. The main challenge that educators have in a linguistically diverse classroom is how to engage ELLs in classroom activities with the goal to have a better education experience.
Article Summary
What it is Like to be an ELL
For educators to understand how ELLs feel and respond in a classroom where English is the only language spoken, the author reflects on her own experience. When she is invited to workshops she starts speaking in Spanish. Pre and in-service educators (attendees of the workshop) varied in their responses to the author’s behaviour. Some just tuned out until the author spoke English; others expressed anger and distress; some thought they were in the wrong workshop while others seemed to understand the workshop perfectly .
Understanding the Natural Responses of ELLs
The author indicated that ELLs’ behavior in a classroom where English is the only spoken language is a natural response and educators need to understand, expect and feel comfortable with such responses. These ELLs’ natural responses (speaking the mother language, laughter, fatigue or silence) should not be reprimanded, since these responses may in fact result in a better education experience. Laughter for example is a therapeutic reaction for ELLs who would feel isolated, while asking ELLs to be silent may hinder the support and positive communication between students with similar language background. The use of first language can serve as a vehicle to understand and negotiate a task, which will keep ELLs on task. In fact the use of student’s first language normally results in academic success since ELLs can use a broader source of knowledge.
Use of Pedagogy Strategies to Help ELLs in Acquiring the Second Language
Educators need to show their respect of the first language and culture of ELLs. This can be done by discussing the reasons for allowing the use of first language in the classroom, while the educator can question if ELLs are on or off-ask if ELLs are engaged in lengthy discussions in their first language. Educators should allow more wait time before getting a response from ELLs. In addition, assignments, workload and due dates should be adjusted to ease demands of ELLs.
Educators need to structure classroom activities in a way to encourage linguistic acquisition by ELLs instead of using disciplinary measures to reprimand some ELLs who may respond naturally to extensive use of English. One particularly important method is the use gestures and visual aids such as models and realia. The use of routine instructions and predictable measures is particularly important to avoid anxiety and distress by ELLs who normally came from immigrant families that were subjected to stressful situations.
From my own experience working in a linguistically diverse classroom, I found that ELLs are normally shy and tend to isolate themselves from the rest of class, which may hinder their academic achievement. The author suggests that assigning a personal buddy who knows the first language and accompanies the newcomer through the day can provide the ELL with a model behavior and a resource of support.
For the aforementioned measures to be effective, ELLs need to be engaged in classroom environment. This can be done by seating ELLs in the middle and in front of the classroom for them to be immersed in classroom interactions between the educator and students. Another strategy is to assign group projects where ELLs can communicate with a purpose and have the opportunity to produce language.
Building a Strong Sense of Community that Affirms Linguistic Diversity
The author suggests that creating an atmosphere where ELLs can feel safe, secure and have a sense of belonging will help reduce tense and fear. Some simple techniques would help such as learning how to pronounce ELLs first names, displaying welcome signs in ELLs first languages and making eye contact with students. Educators can seek school help in connecting with families to facilitate their children’s learning process. It is imperative that educators learn about their students’ backgrounds, by familiarizing themselves with ELLs countries of origin, native languages spoken or by connecting with community mentors.
Educators can affirm the linguistic diversity of the classroom by showing respect to all languages, trying to learn a second language, or by the use of some occasional welcome notes in ELLs first language. By this, educators will avoid management decisions that are based on perpetuating linguicism which is defined as “ideologies, structures, and practices which are used to legitimate, effectuate, regulate and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources (both material and immaterial) between groups which are defined on the basis of language” (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1988, p. 13). School systems should implement a clear policy that embrace linguistic diversity by promoting the hiring of a diverse faculty, translation of important documents into students’ first languages, foster programs that support teaching of the first and the second languages and encouraging connecting with ELLs’ communities.
Defense of Position
In this article the author highlights strategies and measures for educators to deal with students in linguistically diverse classrooms. I believe that most strategies mentioned in the article can be effectively implemented. However, I noticed that the author focused on classroom management where there is particular one first language for ELLs. Although, this may be true in many school systems in the US, however this is not always the case. Immigrants normally come from different backgrounds where there may be more than one mother language. This is especially true in many Canadian school systems where classrooms are more linguistically diverse.
Working in two school systems as a substitute teacher, I sometimes find myself in a multilingual classroom where there were several students who don’t share their first language with other peers. In such circumstances some strategies mentioned in the article may be difficult to implement such as having a pair buddy who knows the first language or group assignments where the members share a common first language. In this case I believe other strategies should be adopted such as working one to one or one to two with ELLs would effectively help them in adapting to the new environment. Schools should acknowledge the multilingual diversity by grouping some students that share a common first language in one classroom to encourage interaction and make pair buddy and group assignments work effectively. Another method that can be used in multilingual classrooms where there is no apparent first language is to have a book buddy who knows the first language from a higher grade.
Having heterogonous group assignments in a multilingual classroom even if there are several first languages in the same group has been shown to be very effective by several studies (Allison & Rehm 2007; Crandall, 1999; Salvin, 1990; Snowman & Biehler, 2003). This would encourage inter-ethnic inter-lingual friendships, while also enhancing language acquisition. However, I should note that having some members whose first language is English should be also included in the group to facilitate ELLs adaptation to the new environment, to enhance language acquisition, to show respect for other languages and to affirm the linguistically diverse identity of the classroom.
Conclusions
In this article the author highlights some of ELLs natural responses in classrooms where English is the only spoken and allowed language. The author stresses the need for educators to understand such responses. She suggests strategies for educators to manage their classroom in a way to help ELLs to cope with their new environment. Mainly educators should respect and embrace linguistic diversity in the classroom and in the community. In increasingly multicultural and multilingual classrooms, using effective pedagogical strategies to meet ELLs’ needs is of crucial importance to have an effective classroom environment.
References
Allison, B. N., & Rehm, M. L. (2007). Effective teaching strategies for middle school learners in multicultural, multilingual classrooms. Middle School Journal, 39(2), 7.
Citizenship & Immigration Canada. (2010). Facts and Figures 2010–Immigration Overview: Permanent and Temporary Residents. Retrieved from
Crandall, J. (1999). Cooperative language learning and affective factors. In J. Arnold (Ed.), Affect in language learning (pp. 226–245) Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Salvin, R. E. (1990). Cooperative learning: Theory, research and practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: prentice Hall.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1988). Multilingualism and the education of minority children. In T. SkutnabbKangas & J. Cummins (Eds.), Minority education: from shame to struggle (pp. 9-45). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Snowman, J. & Biehler, R. (2003). Psychology applied to teaching (10th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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