Andrea Hogger
Reflection #1
Elng 200
I have been placed in Balfour Collegiate High School. I am an elementary education student, so I was a little nervous to work in a high school setting. I have a lot of experience working with young children. This experience gave me a new perspective as an inspiring educator. It helped me to understand the different levels and forms of learning.
My first volunteer experience was different than I had anticipated. I had imagined that the students in the ESL class would hardly have any knowledge on reading and writing the English Language. I was amazed to find that the student I would be working with could read and write English at a high level. I assisted her in subjects such as Biology 20 and French. I am truly amazed that this student is not only learning the English language, but French too. This student and her family are refugees from Thailand. It is hard to believe that many Canadian students take their education for granted, but immigrant students work their hardest to learn a whole new language and graduate.
At first I found that she was taking advantage of having someone help her. She knew most of the answers to her homework, but would try to get me to answer the questions. I had to ask for her opinion on the question, and then I would give mine. She was very good at reading, but would have to ask for help with spelling the odd word. The only time she opened up with me was when I would ask her questions. By the end of the hour she was finally asking me questions about university, and shared her hopes about becoming a flight attendant. Her plan is to further her studies at the University of Regina in French and English, and then apply to a flight attendant program.
My second experience I was placed with a Muslim student who was at a low literacy level. I had the opportunity to learn how to test elementary students on the level of their reading, and it was shocking to see that this high school student was at the same level as the grade ones I had been assessing. We read a ten paged book called Charlotte’s Web. She was asked to list the characters and their description. She understood the task, but had a difficult time spelling and reading the names. We then had to go through a booklet on the body systems. She had to write down things she already knew, things she had learnt after reading the information, and what she wanted to learn. She was not in her silent period, but I could see that she would get embarrassed when she could not pronounce a word. I noticed that she would memorize words, and would sometimes mistake similar words with the one she had memorized. I had to remind her to sound out the word, rather than making a guess at what it looked like. I tried to initiate a conversation other than the book to see how well she could speak English. She used lots of pointing to help me understand what she was saying. I noticed that the syntax of her sentences would be a little mixed up. Using my hands to point and describe things helped her to know what I was explaining to her. I would ask her to tell me where each system in the body was before we started to read. She would point to her mouth and stomach when I asked where the digestive system was. I feel that visualizing and understanding what she was reading helped her to read the words.
These second language learners are amazing individuals. I respect their dedication to learn the English language, while aspiring to graduate high school and furthering their education in a university setting. I am anxious to further my knowledge on learning methods to educating and helping second language learners.
-Andrea Hogger
Andrea Hogger
Reflection #2
Elng 200
Now that we are half way through our ESL volunteering I feel that I am getting to know the students on a personal level. I was nervous in the beginning to work in a high school setting, but now I understand how rewarding it is. I am scheduled to volunteer every Friday. Because the school has been closed a few Fridays I was able to stay for two hours instead of one. This opportunity has given me the chance to really see how an afternoon in an ESL class works.
During my recent volunteer session I was placed with a boy from Somalia. I was told that he had only been living in Canada for a few weeks. I am also observing a grade one class for my ECS 100 class. The student from Somalia is on the same reading level as many of the students in the grade one class I am placed in. I was later informed by his teacher that he had only received three years of formal education in Somalia. I was shocked with how much he was able to read and understand. I did not find that he was in his silent period, but he did read and talk very quietly. At times he would get embarrassed when he could not make the sound of a word. To make him feel more comfortable I would sound out the words with him so that he was not the only one to sound funny. We continued with using flashcards. The cards had a basic word plus an image. I found that most times he would already know what the image was, and wouldn’t look at the word itself. He was able to properly say the word cup, but could not say the word up. When I showed him the similarities of the sounds using the flash cards he was finally able to say it. I wanted to talk to him about his learning of the English language. He expressed himself by saying “very hard”. I really do give him credit for how hard he tried. I expect that it would be very nerve racking and embarrassing to be in a high school setting, reading books suitable for a child in grade one. I also asked what his favorite subjects were. He responded that he really like music because it is almost the same or similar in every language.
The second student I worked with was from the Philippians. She asked me to help her with math. I was a little hesitant since math is not a strong subject for me. I read through her notes and formulas and was able to explain it to her. It was very rewarding to hear her tell me that it was not that too hard once I explained it to her. When she would make a mistake she would instantly expect me to help her fix it. I would explain to her to check her work in the back of the book. We then worked through the question again together. I found this to be the best method in helping her to understand the equation. She seemed to be pretty fluent in English but struggled with a few words. After we finished her math assignment she started to draw. We started to talk about her love for art and sketching. She explained that it was sometimes hard to draw in the Philippians because the tools were not always available. It was hard to wrap my head around the idea of not having a pencil and paper handy. We take these simple objects for granted.
I am learning more each and every time I go to volunteer. I had never formed an opinion on Canada’s immigrating population, but after having worked with them I can see how motivated and hard working they are. I now find myself searching for literacy based lesson plans, and have a whole category devoted to reading and speech on my Pinterest account. I am happy that this experience has open new doors and ideas for me.
-Andrea
Andrea Hogger
Elng 200
Reflection #3
March 28, 2013
I have now completed my eight hours of volunteer work, and I have learnt more than I had anticipated. I am excited to bring my learning’s from this class and my volunteering into a future classroom. I feel that I now understand that the best learning does not come from a lecture or reading, but from an abundance of different learning opportunities. ESL students learn best through visual teaching, experiential, kinesthetic, and auditory. There are also many possibilities in managing a classroom to best suit bilingual learners. Independent and group work all promote differentiated learning. What I have best learnt from this experience is that not all students learn in the same way. Teaching with different mediums helps all students to develop an understanding.
Lucas, Villegas, & Freedson-Gonzalez (2008) explain that most mainstream classroom educators are not prepared to implement the types of assistance that EALs need to successfully meet this challenge. I hope that the elementary education program through the University of Regina will soon incorporate more courses involving ESL learning. I feel that Canada has a growing population of ethnic variation, and we as pre service teachers need to embrace this cultural diversity throughout our education. If institutions offered education students more courses on how to teach ESL students in a mainstream classroom, we would be better prepared to provide students of all language backgrounds a positive education.
I had the opportunity to help teach an ESL class, rather than tutor. The class was made up of six grade nine students all from different countries. The unit was based around past and present tense verbs. The students had both a past and present verb that they had to put into an already formed sentence. I found that the best strategy was to read the sentence each time with either the past or present verb. I would then ask them which sentence sounded right. Reading sentences quietly works for some students, but I found that others understood better in an auditory format.
I feel that English speaking teachers do not take “common sense” into consideration when educating English language learners. “Common sense” is the facets of life that many individuals seem to take for granted, or what someone should know. During a volunteer experience I was working with a Philippine student. The math question asked for the degree of an angle between a dock and a gazebo. When the student read the question aloud, she gave me a puzzled look. It took me a minute to realize she did not know what a gazebo was. We used the teacher’s tablet to find a picture of what a gazebo looked like. This example has made me understand how much we take for granted, and how little we know about other cultures. The norms and common sense of schools, societies, favor and benefit specific groups and identities while suppressing and subordinating others on the foundation of race, language, and religion (Kumashiro, 2009). I feel that it is our job to understand the identities and ethnicities of our students, in order to provide a classroom that is not based around “common sense”.
I really value the experiences and ideas I am taking away from working in an ESL classroom. There can be major difficulties and frustrations when working around “common sense” ideas, but the outcome of bettering ESL students’ education is very rewarding. Many of the students have come from little to no formal education in their home countries. Their willingness to learn and adopt our language and way of life says a lot about their futures. I feel that great things will come of these students. I have nothing but utmost respect for their eagerness to learn.
References
Lucas, T., Villegas, A. M., & Freedson-Gonzalez, M. (2008). Linguistically Responsive Teacher
Education Preparing Classroom Teachers to Teach English Language Learners. Journal
of Teacher Education, 59(4), 361-373.
Kumashiro, K.K. (2009). Against Common Sense. Teaching and Learning Toward Social
Justice. New York, NY: Routledge.
-Andrea
Andrea Hogger 