SarahRedick

EDUC359
ProfessorReilly
November17,2016
1.MycooperatingteacheruseddifferenttechniquesandstrategiestoaidthenewELL
studentintheclassroomthatIobservein.Mycooperatingteacherwouldstillgivethe
studentthesamehandoutsastherestoftheclass;however,theELLstudentwouldonly
beaskedtocompleteasmuchashecould,andwouldbegivenshortenedassignments.
Whengivingdirections,myteacherwouldgivethestudentvisualcuestohelphim
understandwhatshewastryingtodescribe.Mycooperatingteacherstrategicallysatthe
ELLstudentnexttoastudentwhoknewhowtospeakabitofSpanish.Althoughthis
studentwasnotafluentSpanishspeaker,shehelpedtheELLstudentoutwiththe
Spanishthatshedidknow.Ifeltasifthetechniquesthatmycooperatingteacherused
wereeffective,becausewithinthefirstfewweeksofthisstudentstransition,heseemed
tobelearningsomewordsinEnglish.
2.Onestudentinmyclass,whoisnotanELLstudent,showssomeoutoftheordinary
behaviors.Thisstudentisalwaysexhaustedinclassandsleepsforalotofmyteachers
lessons.Thestudentcrieswhendemandsorresponsibilitiesareputuponhim.Healso
doesnotspeak,anddoesnotseemtointeractwithhispeersorhavemanyfriends.My
cooperatingteacherhasbeenworkingcloselywiththeschoolprincipal,school
psychologist,andschoolcounselortodeterminehowtohelpthestudent,andfigureout

exactlywhattherootoftheproblemis,becausethisstudenthasatwinbrotherwho
showssimilarbehavioralcharacteristics.
3.Atfirst,theELLstudentinmyclassonlywouldinteractwiththegirlwhosatnextto
himthatspeakslittleSpanish.Afteraboutthefirsttwoweeks,theELLstudentbeganto
makefriendswithhispeers.Itwasinterestingtoobserve,becauseofthelanguage
barrier.Thestudentswouldhangoutintheirfreetime,buttheELLstudentwouldnotbe
abletoconversewiththem.Insteadtheywoulddraw,playagame,etc.butseemed
completelycomfortablewithoneanother.Theywoulddofunnydancemovesorfunny
facesandlaughwitheachother,whichwasnicetoobservethatalthoughtheycannottalk
toeachothertheycanhaveafuntime.TheELLstudentseemedcomfortablewithmy
cooperatingteacher,butnotascomfortableashewaswithhispeers.Myteacherdoes
notknowanySpanish,soshewasunabletocommunicatewiththestudent.Sometimes
shewouldtrytospeaktohim,andhewouldclearlynotunderstandwhatshehadsaid,
andyoucouldseethefrustrationthatbothofthemhad.Overall,Idobelievethatthe
studentwascomfortablewithbothhispeersandteacherforthesituationthathewasin.
4.Inmyclassroom,IobservedmyteacherusingthesamematerialsfortheELLstudent
assheusedfortherestoftheclass.Oneresourcethatmycooperatingteacherused
everydaywasthecomputer.ShewouldtypicallyhavetheELLstudentusethecomputer
whentherestoftheclasswastakingatest,orsometimesduringsmallgrouptime.On
thecomputer,theELLstudentwoulduseaprogramthatwasaninteractivelearning
website.Ifeltasifthiswaseffective,becausetheprogramwasvisualaswellas

auditory.Thestudentcouldplaygamesordoactivitiessuchasclickingonawordand
listeningtoitfollowedbyseeingapictureoftheword.
5.IbelievethattheELLstudentfeltcomfortableintheclassroomenvironment.He
movedintothisschoolthedaythatIbeganobserving,soIwasabletoseehistransition
intotheclassroom.Atfirst,heseemedveryanxious,whichisextremelyeasyto
understandasheknewverylittleEnglish.Afterthefirstweek,thestudenthadseemedto
makefriendswithsomeofhispeers,andalsoseemedtoknowthedailyroutine.This
studentandhisfriendswouldnottalkmuchbecauseofthelanguagebarrier,butIwould
alwaysseethemsittingnexttoeachotherduringtheirspecialsorsnacktime.
6.WhentheELLstudentarrivedinmyclassroomheseemedveryuncomfortablewith
theEnglishlanguage,ashespokefluentSpanish.Heseemedtobeinthepreproduction
stageofacquiringanewlanguage.Thestudentwasverysilentandwouldnodyesorno
whenmycooperatingteacherwouldaskhimquestions,andlookedextremelyconfused
whenhewouldbeaskedaquestionbytheteacherorapeer.Bytheendofmy
observations,theELLstudentseemedtobemakingprogressoutofthepreproduction
stageandintotheearlyproductionstage.ThestudentstillcouldnotspeakEnglish,but
heseemedmorecomfortablelisteningtotheteacherorhispeerstalk.Healsowasable
tosayoneortwowordphrasestoanswertheteacherorattempttoaskaquestion.
7.Sincethestudententeredtheclassroomlateinthesemester,andalsowasnewtothe
Englishspeakingcommunity,myteacherdidnotexpectthestudenttotakeanytestsor
quizzes.Sheaskedthathewouldfollowalongonworksheets,andcompleteasmuchas
possibleforindividualwork.Aspreviouslystated,theteacherutilizedthecomputeras

animportantresourcefortheELLstudenttouse.Thestudentwouldleavetheclassroom
onceadaytoworkwiththeESLteacher,whichseemedtohelpgreatly.