Katie ONeill

Professor Reilly

EDUC 359

30 August 2017

1. As a teacher, what challenges did you face when trying to teach your lesson/content to

the class?

The biggest challenge I faced while trying to teach was the language barrier. It was very

difficult to give instruction and to check for understanding. I had trouble asking the

students if they completed step one and were ready for step two. Not being able to

verbally communicate makes teaching very difficult.

2. What did you do to overcome these challenges?

To overcome these challenges, I tried to communicate using as little verbal

communication as possible. We taught using hand gestures and visuals. To check for

understanding, I would put two thumbs up. Students soon caught on that they needed to

give me a thumbs up back to show me they were ready to move on.

3. As a teacher, how did this activity simulate trying to instruct one or more ELL students in

your classroom? How did you use language in your instruction?

As a teacher, this activity simulated trying to instruct one or more ELL students in the

classroom because many students were not able to understand and speak the language in

which the lesson was taught. This is often a challenge that will be faced in an ELL

classroom. We used minimal verbal language in our lesson. When we did use verbal

communication, we spoke in Spanish. Instead, we relied heavily on visuals and hand

gestures to teach our students how to draw a house.

4. As part of the class, how can you relate this activity to the experience of ELL students

in an English speaking class?

As part of the class, I was put in the shoes of an ELL student. I became frustrated as I was

not able to understand instruction. In some lessons, I fell behind or gave up. This is likely

to occur to and ELL student in an English speaking class since they are not familiar with

the language being spoken. Visuals and hand gestures definitely helped me to follow

along.

5. Overall, what do you think was the purpose of this activity?

As a teacher, the purpose was to show how challenging teaching an ELL class can be. We

also learned to utilize other forms of communication rather than simply verbal

communication. As the student, I think the purpose was to be put in the shoes of an ELL

student. I was also able to experience the frustration they will likely experience in the

classroom.