For our mini-lesson my group taught how to do the dance, “The Macarena,” without

using English. My group was originally only going to use gestures to teach the dance and use

Spanish only to write and read the objective from the board, but I found it to be easier to have a

language with cognates and with which you can use intonation. I relied heavily on intonation

paired with gestures to explain the I, we, you process. Stressing todos (everyone) as I gestured to

the whole room and seeing nodding heads made me confident that the class understood what I

was trying to convey.

My biggest challenge during this lesson was not being sure if my “students” understood

what I was saying. I am fluent in Spanish, so it was easy to teach with it, but it is hard to know

how much the class understood. I relied heavily on the students verbally confirming that they

understood. I would have realized that they didn’t understand when we did the assessment, but

the formative assessment aspect was difficult. With younger students, I wouldn’t be able to trust

this verbal confirmation as much, so I would probably come up with very simple questions that

reiterate what was just said to be sure that the children were understanding.

There is so much more to teach ELL students than being able to translate content.

Students need to be taught in English and helped to understand through gestures, pictures,

modeling, and intonation so that they can learn the language. Though with today’s technology it

is easier than ever to communicate across language barriers, knowing English is a huge factor in

students’ college- or career-readiness.

I have an interesting perspective on this task because I have been in college classrooms

where the language used was not my native tongue. I know how much concentration it takes to

stay with the class and how easy it is to zone out for one second and be completely lost for the

next 30 minutes. I know how unsure students feel and how embarrassed they can get not being
able to keep up with their peers. I also know how helpful an effective teacher can be in that

situation. I know how structure, repetition, patience, and visual cues can change a student’s

whole experience.