Most recent public comments by Marlaine Ells https://nowcomment.com/users/40616 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1009277 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1009277 Because many schools contain a variety of students from different cultures, countries and faiths, the school could be a source of healing and unification within the community! I believe each school should take the role of equity, advocacy and leadership to bring peace, alternative solutions to human prejudice, and solidity in a diverse population. Does this sound like a pipe-dream of a hippie? Well, I was one and learned to love people for who they are and not what opinions or beliefs they have. A few ways the school could accomplish this elephant size task is one bite or activity at a time. For example, let's have a "School block" party designed to bring together the diverse community together for food, cultural different types of music, and a designated hour of sharing of ideas focused around the common adversities and joys that each family faces. Of course, this type of activity would take a great deal of focus and planning. But, I challenge our schools to put on the cloak of bringing peace and acceptance of diversity within the community, along with the responsibility of education. A dream? maybe! But our world needs healing, and that can happen by modeling the concept of "I'm OK and you are OK. I love you just the way you are because you are part of "los seres humanos". May the Lord bless our schools and heal our country. Sun, 22 Apr 2018 11:12:12 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1009275 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1009275 Scaffolding has the potential to utilize various concepts; however, I really appreciated the succinct definition given for scaffolding: "A scaffold is a temporary support a teacher provides to a student that enables the student to perform a task he or she would not be able to perform alone (Gibbons, 2015) p 60. At last defined area is clear to explore as teachers. When a teacher executes scaffolding it is paramount that collaboration takes place within the teaching community of any singular ESL students. Before an ESL teacher can begin the selection of materials, teaching approaches, and student grouping s/he must gather information about each of the students in the class. By collaboration with all the teachers who are part of the instructive community of the student, the ESL teacher can better know the student. Speaking with fellow instructors can give the ESL teacher a clearer understanding in order to analyzed the language demands of the student as this understanding relates to the demands of the curriculum. From that point the ESL teacher can plan the lesson by creating the focus and learning achievement expectations. The fun part is the selection and development of appropriate materials. The individuality and the creativity of the teacher can really shine!By use of fun graphic designs, role playing, authentic materials from the student's culture, visual aids, word walls, and picture dictionaries, the marvelous world of learning comes to life. Regular teachers can use the ESL teacher to better understand how they can differentiate their instructional approaches to meet the needs of the ESL students who attend their classes. The more information internalized about the personality and learning style of an ESL students, the better each teacher can use the common activities of any particular subject instruction. These activities are generally categorized as listening, speaking, reading and writing. From my personal experience of learning a language later in life, I can attest that reading and listening comes first to a more mature learner; language production (writing and speaking) follows depending on how quickly the ESL student can assimilate the target language. Children who are less than 8 years old really have no opportunity to learn their language through listening and speaking! Reading and writing comes after the younger student learns those skills. Summarizing, each ESL student should celebrate the opportunity to collaborate with subject teacher, and vice-versa. The goal is to provide a united and nurturing atmosphere to provide the ESL with a successful learning experience in their new language. Teaching is a calling - We are blessed to have the opportunity to influence and better the lives of our students who are providentially given to us to instruct. Sun, 22 Apr 2018 17:08:17 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1008263 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1008263 Two ideas for drawing on students cultural background to make connections to content in a classroom is to discuss how the education they received in their country contrasts to their school experience where they are attending now. This discussion of contrasts will reveal a deeper understanding of the students' educational experience and needs. Growing from this discussion, the second idea can be formed. The teacher and the students can devise a differentiated plan that includes a menu of project based learning experiences blending both the total educational experiences of the students and the curriculum goals. Always, it's not what we teachers teach that insures what the student learns. The student must always be in the forefront of any connections to the content of the classroom. Sun, 22 Apr 2018 16:53:01 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1008262 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1008262 Guideline 3: Culturally responsive teaching values students' languages, cultures, and backgrounds. The more authentic resources and actual artistic objects from a culture can increase the understanding of students relating to each other's cultures. Once they begin to form relationships with each other through appreciation of different cultures, then the ESL teacher can move forward easily to relate all the different cultures to the American culture. Some suggestions for sharing the various world cultures could be through food days - or at least a tasting day, when each student could bring a typical type of food to be tasted by the class. Other days could be centered around dress, greetings, and native holidays and the meaning behind the celebration. Lastly, parents of the different students are a rich source of information and can provide the class with a deeper understanding that although we may be from different parts of the world we share the commonality of human needs and emotions. Great chapter! Fri, 11 May 2018 16:47:34 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1007590 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1007590 One way teaching an individual student from a different culture is to gain an understanding of the target culture to be able to adapt teaching methodology to the "assumptions" within a culture. For example, I had to discipline an IB student for plagiarism. As I was speaking to the student, at no time would our eyes meet. I thought the student was not giving respect to my suggestions and recommendations. Later, I learned that in her culture, when an adult is giving a verbal discipline and suggestions, respect is shown by keeping the eyes directed to the floor, and only listening. Surprise! This student was giving me the utmost respect! Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:20:23 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1007589 https://nowcomment.com/documents/101580?scroll_to=1007589 Culture is indeed complex and dynamic in all cultures. What is challenging is the nuances that exist within a culture. For example, dialectally speaking words of the same language can have different meanings within the same culture. The most outstanding difference is in many cultures especially South Africa children do not look at their parents when they are being disciplined verbally; however, in the United States many teachers take this action as a sign of not listening to instructions or not giving respect. It is important to understand the nuances presented within whatever culture is native to the student. Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:59:37 -0400