Thursday, May 10, 2012

Teaching ELD

Okay, I know I already touched on my new ELD class in my post "Starting Fresh" but coming to the end of my week I wanted to reflect again on my experiences.  First off, I LOVE teaching this class.  Everyday the students come in and seem so eager to learn.  While we read, they ask so many questions; they're never afraid to say "Ms. Sorben I don't understand this" or "how do you say that, what does it mean?"  Additionally, every one of my 10 students is constantly chomping at the bit to read which really excites me.  Usually, it's like pulling teeth to get students to read aloud in class, but in ELD, it's like they KNOW how much it helps them with their literacy skills.  Teaching from the EDGE text book makes asking critical thinking questions very easy because they're listed in the teachers addition.  I know where to stop, and what areas to focus on with my students, and for a first time teacher, especially a first time ELD teacher, this makes standing in front of a class ensuring they learn key concepts a lot less stressful.  I was also pleasantly surprised how welcoming these students were.  On my first day they were raising their hands and asking me for help; they really trusted me to educate them.  You can tell when they finally understand a concept, or are able to articulate it in English that they truly feel excited inside.  We do a lot of pair-shares in this class and they kids get really excited to share out when they know they've understood something.

One of this aspects of teaching this class that I have found challenging is sometimes understanding my students.  I pride myself on being an incredible multi-tasker so usually I am able to listen to a student and do other things like read the text or write something down etc.  With these students, because they have difficulty with English I've noticed I have to pay sole attention to them when they are talking.  I don't want to be the teacher that's continually saying "huh, what did you say, can you repeat that?" because I assume they get that all the time.  English is my first and only language (aside from ASL) so learning to understand various accents is challenging for me, but something I am excited to improve upon; I guess I've had some years of practice having family from Scotland, THOSE are some hard accents to understand!!!  I've noticed that if I look directly at the students mouth and completely focus on what they are saying I am able to understand them better.  This is a strategy that has really helped me but if you have any others, please share.

Finally, the SIOP book is literally my new classroom Bible.  My CT uses almost every strategy in the book on a daily basis and I strive to do the same.  I realize watching those tips and tricks in action really help the students to understand better.  I've also learned that it's okay to take a step back and re-do/re-teach something I failed at which is something I experienced today.  I tried/failed/tried/then succeeded at teaching analogies.  At first when the students didn't understand the concept I became frustrated with myself because I was having difficulty finding the right words, or different words to better explain to them the concept.  It took me a few tries, but I finally found things that they could relate to and said the concept in such a way that they finally understood it.  Truly though, it was very difficult for me and challenged me to try and find a way around my normal way of teaching that concept.  I think that teaching ELD is going to continue to challenge me, but in the same way, give me many more tools and ways of teaching.  

This is by far one of my favorite classes I've taught in this program, simply because the students make it so amazing to teach.  I feel like I am actually accomplishing something that they APPRECIATE when I am done teaching.

P.S. I had one of those AWW teacher moments today.  I was a little late walking into their class today.  The class is 2nd period and the first 10 minutes is dedicated to video announcements.  I was caught up talking to another teacher who is overlooking me at the school about my experience thus far and how everything was going for me.  Anywho, when I walked into class the students kept saying "You're here you're here!!!  We we're wondering where you were.  We were upset because we thought you weren't coming today."  After the announcements their regular teacher started the day by going through some of the concepts they learned previously.  One girl raised her hand and said "Mrs. Hemsath, does Ms. Sorben get to teach us today?" and other students chimed in with "yeah, yeah is Ms. Sorben teaching today?"  I felt so humbled that a group of students I met 5 days ago were already excited to have me teaching them.  It made all the trials and tribulations I've experienced this semester melt away and reminded me why I chose this profession, and why I love teaching so much!

P.S.S. If any of you readers have/are teaching ELD and have any tips and tricks for someone new to the class please share!!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mallory,

    I loved reading about your experience teaching ELD 3. I am currently teaching ELD 1 & 2 and currently love it. I do not use the EDGE text in my class; the students have two ELD classes and they use EDGE in the other one. I use my own materials and work with the grammar books that the students have been using. I identify with some of the frustrations you mentioned in your blog. Sometimes I find myself speaking too fast, or using too much slang and then trying to backtrack and model more academic language. I am glad you are loving it!! Good luck :)

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