Entry 4

When this class first started, I was not entirely sure what to expect. Once we got into the first chapter, I got a full understanding that this was going to be about our students who are learning English as a second language. Not so much how to teach them but how to understand what they go through when learning. I think as teachers it is important that we try to put ourselves in our students’ shoes. Something may seem so simple to us, but their brain is not like ours right now. We had to go through challenges and frustrating moments too like they are going through. But specifically, with our ESL students it can be harder to imagine unless we have gone through that experience in the past. I think this class will help me in the future when I teach ESL to think about what I can do to help. I have gone through ESL classes when I was in Elementary, but even then, I do not recall everything that I went through.

            Ortega (2013) mentioned in her book about foreign accents being detected by the untrained ear. I would have liked to have heard more about this in the area of those who learn multiple languages but have no accent. I have a great Aunt who knows five languages and learned them through tapes but speaks them with no accent. She speaks as if she was from the country of that language. I would have liked to learn about as to why that may happen. Ortega (2013) also mentioned a story about Betsy Rymes who became more involved in the classroom when they talked about things he knew. I would have liked to touch more on this and how as a teacher we can help a student more with this. I know she mentioned about meaningful conversations but most of the time teachers have to give instruction. I would like to have heard her input on what strategies teachers can use to make the curriculum meaningful to these students who need something like Betsy Rymes to get involved.

            I surprisingly enjoyed making the vblogs. When having to think of questions to ask the person I was thinking of interviewing and connecting it to the material I thought of things that I may not have before. Having to form the questions took my thinking of the material to another level I feel. As opposed to simply reading and understanding the basic point, I thought about how I could take what I read and transfer that thinking to the classroom. Then being able to here back on the answers to my questions was helpful. The answers made me think back to what I had read. Often the answers reflected what the material said. It was like a cycle, I thought back to the material twice each time with a slightly different perspective.

            Being able to comment with my peers helped the most in my opinion. I found myself understanding some of the material a bit better. Sometimes a peer would include a citation in an area that I skimmed over because I was not in complete understanding of what was being said. But because they used it in their response, I was able to read it from a different perspective. I also enjoyed getting to read different opinions on the material as well. This class makes you think and reflect about the different areas that affect learning a second language.