11/17/14

y experience working with language learners has been enlightening. As I have grown to better

understand the needs of each of my ELL students, Ive progressively recognized the importance of knowing
and caring for your students. I have found that the

more I know about each of my

students background experiences, culture, academic levels, struggles and

strengths, and where they are in their language development, the more
automatic it becomes for me to differentiate and scaffold for him or her.
With this information, I am able to provide the essential extra support necessary for my students to prepare
themselves for higher learning and college success. In addition, awareness of their unique background
knowledge is informative for activating it effectively in each lesson. By activating a students background
knowledge, I am providing access to the content through making learning connections. By caring about my
ELL students, I have found that I am more giving of my time and energy to promote their success.
Furthermore, my caring makes it worth my students time that they spend working to meet my high
expectations on assignments.
One of my ELL students brought me his paper for revision during our writing center. I was
overwhelmed as I could hardly understand anything from the full page he had written. I could see that
he had worked hard on it; it had taken him many class times to finish his draft. I thought about it for a
moment, and then sat down with him to listen to what he was trying to say line by line. With a lot of
listening, questioning (e.g., "so, did you mean to say _____?"), and positive encouragement and
interaction on my part, and the willingness to persevere on his part, we went through the entire paper.
His next draft turned out very well-written! This student is on his way to becoming a strong writer!
Having high

expectations for my ELL students is crucial for their success.

The students in my

classroom tend to match whatever my expectations are for them. I focus on teaching CALP language so
that my students can be successful in the academic setting now and the future. The goals that I have for my
students to learn academic language in all subjects is a high expectation that I have; and by providing

context with demanding tasks, my students will be able reach that expectation. Supports, such as using

hands-on learning, visual instruction plans, and sentence prompts are

consistently integrated into my lesson plans (as demonstrated in my Literacy Linkages lesson below); these
help motivate individual learners to persevere and advance. In addition, I strive to always include visual,

auditory, and kinesthetic learning in my lessons to support my unique students.

I am most

effective when I can create lessons that are uniquely personalized and differentiated for my students.
Overall, our classroom creates a learning culture that is positive, safe for taking risks, and supportive for
language learners.