Eemma Iseman

FLT 807- Amanda Temples

11/30/2015
ELL Teaching Philosophy
My call to teaching is different than the majority of education majors. I come from a small town
in Michigan where aspirations were small and cycles continuous. I yearned to feel black sand in between
my toes, to ride on the back of an elephant, to stand atop a 10,000 mile wall of an ancient civilization,
and soak up the cadence of a million voices speaking in a language I have never heard. I would feverishly
read about women travelers and their experiences abroad, cut out pictures of destinations in National
Geographic magazines and would stare longingly at the map above my bed and dream of all of the
places I would go.
The summer of my eighteenth year I spent in Bali, Indonesia volunteering at a surf hostile hostel
and childrens home. I drove my motorbike past endless rice fields, surfed in the Indian Ocean, visited
small islands and its inhabitants of seaweed farmers, and spent quality time with children whose parents
loved them but couldnt afford to keep them. It was these children, despite their undesirable situations
who were always happy and eager to learn. This is where I saw the difference a quality education could
make if only it were offered. My heart grew and softened during those three short months, but my fists
became tighter. Directly following those three months I changed my major to education in a hope to
make a difference in the lives of those served unjust circumstances and those who are forgotten.
My first placement through the College of Education at Michigan State University was at Riddle
Elementary in Lansing. The third grade classroom I was in had seventeen English language learners and a
nearly retired teacher who discussed with me the challenges of being a teacher with learners with such
diverse needs. For one semester I worked with a group of eight English language learners on their
leveled reading and writing that was far behind their classmates. I was not provided with any tools or

direction to support these unique learners. Our first afternoon together, the students bombarded me
with questions in multiple languages, they were eager to learn, and to receive spelling for every word,
afraid if they were not correct, their teacher would be upset with them. I realized then and there that
this chaos would be my symphony, my passion. I realize now that this teacher was most likely not
equipped with the tools to best support her ELL learners either, and did what she thought was best.
I feel as though English language learners are the last to be thought about in a district or looked
at as a deficits. Teachers are not properly equipped with the tools to best support these unique learners
making it difficult to see what value they bring to the classroom. ELL students bring their own
experiences and knowledge to the learning process and it is vital to meet students where they are.
Teachers can make the connections that count by viewing the linguistically and culturally diverse
households of their students as repositories of funds of knowledge that can enrich classroom
learning (Levine and McCloskey, p.46). Culturally responsive teaching helps students create an identity
that includes their cognitive, language, and academic development in their school community. ELL
students need advocates and teachers who understand and value their unique skill sets and needs.
Students will not feel motivated to succeed academically if they feel that their culture and
language is not valued. The social and culture identities of students form the basis for school
achievement and for their cultural identities (Levine and McCloskey, p.41). Teaching abroad for six
weeks in South Africa I found that this to be true as well. South Africas not too distant past of apartheid
has placed a murky fog over its country. Racial tensions, language, and power are all tied together and
the effects of this can be seen as prevalent in the school system. The use of a language that holds less
power is scoffed at and the students who choose to speak in it or accidently use it are physically
reprimanded by their peers. Many students deny that they even know the language. The teachers refer
to the language as a ghetto language or a street language and have explained that it is not allowed in
school, however Afrikaans, the language of apartheid, or the oppressors language is a mandatory

course in the school system. This devaluing of a students language and culture has had negative effects
on student motivation and achievement in the school system. Through this experience I have become
quite fascinated with the role of language and power, as well as more careful to support an additive
bilingual approach in my teaching.
Additive bilingual models are programs that build on students existing language competencies
and aim to add linguistic repertoires in other languages (Guofang Li & Patricia Edwards, p.190). While
idealistically an additive bilingual approach would create opportunities for development in both
languages, this is not a feasible task as an ELL teacher that has a diverse case load of 40 languages. A
way that I counteract a subtractive bilingual program is by actively encouraging development in
students first language. This can be done through providing books in the students first language,
discussing ways with parents to encourage first language use at home, allowing students to use their
first language to support understanding in both languages, and finding ways for students to use
language and share their culture in our classroom.
I believe that culturally relevant teaching and motivation in the ELL classroom are interweaved.
Learning about ones linguistic and cultural identity, as well as their peers has been motivating for my 5th
grade ELL students. My students created a project on their individual cultures and presented it to the
class. This project started in our classroom, where we discussed culture, what we know about our own
culture, and what we wanted to know more about. The project then bridged into their home life where
they interviewed their parents or other family members about their culture and traditions. By
encouraging students to move out of the classroom and into the world project work helps to bridge the
gap between language study and language use (Diane Larsen-Freeman & Marti Anderson, p.158). Lastly,
students presented their projects to the class, as well as the opportunity to bring in a traditional dish to
share. This task-based approach was culturally relevant and allowed opportunities to implement realworld language in an active and meaningful way.

I am continuously refining my ELL teaching practice through Michigan States College of

Education. I am eager to grow as an educator and to practice new theories and implement new activities
that I am learning about in my courses. My teaching is not representative of one theory or practice, but
is fluid as I learn and try out various activities and see what works best for my students individual needs.
I have also learned that as an ELL educator reflective teaching is vital to my practice. Richards and
Lockehart (1994b) define relative teaching as an approach to second language classroom instruction in
which current and prospective teachers "collect data about teaching, examine their attitudes, beliefs,
assumptions, and teaching practices, and use the information obtained as a basis for critical reflection."
(p.1). Reflective teaching allows us to expand our understandings of the teaching-learning process,
expand our repertoire of strategic options as language teachers, take ownership of our own theories of
language teaching, and to enhance the quality of learning opportunities were are able to provide in
language classrooms (Murphy, 2014). I plan to continue to be reflective in my practice following my
graduate program because I believe it is my responsibility as an educator to continuously develop and
transform my practice.
My love for culture and travel has allowed me to find a passion in teaching ELL students.
Meeting ELL students where they are in their English language development has taught me to be flexible
and creative. Observing my students on their language learning journey has taught me to be persistent
and to not fear failure. Despite the circumstances many of my students have faced at such a young age,
they have taught me to love freely and to never give up. With a profession such as this, I will always be a
student seeking the features of a teacher.

References
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques & principles in language
teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Murphy, J. (2014). Ch 39: Reflective Teaching: Principles and Practices. In Celce-Murcia, M.,
Brinton, D., & Snow, M.A. (Eds.),Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed.) (pp. 613629). Boston, MA: Heinle.
Gunderson, L. (2011). Best Practices in ELL Instruction. G. Li, & P. A. Edwards (Eds.). Guilford
Press.
Levine, L. N., & McCloskey, M. L. (2009). Teaching Learners of English in Mainstream
Classrooms (K-8): One Class, Many Paths. Boston: Pearson Education.