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Krystina Heien

Professor Rebecca Stewart

EDUC

26 March 2017

ELD Designated Classroom Reflection

This observation was done at an elementary school in Santa Rosa, where I

studied a T-K designated ELD classroom. The classroom I observed had 90% ELL

students. These students were level 1, but the schools program supports students

through level 4. The school was mostly made up of ELL students, therefore the school

had effective programs in place. Because of the surrounding area demographic the

district has done very well with suppling ELD classrooms with materials and support

they may need. The classroom I observed had an iPad for each student and two

support aids. One support aid was full time, while the other circulated through K-1st

grade daily.

The day I went to the classroom was St. Patricks Day. Therefore, the lesson

was not traditionally what the class does everyday. The teacher informed me that her

learning objectives for the lesson were modified but the foundation of the lesson was

similar. The teacher had the students on the carpet, explaining their next activity. On the

tables the teacher set out five stations for the students to circulate through. The first

station was math, where the students counted and sorted Lucky Charm cereal. The

second and third station was language arts, where the students were creating spring

crafts. The fourth station was language development, where the students worked on an

iPad application, Lexia. The last station was just a simple coloring page.
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Before dismissing the students to the centers the teacher had the students on the

carpet explaining their next activities. As she explained the directions she demonstrated

the activity at each table. She would also repeat the instructors a few times to ensure

students were listening. She even had the students repeat the directions back to her.

Having the students repeat the instructions back to her helped them remember while

also working on their vocabulary. This instruction demonstrates listening and speaking.

Also, during this time many students would get distracted by a friend and begin

speaking in Spanish. The teacher would politely call the students names and ask them

to pay attention. Often the teachers aid would help the students stay on track. She

would use Spanish to get the students attention.

Once the students were at their table groups the teacher went around to ensure

every student was following instructions. At one point a student seemed confused about

the directions. The teacher used Spanish to ask the child if she understood the next

step. The student shook her head. Thus, the teacher repeated the directions again in

English while she demonstrated what to do. She was always emphasizing academic

language. The teacher did not speak Spanish to any of the students unless to clarify

instructions. But then she would follow the instructions in English. This demonstrated

the teacher was maximizing English during instruction and only using Spanish

strategically.

Since the class was mostly made up of ELL students the class was not separated

at anytime during the day. However, students who had disabilities were taken out of the

class for extra support. The students were separated strategically in table groups. The

groups were separated by were the students are in language arts. Instead of mixing low
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achieving and high achieving students together, she separated them and grouped all

the high achieving together. The students seemed to work very well in this grouping.

They all worked well without a teacher directly leading the table. The students would

help each other out if needed.

At the table groups the teacher would circulate and observe the students. She

would often use rhymes or word phases to aid the students. I have herd these rhymes

used in other classrooms before. For example, first things first, write your name. The

students responded very well to these rhymes and it helps them learn vocabulary,

syntax, grammar and conversations.. As the teacher circulated and conversed with

other students she would emphasize certain words or phrases to students. She said she

did not like to correct the students during their speaking. Instead in response she would

repeat something similar to the student and emphasize the correct way. She also does

this with their writing pages. She does not like to correct the students work, because of

their age and level. She said if the majority of the class is still not getting something she

will create a lesson to review. If only a few students are having trouble she will aid them

with an application. On the iPads the students have a variety of applications to aid them

in many ways.

Most of the table centers were forms of arts and crafts, but Lexia. Lexia was an

application the students used on the iPad to practice their reading. The application

would allow the students to listen to the reading and then answer questions on

comprehension. This tool helped students learn reading by listening and also elements

of English. I liked how the whole class wasn't surrounded on just the application. Each

student got a turn on the iPad and was able to practice. The students really enjoyed the
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application and it helps the teacher track their progress. They can also access the

application at home to practice. The teacher said that they practice the application

everyday to ensure students are getting a good amount of time for devoted ELD

instruction. She also said that she incorporates read alouds followed by an activity. The

read aloud allows the instruction to be interactive instead of playing on an iPad. During

the read alouds the teacher plans her lesson to incorporate an important element, such

as grammar, vocabulary, comprehension or conversations.

ELD instruction was provided for all ELL students. The instruction the students

were given was very interactive and planned out by the teacher. Every morning after

circle the students would begin ELD instruction. The students also worked on ELD

instruction before lunch. The students were getting about 30-40 mins of devoted ELD

instruction a day. The teacher stated that she usually plans a specific language

objective in the morning and before lunch. Although, she also said depending on what

the students need to work on she would adjust her lessons to better aid their learning.

The iPad applications were a good recourse for students to catch up and learn at home.

Through the iPad applications and lesson planning the students were given

corrective feedback. The application would give the students feedback on their reading

and comprehension right away. The teacher would also review a lesson if students were

still struggling.

During instruction the teacher would always use English, giving the students

maximized instruction. She would use Spanish as a strategy to aid a student who was

struggling. The teacher would use language-learning strategies throughout her lessons.

She would incorporate this during her read aloud time. When the students would read
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informational texts she would create a KWL chart. She also said that informational texts

help her students learn new vocabulary.

When the students would talk amongst themselves they would speak Spanish.

Although the teacher emphasized academic language she would allow the students to

speak Spanish but only for a period of time. She informed me that if students were

using Spanish often in a day period she would ask them to turn off their Spanish brain

and turn on their English one. This encouraged the students to use their English brain in

conversational language.

Overall, the school and district have a lot of support for their ELD students. This

makes it easy for the teachers to create lessons to support maximum ELD instruction.

The classroom was also surrounded with lots of visual aids and materials. The walls

were filled with letter and vocabulary posters. Students were able to use these posters

as a reference during class. The teacher often referred or pointed to a poster. I was very

impressed by all the resources the teacher had for her students.