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Rebecca Loonstyn

Professor Reilly

EDUC 359

15 November 2017

Observation Questions for ELL/ LEP student(s)

1. What techniques/methods/strategies do you see being used with the ELL / LEP student?

Are they effective? Why or why not? (Either specifically for ELL student(s) or in whole

class/ small group instruction).

The techniques, methods, strategies that I see being used with the ELL student

include: direct instruction, the teacher is always give this student clarification on what he

should be doing in class, and modifications or shorten work. Once the teacher tells him

two or three times what he should be doing than it is effective but this students gets

distracted very easily. He is often play with things in his desk or walking around the

classroom. The majority of the class will sit in their desk and do what they are told.

However, there are few students that will completely disregard the teacher while she is

talking. It seems to be that those students are the ones that have learning or

developmental disabilities.

2. Do you notice any student behaviors that would consider out of the ordinary? Please

describe in detail. (This applies to both the ELL student and other classroom students)

The only student behaviors that I would consider out of the ordinary are the

same that occur in all classrooms. For example, in this classroom about ten students will

consistently be talking to other students, not listening to the teacher, playing in their
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desks, lounging in their chairs, and when the teacher tells some of the students

individually to stop doing something or to do something these particular students will roll

their eyes back at her. Overall, my teacher does a great job at controlling her classroom

and for the most part the students know that when she is talking they arent. Neil

Armstrong Elementary uses the clips as their behavioral method. However, for the

students that have to clip down everyday it does not affect them that they are clipping

down so they continue to do the same things that got them in trouble the first time.

3. What type of interactions do you see between the ELL student, other classroom students,

and the teacher? Please describe in detail.

The types of interactions between the ELL student and the other students in the

class seemed to be particularly normal to me. This student will talk to the same couple of

students and these same couple of students will walk up to his desk in the morning, which

will distract him even more from the morning work that he should be completing. Aside

from talking to the same few students, he walks in the hallway alone and normally does

his own thing. This student and his interaction with the teacher are very minimal and

most of the time this students response to the teacher is in one or two words. I also

noticed that he does rarely looks the teacher in the eye.

4. Identify resources / materials that are being used with the ELL student. Please describe in

detail how the ELL student is using the, Do they appear to be effective? Explain.

I do not see that many resources and materials that are being used with the ELL

student aside from him leaving the classroom and meeting with another teacher first thing

in the morning. In the classroom there are four computers in the back of the room that the

students can go on once they finish all of their morning work. The teacher also has a
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small U shape table where she will bring four or five students of at a time for small group

instruction.

5. Does the classroom environment seem to be comfortable for the ELL student? Please

describe the environment and explain how you made your decision.

The classroom environment during my first half of observations the students

desks were in a U shape; very close to other students. During the second half of my

observation the students were in individual rows. Aside from the seating chart, there was

nothing too special in the classroom that stood out to me. Overall, the classroom was the

generic idea of what a classroom should look like. The teacher was very warm and

welcoming. In the morning she will stand in the hallway and say good morning to each of

the students as they come into her classroom. This classroom is definitely a classroom

that the students know once they walk into the classroom they are there to learn. I could

tell that the students feel this way because of the way that they come into the classroom

and sit down to start their work. All of these thoughts are because of what I have seen

during observation.

6. Whats the comfort level of the ELL student in regards to the English language? What

observations help you arrive at your decision? Refer to the Vocabulary Performance

Indicators. At what level would you place the ELL student? How do you decide on the

level?

It was hard for me to determine what the comfort level of the ELL student is in regards

to English Language because the majority of the time he was distracting himself with

objects in his desk. Since he was always playing with things in his desk when the teacher

would ask for students to participate he would rarely raise his hand because he was not
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paying attention. One particular time during observations the students wrote in the

journal and those who wanted to read theirs to the class could. This student read his

journal and his language was way below grade level and he was even having a hard time

reading what he wrote because he has a very hard time spelling. After he read his journal

to the class, I was able to read some of the students journals. I read this students journal

and I would say he spelled seven out ten words wrong throughout his entire journal.

Aside, from reading his journal, when the teacher is talking to him the majority of the

time he will just look at her and shake his head. When he does answer the teacher he will

normally just say yea. After observing this ELL student for multiply weeks and reading

over his journals and notebook, I would say that he is on a first or second grade language,

reading and writing level.

7. If you feel comfortable enough to ask, ask the cooperating teacher what type of

accommodations/modifications they have to make for the ELL student. Please describe

the types of accommodations/modifications that were discussed. Do they appear on the

checklist? Why / why not so you think they are present / not present on the checklist?

I have talked briefly with my cooperating teacher about the accommodations and

modifications that this student receives through school even though he has not completed

and IEP evaluation. The teacher is in the process of having him get tested for an IEP but

until then there are accommodations and modifications that they have implemented. For

example, this student receives only ten spelling words and they are not from the list of the

other students yet ten words that on his grade level. At times the teacher will read his test

out loud to him. For home the teacher will give him half the amount, since before he was

not completing his homework every night. She thought that this would encourage him to
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complete his homework because in was lesson questions. Lastly, this ELL student will

leave the classroom in the morning to meet with the ESL teacher. All of these are on the

checklist that we were provided. I believe that all of these accommodations and

modifications are listed on the checklist because they are the most commonly used for

ELL students.