Final Essay

By: Samantha Vanden Berge

Prof. Kris Lambert
August 27, 2017
If you were to move to another country and were able to communicate in your
new language on an interpersonal communication level, what problems do
you think you might have with academic content? What strategies could
teachers use to help you better understand the concepts they are trying to
teach? How do you think your new peers might help you?

If I were to move to another country and was only able to communicate in my new
language on an interpersonal level, I think I would find myself becoming extremely
frustrated. I would most likely find myself having a very difficult time understanding
specific cultural content as well as cultural norms. I also think that I would have a
hard time participating in any academic group project. I feel like I would be
uncomfortable sharing any type of ideas and not confident in my language ability to
perform and contribute to the assignment. Some of the strategies that teachers can
use in order to make the concepts more meaningful is to make sure that content and
assignments are being scaffold so that students can better understand the content.
Teachers should also work in small groups to help specifically meet the needs and
understand the needs of those students. Finally, students should be grouped with
partners and students who can help guide those language learners as well as build
that gap of any missing content pieces that were missing from teacher instruction.

For what purposes do you think English Language Learners should be tested
in your classes? For each purpose you mention what sorts of information
would you want to collect?

I believe the purpose for testing English Learners is to check for understanding as
well as to check for growth. For assessing in understanding, the information that is
needed is whether or not they understand the content. This can be done with either
formative or summative assessments. The best way to check for student
understanding is to provide students with multiple ways for them to demonstrate
their knowledge of the content. This can be done by providing students with a
variety of different formative assessments such as worksheets, exit tickets, projects,
etc. To check growth is to determine whether or not a student is developing the
skills to become proficient. This is one of the more crucial forms of assessment
because if we can determine if a student is not growing in their learning capabilities,
then we can determine if this student needs to be provided with additional support
at school.

Analyze your school and or district’s assessment program in reading and

language arts. Are reading specialists available to help with the assessment
and instruction of students with reading problems? What happens to teachers’
district-required literacy assessment results? Are professional development
programs in place to assist teachers and administrators in analyzing results?
Are new teachers mentored by older teachers? Do grade levels work together
to create rubrics and assessments?
My school and district do a very good job providing assistance to teachers and
students in reading and language arts. My school has two interventionist and a
reading specialist. We use the Fountas and Pinnell reading comprehension test in
order to determine student-reading level. When we complete students running
records, we then sort students based on their reading level. Those students who are
the lowest are grouped with interventionist and the reading specialist in smaller
groups so that they receive more instruction. As a district, we also have ELA TOSA
(teacher on special assignment) who specifically outline our units as well as work
with teachers modeling lessons. TOSAs also guide new teachers who are not as
familiar with our curriculum as well as provide professional developments to assist
teachers in a number of different curriculum aspects. As a school, we only work with
other grade levels in regards to school related events and or discussing district
initiatives.