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Course Reflection

This paper reflects on the author's learning in an ESL teaching course. The author gained knowledge about best practices for English language learners, including understanding the difference between social and academic language. During their internship, the author implemented Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol lessons and learned the importance of displaying content and language objectives. They found it is crucial for teachers to link lessons to students' backgrounds, proficiency levels, and cultures. The author believes teachers must try different strategies to make content comprehensible for ELLs, as math and science vocabulary can be challenging. They used thematic instruction and hands-on activities, like using an ear of corn to teach science vocabulary, to help ELL students acquire grade-level content knowledge.

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65 views2 pages

Course Reflection

This paper reflects on the author's learning in an ESL teaching course. The author gained knowledge about best practices for English language learners, including understanding the difference between social and academic language. During their internship, the author implemented Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol lessons and learned the importance of displaying content and language objectives. They found it is crucial for teachers to link lessons to students' backgrounds, proficiency levels, and cultures. The author believes teachers must try different strategies to make content comprehensible for ELLs, as math and science vocabulary can be challenging. They used thematic instruction and hands-on activities, like using an ear of corn to teach science vocabulary, to help ELL students acquire grade-level content knowledge.

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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Mayt Cotton

EESL 650

Critical Reflection Paper


This course has definitely enlighten me. I feel much more knowledgeable and confident
in teaching science and math to my English language learners (ELL). Throughout my ESL
courses I have gained an enormous amount of information about best practices for ELL students.
Personally I believe that it is extremely important that teachers know the difference between
social and academic language. Frequently teachers think that their ELL students are fluent in
English because they hear them talking to their friends. However, teachers often do not
understand that the students are only using their social language not their academic language.
Students need to know both languages in order to be successful in the classroom. During my
internship I learned how to create and implement Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol
(SIOP) lessons. I learned the importance of displaying and stating the content and language
objectives. I also learned how crucial it is for teachers to link to the students background
knowledge, proficiency level, and culture. It is very important for the students to make
connections with their own experiences because it enhances their learning. Most importantly,
teachers need to know the different learning styles of their students.
It is imperative that teachers try different strategies and techniques to make the content
more comprehensible for ELLs. Math and science subjects are extremely challenging for ELLs
because of the complex English vocabulary. I learned in my courses that math styles are very
different from one country to another. For example, the use of decimal points and/or commas
differs from culture to culture. Another concept that is very different for some ELL students is
the scientific method used in the United States. These cultural differences can cause many
problems for the ELL student when learning math or science. In my class I used thematic
instruction to teach the science and math units. By utilizing thematic units the ELL students can
spend more time studying a particular topic. One way that teachers can help ELL students
acquire the grade level content knowledge is by providing their students with hands-on learning.
Many of the science and math activities that I planned for my ELLs involved hands-on learning.
For instance, to teach the science vocabulary related to the parts of an ear of corn, I had my
students work in small groups and use a real ear of corn to learn the parts of the corn. This
activity allowed the ELL students to learn the vocabulary in a more meaningful way then by just
studying from flashcards. Another activity that required hands-on experience was the interactive
bar graph activity. Students came to the white board and created their own bar graph and used the
data from their bar graph to answer some questions. During my internship I also used lots of
manipulatives, graphic organizers, pictures, technology, and realia to target all learning styles. In
addition, I used collaborative and cooperative groups because this allowed the ELL students to
have lots of opportunities for language development. All of these methods, techniques, and
strategies permit ELLs to experience more academic success.

References
Beltran, D., & Sarmiento, L. (2013). Science for English language learners: Developing academic language
through inquiry-based instruction. Huntington Beach, California: Shell Education.
Gottlieb, M., & Slavit, G. (2014). Academic language in diverse classrooms: Definitions and contexts. Corwin.
Kersaint, G., & Thompson, D. (2009). Teaching mathematics to English language learners. New York: Routledge.

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