There’s humor in every situation…

April 11, 2007 

I had an interesting observation today.  I had to observe my ELL student during an activity-based class and unfortunately it was PE.  I usually deplore anything sporty, but I considered this class worth my time.  Dr. N gave me excellent directions to the gym, but I had difficulties finding the class once I entered the building.  I did find a typical gym class that had students actively playing sports, but it was the wrong class.  The teacher directed me to the next room where a few boys were playing basketball, and the girls were sitting on the bleachers talking, reading, or applying makeup.  The boys who weren’t playing basketball were either hanging out or flirting with the girls who were talking.  I did notice a cute couple necking in the bleachers.  No one seemed to notice except me.  I felt sooo BAD.  Needless to say, I was confused until a substitute confirmed that this was indeed D’s PE class.  She told me that the regular teacher was out and she was here to watch his students.  So I sat on the bench with her and talked about the hardships of being a substitute teacher as we watched his students.  Unlike her, I had a job to do.  I was there to observe my ELL student actively participating in a social environment.  At first, I had difficulties locating D; I could not understand why, as there were very few girls in that class.  I finally found D tucked comfortably in the mist of about five or six boys sitting in the corner of the gym.  She did some gym work by scooting a basketball around the floor for a few minutes to show the boys that she could indeed play.  Amazingly, she never took off her backpack.  My conclusion: she has no problems participating or interacting with her peers.

 

Today, I had an opportunity to interview my CT about teaching strategies, which she uses to help ELL students.  I was under the assumption that she didn’t have any ELL students this year and I was amazed that she had 12.  Silly me didn’t connect poor readers with ELLs until today.  My interview was cut short when a teacher called her to discuss a serious problem with one of her students.  In that short amount of time, I learned that every ELL student is unique and needs to be treated differently.  What may work with one student, may not work with another.  For example, one particular student has excellent verbal skills but poor writing skills.  This student’s memory is so amazing that he could recall everything that was read to him.  To accommodate him, Ms. W would wave written tests because he could not pass them.  She grades on what they can do instead of what they can’t do.  She also checks for comprehension quite often.