Rice,C.
Mini-Conference Reflection
Review-What did I learn?
Reflect- What did it mean to me?
Two parts of the Saturday Mini-Conference impacted me. The first experience was the panel of interpreters, their discussion, and their sharing of cultural information. The second was Lisa Homann’s session, “Culturally Sensitive Quality Teaching”. Both sessions gave me information to consider about while at the conference, while also giving me strategies and knowledge to take back to my classroom.
Vesna, the Bosnian interpreter, shared that many times the first communication home to parents, specifically those who do not speak English, is a negative one (Vesna,2012). I had never considered this before, but while reflecting back on some of my previous students, I realized that this was indeed true in some cases. Hearing this piece of advice served as a good reminder for me to not let a language barrier stand in the way of me, as a teacher, getting to know and reaching out to my students’ parents.
In addition, the panel mentioned to what extent a language barrier can be regarding parents visiting their child’s school (Vesna, 2012). I connected with this thought on a personal level. I have often refrained from going somewhere or participating in an activity because I was going to feel uncomfortable or intimidated doing so. I like to do and go where I will be comfortable, and will not be overwhelmed. From a limited perspective, I understand why parents, who do not speak English, may be intimidated to approach the school, whether for school events, volunteering, etc. with ease.
Personally, I often tend to veer off from writing in print, and cursive takes over in its place. I appreciated the reminder during the Interpreter’s Panel that cursive can often be confusing for our English learning parents to read. EunSook Lee shared a lot of culturally essential information that I can remember and use when working with our Korean students. I knew that red ink, for example, usually carries with it negative connotations; however, I did not realize that for my Korean students it can signify blood or death (Lee, 2012). In addition, it was valuable to hear that Korean parents may not initiate contact with the teachers if they are noticing a problem with their child in school, they may not bring it to the teacher’s attention (Lee, 2012). Being aware of this possibility is a significant piece of information for me to know as an educator.
There was a great deal of useful information shared by our translators on Saturday. I will keep the notes I took close by in the future to use as a reference tool. Furthermore, putting a face to a name with our Gwinnett County translators, as well as learning about the services the translators provide for educators and parents throughout the county, helped me understand to a greater extent the resources we have and encouraged me to use them more often.
On Saturday, I got a small glimpse of what it is like for English Learners in the classroom. I attended a session called, Culturally Sensitive Quality Teaching. During this session I experienced a roller coaster of emotions- good, bad, and in between! The instructor taught nearly the entire session in German to give the participants a similar experience to the English Learners in our classrooms, and to show effective strategies for teaching ELs. During the lesson I suddenly went from enjoying learning the new language to being overwhelmed at the lack of knowledge about the German language, and the capacity of how much I needed to learn! This was only a thirty minute lesson for me; however, this is an everyday and all day experience for my students. At the end of the lesson I evaluated the amount of language I began to acquire from Lisa’s teaching, which was more than I had thought was possible. The quality teaching strategies Lisa demonstrated in her lesson made all the difference to the participants’ learning. I realized how important it is to use repetition, questioning, visuals, and oral response and reading (Homann, 2012). This was not the first time I was told that repetition, questioning, and visuals were best practices; however, this was the first time I was shown and experienced the strategies in an effective way.
Refine- How will I use this information in my classroom?
One way I have put the information I learned to practice is by increasing the amount of repetition and visuals in my lesson. For example, in my fifth grade ESOL guided reading group, my students are learning about the Underground Railroad by reading a book about Harriet Tubman. Although the text has great photographs and illustrations about the topic, I have reinforced student learning by bringing more visuals for the students. I have also used the visuals to question students, reinforcing their knowledge of the topic. My questioning of the students has changed as well, increasing the amount of open-ended questions and providing choices for their answer; for example, asking, “Was the Underground Railroad a secret or not a secret?”
With my students I am more aware of my own handwriting. When writing in their notebooks or on the board I am more conscious of my manuscript as well as not using short-hand symbols. The other day I unconsciously wrote the “&” symbol instead of the word “and” when working with my students. One of my students questioned what that meant. It turned into a teaching moment; however, when dealing with newer English Learners they have so much to learn, that shorthand symbols can taught at a later time.
Bibliography
Lee, E. (2012). Cultural Glimpses of ELs in GCPS. ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, GA.
Vujinovic, V. (2012). Cultural Glimpses of ELs in GCPS. ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, GA.
Homann, L. (2012). Culturally Sensitive Quality Teaching. ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Suwanee, GA.
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