Field Experience Reflection

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I was given the chance to observe and interact with Mary over the course of the semester. Each time I was in the English Language Learner classroom, I learned something new. As the weeks went on, the lessons would become more challenging than the previous ones. I was able to see Mary improve her English skills each time I was in the ELL room. The first two times I was there, we corrected some of her mistakes on a multiple worksheets. We worked on mostly English worksheets, but one math worksheet as well. I was able to observe Mary interacting in her physical education class. Mary also read out loud to me several different passages that the teacher gave her. However, the second time I was there, she read a book out loud to me and we worked on vocabulary words. The third and last time I was at the school, Mary had choir class. We also read more books, did a few more worksheets, and she took two quizzes on the computer. I enjoyed seeing how much Mary learned in the short time that I was with her.
Throughout observations and interactions with Mary, I noticed many similarities between her adolescent development and the content that was covered in class. The first concept I observed, that was covered in class, was motivation to learn. Mary is very motivated to do well in her school work. Not only did the ELL teachers mention that she was a hard worker, but it also showed the more I got to know her. Mary would ask questions when she did not know how to pronounce a particular word, or the meaning of a question. She appeared to be interested in the material she was learning and wanted to succeed in her assignments. Before her quizzes, she would re-read the book by herself and study the vocabulary words. She did this on her own and was ex...

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... things are that way in the United States. Since Mary caught on to new concepts easily, I did not have too much trouble explaining new ideas to her.
I enjoyed having the opportunity to work with an ELL student. I thought the experience was valuable as a future teacher, since I will have students who will be new to the country and not know the language and culture. This field experience has taught me to have patience with these students, but to also push them to learn the material. Many of these students are very intelligent, they just do not know the language well enough. As a teacher, I might have to make the directions simpler for these students so they understand what they are supposed to do. I will also have to teach them American cultural concepts. Overall, I think that with the right accommodations the ELL students can do just as well as the rest of the class.

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