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The attached picture is a lesson I plan on utilizing at the end of Chapter 7 for my Intermediate Algebra Classes. I found that the most meaningful part about tending to ELL students is to have a lot of visuals and graphic organizers. This lesson would utilize a concept map which covers those aspects. The article also referred to an emphasis on vocabulary in the classroom. This can help both ELL students and students whose only language is English. They even referred to a correlation between concept mastery and vocabulary knowledge. Using a concept map on the vocabulary words at the end of a chapter would help with both vocabulary and visual aids.

Based on the content in this training, I am planning on using more vocabulary based questions on the study guide and test. I would like to utilize both visuals and concept maps more to tend to ELL learners. This in result would also be tending to every other student by having more avenues for understanding. I believe this is essential for mastery as well. If a student receives an SAT or ACT question with a vocabulary word from a direct concept they learned, having received this instruction would only better prepare them for success in that area.

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Overall after reading everything, it reminds me a lot of my direct field of Special education and although there are many things that pertain to specifically ELL there were a lot of similarities. As a special education teacher, I am constantly modifying my lessons and going off of what I had planned in order to meet the student needs. This past year I actually had one student who was both in special education and also an ELL student. Below are the answers to a lesson I did with his group in the resource room.

What did you find was the most meaningful aspect of the lesson? I found the most meaningful aspect of this lesson to be that a good amount of time was put into the thought and makeup of the lesson resulting in the lesson being extremely beneficial for the student since it was catered to what that student needs specifically. By stating objectives for the student, having the student find ways that they related to the material and interacting with the student by asking deeper questions and giving adequate wait time proved to be very meaningful and beneficial.

What changes in your teaching do you plan to make as a result of the lesson? Why? I am always looking for ways to become a better teacher and by practicing these components it reminds me just how important all of the 8 components are for student learning. I hope to start incorporating the student objectives with every lesson. I aim to use deeper questions and allowing more wait time when instructing and want to continue to try and relate material to the students experiences and background. I want to use these specifically because they seem to be effective and in my teaching opinion they seem to be very important for the students learning.

What new ideas do you have that you would like to try in your own classroom? I always am curious about gallery walks. I did not incorporate this strategy in this lesson that I reflected on, but I am curious and excited to try and incorporate this in the upcoming year to try and have different grades and groups interact with each other on similar topics but with lessons geared towards their own abilities.

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To begin with, it was really insightful to learn about ELL services.  I wasn’t aware of the screening process, ability to test out and parent’s option to opt out of services.  It was also interesting to think about expectations for these students compared to EL students.  The readings made clear that we should expect ELL students to not meet grade level expectations and that if an ELL student isn’t performing well, then more language support is the solution.  I think it’s important that the language support isn’t just coming from ELL services but that we all incorporate strategies to help increase comprehension among ELL services.  I also believe that making a connection with ELL students and learning/asking about their cultural background can foster a stronger relationship that helps both students and teachers learn better in the classroom.

Since I am rarely in a classroom I had to think a bit more creatively on how I could incorporate strategies from the SIOP model.  One “hat” that I wear is coaching junior high boys’ soccer and junior high/senior high golf.  At the junior high level, I’ve worked with students from a variety of backgrounds and skills; many students are new to the game and/or have a variety of learning disabilities and I think some of these strategies could help with engaging my players and encourage them to think more critically about what/why they do what they do on the field.  These strategies can help improve their creativity and problem-solving skills.  The strategy I liked the most was the 5th component, “interaction”.  Within this component the article highlighted “encouraging more elaborate responses”.  The phrases they used as examples promote a deeper level of thinking and require more than surface level answers.  I’d like to try some of these phrases next season as I work with new and young players so they can build understanding on how to work collectively on the field, how to space out, why verbal communication is important, etc.  “Interaction” also talked about incorporating a variety of activities to keep students engaged and interested.  I think sometimes at practice I can get stuck doing the same activities or will get caught doing some activities for too long.  I haven’t thought much about conducting practice in a way that we’re moving from large group activities to smaller groups to individual/partnering drills, etc.  I think structuring practice differently in that way could help me keep their attention better and keep them engaged in what they’re doing.

Overall, I think many of SIOP strategies are great strategies to use with any students.  These strategies transcend the classroom and can be used in other group activities or with individual work with students.  I will definitely be incorporating some of the phrases into my vocabulary as I start planning for the upcoming golf season.

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I found that the most meaningful aspect of this lesson was how concrete and thought out it was. Although we do not have many EL students at our school, it's still important to recognize that they, (as well as other students who struggle with speech, writing, etc) may see or understand things differently than we do. I think back to when I was taking my ELL class in college and for this class I had to work with a young Somali girl in the cities. Her family had moved to the US in hopes of a better lie for themselves. She told me that many things that she learned in her agriculture class had different meanings in the country that she came from. When we teach students who struggle with English, it is important to incorporate those steps of Plan, Do, Study, and Act. Not only does this help with repetition for the students, but it also sets them up for success when learning in all settings, not just school.

One thing I plan to change in my lessons is to ensure that students are highlighting and margin writing in a better fashion. As someone with ADHD, I can relate to many students with their distractions and inattentiveness. When I was in college, I learned that to become a good student, one must focus on key points and make notes to help dive deeper and critical think about the "why" behind what students are learning about. We do readings in my classes sometimes and students can become bored with them quickly, so by helping them create margin notes that actually help instead of simply skimming the notes and not comprehending what they read is very useful and beneficial.

As for teaching, I believe that utilizing visual representation will be key. Many student are great visual learners and when they can connect something they see with the concept being taught in the class, you can almost watch the click happen. I also have been attempting to coordinate music and acronyms more into my teaching. Studies have shown that students tend to not only comprehend, but retain information better when it uses the center of the brain responsible for creativity used in music. Furthermore, and most importantly, students will have fun. EL students from across the world can come together with pictures and music and help create a better understanding for themselves and the class as a whole.

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Going through this the module for ESL was very interesting.  As a lifelong learner, I love to discover new educational adventures.  As I read through and took notes I realized that this method is very much like teaching in the Army.  I was an instructor for 12 years for the 5042nd USARF School.  Our theme was, tell them what you are going to teach them, teach them and tell them what you taught them.   The 8 components of the SIOP really break down a good lesson for all students.   The SIOP is a double win for ESL students and typical students as it makes content more comprehensible.  The SIOP #6 is the most important.  Practice, practice, practice, and application.  The use of activities and hands on experiences only enhance the experience as well as engaging the student.     The SIOP will benefit me in all areas of teaching.  I do not have any ESL students currently, but, do interact with a diverse population of ethnicities, especially Hispanic.  To refresh my knowledge of the Spanish language I will watch Spanish theater or cartoons.  For many young Hispanic children, cartoons help with English practice.  Although, some words on cartoons today should be omitted.  The SIOP has it all when preparing a very comprehensive and engaging lesson.  It definitely is a win, win way of getting the message through.  There are so many links for activities, quizzes, grammar, discussion, etc.
ESlflow.com is a great link for quizzes, activities and other materials.

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I developed a lesson and generated a lab called Ionic vs. Covalent Bonding. I timed this lesson to be at the front of my unit of chemical bonding because I wanted to utilize component 2 from the model strategically. The previous unit covered classification of matter, which discusses properties and  changes of matter. That knowledge was applied while be introduced to new content/terms. I was also able to utilize components #5 and #6 (Interaction and Practice and Application, respectively). It is fairly obvious how practice and application are worked into a lab experiment, but the bonus of each lab experiment is that I can be strategic on which lab equipment students use to provide them enough opportunities to not only use said equipment, but also developing safe handling, disposal, and cleaning procedures. At this point, students really understand the expectations, so these opportunities are worth their weight in gold!

As far as the component #5 - Interaction is concerned, I tried to utilize a wide range or groupings: Turn and Talk with their neighbors, table groups (set of 4), and the "Clarify Key Concepts" as a whole class. The students were asked to create a Venn Diagram of the similarities and differences between ionic and covalent bonding. They were given time to think individually, share with their neighbors, and finally, we completed the diagram together as a whole class.

I have tried to be diligent with the communication strategies, and I have improved over the course of this past semester! I also try to get the kids as a whole class discussion to share out questions.

Something that would be fun to try during this upcoming semester: I want to collaborate with Mrs. Shira on an early lesson with my conceptual physics kids. My plan would be to showcase the physical and chemical classifications of matter in the kitchen. Students would be given a list of processes/vocab used in cooking. For the scientific content, they would be asked to organize or "sort" these cooking terms/processes into their respective science classifications (physical properties, chemical properties, physical changes, chemical changes). The demonstrate learning, students could record their group cooking, as though making an instructional video, and most importantly, using the terms correctly in context! One of the suggestions was to create a concept map, as a visual aid to keep terms organized. I have a few ideas for what this could look like also!

Below is the ionic vs. covalent lab, along with the questions I had small groups analyze after experimenting. If someone happens to read this, I would love your input!

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Learning a bit more about ELL through the assigned readings, thinking about the SIOP strategies in my own teaching, and more intentionally implementing a few of them was a valuable process.  It is clear to me  that many of the ideas that are part of SIOP are actually just really good teaching strategies and I would be wise to be mindful of them at all times!    I plan on keeping the article about the SIOP components handy for me to refer to more often.
To complete this challenge I opted to be more intentional about implementing a few of the suggested strategies in two 3rd grade volleyball lessons.
The first area I chose to be intentional with was Content Objectives and Language Objectives from the Lesson Preparation area.  Although I typically try to write some type of learning goal or objective on my white board  I find if I am not thoughtful about what I am writing I may not be putting something up on the white board that is not very clear or useful.  The SIOP article discussing using terms like listening, speaking, reading and writing for the accomplishment of the learning objective.  In PE terms I may use are practice, demonstrate, or perform.
The second area I included in my lesson was from the Building Background area. This school year, prior to working on this ELL challenge, I have been trying to be more intentional about pointing out and emphasizing specific PE vocabulary we have used.  I have attempted to keep a PE WORDS section on my white board.  This goes nicely with the Content Word Wall strategy. Up to this point we have emphasized the terms force and accuracy while working on overhand throwing.  In the volleyball unit 2 terms I have placed in the PE WORDS section of my board are strike and volley.  Giving added attention to specific PE terminology adds depth to simply learning skills.   I do wish it were easier to keep things posted for the long term in the gym.  Because the gym gets used for so many things it seems stuff on the walls, posters, etc are difficult to keep up and keep nice looking.
The final component I was intentional with through this process was under the Review and Assessment category.  This worked nicely with some strategies I have been trying as part of my IGDP work, which involves student self reflection.  A strategy I have been using this school year, and think is working very well, is what I call "Listen and Share".  Students team up with 1 or 2 students who are sitting near them, I give 1 or 2 items that I want everyone in the group to share out on and then of course you also need to listen while your group members are sharing.  This fit perfectly with the strategy Review of Key Content Concepts.   For the volleyball lesson the 2 questions I had students listen and share on were 1) share 2 of the 4 important tips for success when working on volleyball passing and 2) Of the 4 important steps to volleyball passing that we practiced today which part is most difficult for you? It is so fun watching the kids share and discus with one another!
As I have mentioned, many of the strategies described in the SIOP article are just great teaching.  Even though I currently have no ELL students I know my teaching can benefit from being mindful of and willing to try/include the ideas that have been proven to help ELL students.

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Example: Peter Dodds

Reflection:
Example: I found that in order to successfully post a Padlet, I needed to double click anywhere on the board, then start typing. I particularly like making sure that I include a video, link, or picture by clicking on those icons at the bottom of the box.
https://youtu.be/_x-fvdkLdw8