Although I have taken some education courses at a community college level that focused on teaching native English speaking students how to read and expand their reading and comprehensive abilities, I have very limited background knowledge about the systems and definitions correlating to English language learners who have came from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Within the ELL Handbook reading, one interesting element that I learned was the notion that “students who don’t understand English because they are new can improve faster than ELLs who have been here longer if they have a stronger academic background in their own language and have better academic skills. An academically strong student may only need to learn the language, whereas others may be lacking background in education and the skills they need to succeed” (ELL, 10). This idea was something that I had not previously considered when thinking about language, or reflecting on my coursework in past classes that centered around teaching the English language, but resonates with me now as I begin to understand the development of language for students who are already in the process of receiving educations within their own native languages. 

Though this was definitely more of a travel-blog than an informative source, I enjoyed reading this article posted at the beginning of the year about how the popularity of expanding English programs and curriculum has become more accessible internationally.

I loved the article about the kids who stood up against too much homework!  Good for them, and good for the parents for drawing a line between school and family time.  I understand how homework can cut into family time, and I don’t agree with that.  Time with family is important and should not be sacrificed.  Life experience is an excellent teacher.  It is much better than busy-work or rote memorization, which are very outdated educational methods anyway.  Now it is more important to teach kids how to think rather than what to think.  Life is the best education of all.  I think teachers should focus more on letting the kids reflect on what they learned while living life with family over the weekend rather than assigning busy-work that keeps them away from their family.  

An article I found interesting was actually linked to one of the assigned readings, “The 500 Problems Most Spaniards Face When Studying English.”  I tried to reverse the information from the article to help in my studies of Spanish.  https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/01/02/inenglish/1483351635_870267.html?rel=mas

The other article that I really found interesting to read was the one about students, parents, and even some teachers rebelling about too much homework. In the US, and many other developed countries, I feel like we have a similar problem in that society expects so much from us younger generations that we are being pushed to such an extreme level where we have to sacrifice other parts of our lives just to keep up and become “successful” by the standards of each society. Another aspect that I feel many education boards are missing is that students grow and learn by going through different life experiences, but if they are so busy doing homework and not facing new experiences and learning from them, they will not be ready to face them when they are fully independent. The fact that even adults are standing by the younger people shows how much of an issue this is and the negative effects it can have on the family unit when student’s can’t find time for their family because of excessive homework. 

 

Here is another article I found in relation to ESL learning and pronunciation problems that was very interesting: 

Like my classmates, I was interested in the article “Are native teachers necessarily the best?”

I don’t enjoy hearing about disadvantages or even advantages for positions lossed or gained based on stereotypes. Ironically enough, I was almost hired at a company for my last name alone (Gonzalez) because the employer assumed I could speak Spanish. More related to education, I think it’s more important to have someone who knows and has a passion for teaching in addition to bilingual abilities for the sake of the students growth. Also from my personal experience, I can tell you first hand that I had trouble learning math in elementary school because of a bilingual teacher who was more centered on teaching me another language instead. I think personal experience and credentials should be the top priority when choosing a suitable teacher. When learning languages, it’s important to learn from native speakers, but this practice can easily be gained outside of hiring a teacher in today’s online global community. 

Here’s an article from 2017 I want to share about teaching ESL in Oregon:

An article I read that relates to this week’s readings is entitled “Are English teachers in Spain underqualified?"

 https://www.thelocal.es/20140612/spain-english-teaching-underqualified-cambridge 

The article on How To Teach Young Learners was excellent.  I felt it outlined a lot of common sense ideas. From my (limited) exposure to teaching kids, these are successful techniques, i.e. using technology, using humor and relating the topics to them. I loved the emphasis on creativity in teaching. Just to prove how these tips cross over from teaching to other activities with kids, the 10 Things to Consider page is perfectly applicable to being a girl scout leader!