Author: Stephanie Soto

The chapter’s development and focus of lesson plans and assessment strategies I found to be incredibly practical and relatable. It seemed to finally put together all of the theories, strategies, and example activities and how they can be effectively put to practice in different classroom environments.

That being said, I wish that this format and general summarization had been introduced earlier on in the course. Using lesson plans and assessment strategies as a framework to base the various techniques studied would have allowed more tangible ideas and possible activities to be envisioned for future lesson plans. Perhaps this is my own learning bias, but given examples that I can take and reshape to specific classroom settings that I will encounter would have allowed me to better appreciate what has been reviewed.  Providing the structure and the details about how to organize components of lesson plans and incorporate different techniques within different stages, may have better emphasized the significance and impact of activities such as read alouds or visual organizers for example.

After first reading this chapter, I found its description of language exploration activities and its discussion of overused questions to be a contradiction. However, after taking some time to think and consider the essential role inquiry has come to play in our own studies this past month, I think that I may have misinterpreted the author’s comments. Questions may in fact be overused in schools. I believe that it is a specific type of questioning practice that has been exhausted.

While lesson planning, teachers may over anticipate the direction of lessons and come to class with a predetermined list of questions that work to guide the class discussions in a specific direction. This, in my opinion, is the type of questioning that prevents students to explore subjects based on their own curiosities. In comparison, inquiry style questioning requires some preparation on behalf of the teacher but to instead create an environment that fosters and encourages students to ask questions. These questions are also to be student engineered and not asked because the teacher has directed thought processes to inevitably develop them. The questions are a result of critical thinking and of a dynamic learning environment.

Minimizing the quantity of questions asked by a teacher to place effort on creating questions that inspire critical thinking in students are the most effective. When a teacher is able to be “out-questioned” by the students, then questioning can be effective.

Class discussions and assigned readings have collectively highlighted the increased difficulty that English Language Learners encounter compared to their peers. In addition to  having to master the vernacular language in order to understand, be understood, and be accepted into social dynamics, ELLs must also incorporate academic language as used in the classroom.

Each subject area either introduces new vocabulary, offers alternative definitions and connotations to familiar language, or both. The shear amount of information that students are expected to retain can be overwhelming and discouraging. As an English learner I can be challenged and feel intimidated by unfamiliar fields. The examples and scaffolding described in the text struck me with the idea that subject specific classroom environments should then try to create a “practice arena” for students instead of a delivery system. Exposing students to language, its use, and encouraging students to engage and not be afraid to manipulate the terms creates a safer space. Combine this with being as aware as possible of the limitations that the accepted language of our academic fields present can optimize the goal of having students feel accepted into the subject’s community. Common transition words, expressions, attached significance to the weight, and use of a word need to be articulated and explained. The use of such terms can then be encouraged and used as often as it remains relevant. Language is like a muscle as it can only become stronger and more developed through use and exercise.

Besides familiarity with a language, the types of thought that exist for different cultures and families must be taken into consideration. Being Canadian, I often take for granted how society has shaped my values, flexibility to express myself, and my thought processes developed through parental influence and my education experience. How I choose to explore material, question information, and challenge my surroundings, whether it be academic sources, my peers, teachers, parents or role models, have been intrinsically shaped by the society and culture by which I have been surrounded. As a teacher, if I continuously bring these ideals and expectations into my classroom, then there are may diverse students that may struggle with this type of encouraged critical or creative thinking as it has yet to have been introduced within their own family and cultural circles, and vice versa.

Being consciousness of the level and type of language chosen within a classroom setting, the abstract themes and modes of thinking we choose to encourage require equal amounts of consideration. Being open minded and flexible are key features to lesson structures. Without these qualities, students that lie outside the traditional societal framework, linguistically or by customs, can be left behind unintentionally. Now, when I am faced with having to discuss the concepts of function, rational, prime, and integer in math classrooms, I must specifically acknowledge all of the extra baggage that is tied to each of these terms. All of the reflection, scaffolding, and self-expression that has been introduced and continuously revisited over the last month are going to become essential tools.

Fang and Schleppegrell’s discussion of using functional analysis when approaching specialized academic language highlighted some key elements that I had not yet considered. Along with the difficulty of new vocabulary and concepts that academic texts can introduce, there is always a specific style, tone, or voice associated with various areas of study. Common expressions, tendencies to compact as much information as possible using new and complicated word and sentence structure, and general expectation of audience familiarity add to the entire challenge of adapting to other levels of language.

As a math specialist, I have always had a perception of mathematics as a universal language that needed few words to describe involved problems. This statement in itself is my bias, as well as something that I must now be very careful to approach with my students. Perhaps the greatest barrier does not lie in understanding the methods to solve the problems, but being able to confidently decide what the problem needs to be solved. As the article details, one small sentence expects the reader to hold knowledge from several areas of the subject so as to be able to formulate the problem never mind attempt at its solution. The weight in terms of multiple definitions and contextual connotations that math terminology holds is often taken as understood and mastered. Thus if a student encounters a challenging or unfamiliar problem, he/she should be able to call on their past knowledge of what the pieces of the question describe to build a suitable response.

Now being able to recognize my own personal assumption, I must now work to not carry forward into the classroom. Adopting the techniques that were outlined in the article could greatly help me assist my future students in becoming comfortable and confident with managing such language. After all, as teachers we cannot expect answers from our students if they cannot first understand what is the question!

The insight presented in chapters 1-3 was incredibly informative but the detail through which it was delivered allowed me to appreciate the challenges presented. Specific examples given including figurative speech, sentence structure, and challenges associated with both brick and mortar vocabulary now allow me to become conscientious about particular aspects of my academic language.

I found it especially interesting the attention called to the multiple denotations and connotations associated with our routine language that we take for granted. It has encouraged me to work on ensuring that students understand these various meanings, can contextualize the word employment as well as understand any associated attached cultural and societal implications. I have learned to recognize my own cultural bias and can now begin to improve my awareness about assumptions made in my classroom. As soon as we take for granted a students ability to “read between the lines”, the student is no longer to follow the lesson and can quickly lose confidence entirely in being able to ever understand. At the same time, it is important to consider the students from various cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Remembering to not take for granted what I would consider typical family and home dynamics do not apply to every student is also needed when using various techniques for lessons and interactions.

Being able to balance instructional techniques to account for both students learning English as well as those from various cultural and socio-economic backgrounds is a skill essential for us as teachers to acquire.