Ms.Singh's blog

Pappamihiel, E., & Lynn, C. A. (2014). How Can Monolingual Teachers Take Advantage of Learners’ Native Language in Class?. Childhood Education, 90(4), 291-297.

This article highlights on due to the high rise of migration/ immigration, in almost every country today, we will find students in classrooms who do not speak the Native language. Therefore, teachers must be well-trained and equipped with strategies to address the learning needs of students who struggle to speak the dominant language spoken in that particular classroom. This article defines some strategies that may help teachers help teach and support students by using their first language to help them learn the language spoken and excel in the classroom. The article focuses on using examples from such countries like the United States where we will find ELLs and how we can help these students. This article helps us understand what value the students first language in education has. Also, it teaches us to embrace different cultures and languages spoken.

Vazquez, A. (2014). Building Academic Confidence in English Language Learners in Elementary School. Online Submission.

The purpose of this article and research is to explore how we as teachers can build academic confidence in English language learners. As we are aware of the fact that many ELLs have low self-esteem due to their English skills. This low confidence can be seen in their academic skills too, as they shy away from participating and speaking up. As teachers, we are to develop active and confidence skills in both non-English speaking students and English speaking students.
This article highlights on some important questions that usually generate in our minds when we are looking for ways to help ELLs: What are factors that contribute to confidence among ELL students in gaining English fluency? How can classroom teachers help develop self-confidence in ELL students? How can classroom teachers enhance home-school communication with families whose primary language is not English? In order for us to acquire the answers to some of these questions, we can look at the study mentioned in the article. This study helps us see why building confidence is crucial for the future of all types of students.

Taylor, B. (2015). Content, Process, and Product: Modeling Differentiated Instruction. Learning to Teach, 13-17.

In this article, we see how to model differentiated instruction by demonstrating ways educators can incorporate approaches to address the needs of students, their interests, and their learning styles. The teacher mentioned in this article practices differentiated instruction first on the students in the teaching program before they go ahead and use these in their own classrooms. This a good way of practicing techniques before actually applying them.
The teacher begins by grouping these students in the education program based on their abilities and then uses the UbD- understanding by design method. The purpose of this experiment was to help students experience this firsthand and to be abe to generate strategies when they get their own classroom. An example like this helps to prepare students.

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction. Educational Leadership, 57 (1), 1-8.

Carol Ann Tomlinson, in this article, does a great job with exploring three different teaching strategies. The fact that three real life examples are used immediately interests the readers; especially those of us who want to use differentiated instruction. We are introduced to Mr. Appleton, who uses the approach of lectures and note-taking to teach his students about a topic. This approach lacks any type of student engagement and creativity as well as it seems to get repetitive and quite boring. The second example is of Mrs. Baker. She seems to be fun and open minded, however, her classroom lacks any sort of criteria and understanding. Finally, in the final example of Ms. Cassnell, we understand the importance of differentiated instruction. Ms. Cassnell uses this approach in the best manner, as it has creativity, meets criteria and students are actually learning and understanding. By using three real-life based examples, we get a clear vision of what we should be incorporating into our teaching. It also helps us connect better to real-life practice.

Washburn, G. N. (2008). Alone, Confused, and Frustrated: Developing Empathy and Strategies for Working with English Language Learners. The Clearing House, 81(6), 247–250. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/30190007

Washburn, in his article, does a fantastic job of describing what it may feel like to be an ELL student in a classroom. He starts off by mentioning how certain education programs are not training pre-service teachers to teach ELL students. He argues that due to this many pre-service teachers feel lost when they are trying to help an ELL student. Through research studies, Washburn has come up with some wonderful and useful approaches that should be used when teaching ELL students. Not only will these be valuable for the students, but these techniques will also prepare future teachers to support and teach ELL students and help them evolve as students. This article is not only great for teacher candidates, but also for institutes that offer education programs.

Lopez, F., & Iribarren, J. (2014). Creating and Sustaining Inclusive Instructional Settings for English Language Learners: Why, What, and How. Theory into Practice, 53(2), 106-114.

Francesca Lopez and Jacqueline Iribarren, who are both assistant educators at different universities in the United States of America, look at ways to support ELL’s. Through studies, they seem to notice how ELL’s are marginalized at schools and how they tend to score low on achievements tests. One of the reasons for this is the fact that ELL’s work with teachers that have low resources, therefore, the support is very limited. Both authors believe that this has to change due to the growing and high rise of ELL population. Based on their research, the three best ways to support ELL’s are by cultivating language proficiency to academic grade level; ensuring access to high-quality curriculum within effective teaching and learning environments; and promoting the sociocultural integration of all students. Most importantly we as educators need to show some effort to help support ELL’s and their needs.