one(s) influenced your practice?
This semester, I think the strategy that stuck out the most to me was the discussion about vocabulary. When I heard that children need to be exposed to a word at least 42 (46?) times, this changed my perspective on teaching. While I try to implement as many vocabulary strategies as I can when teaching literacy, I think it's also important to try and connect these vocabulary words to other subjects like math and science.
In my classroom, I have 14 ELL students, half of which are still AA, the rest are AB. Last year, I had NO idea what these codings meant, except that when I tried to teach, my students seemed to understand. They nodded their heads along, never asked a question if there was an opportunity, and seemed to be involved. However, after I sent students off on their own, I learned the hard way that many of them had not understood most of what I had said. I imagine now of myself like Charlie Brown's teacher... spouting off a bunch of nonsense that no one particularly cares to hear or understands.
These past few months, I have been more present in my teaching, making sure to pre-teach to my ELL students and struggling students as well. We have many new vocabulary games and I encourage my students to share times they see vocabulary words outside of school, within different parts of our day, and with other teachers as well. My love for words and vocabulary has definitely impacted my students and it is in turn showing in their writing as well as their speaking skills.
The hardest part for me is making sure to pre-plan when I introduce a new topic. I really have to step outside of myself and look at the lesson from an outsider's point of view. Do they know what this means? Should I assume that "easy" words have been taught before? The truth of the matter is, no. I cannot and should not assume that "simple" words such as "explain, example, or story" are understood. This is something I am striving to become better at and know that with more time, should become part of my second nature.
The discussion we had on vocabulary stuck out to me too. Whatever it was 42 or 46 exposures to a word before it is mastered is a phenomenal amount of experiences. I think this can probably be done but I am working on giving students the opportunity to be exposed to a word that many times. Is it more for an ELL student?
ReplyDeleteIntegration is one of the ways I’ve been able to expose students to vocabulary but it isn’t always possible and sometimes stretches the meaning of the word. You made me laugh when I read your comparison to the teacher in Charlie Brown because I’ve felt that way before . Once I tried to explain it to my students and they’d never seen Charlie Brown so I felt even more that way. Pre-teaching helps me to avoid that feeling for me and for the students. When I do small group I do a pre-teaching group before we start new topics in each subject. I have a large number of ELL students in my classroom as well and it seems to be working for them.