Made in America: Chapter 8

I was completely astounded by the fact that the principal of Madison was oblivious to the immigrant population in his school.  This made me even more upset than learning how ignorant the teachers were in regards to their ESL students because the principal runs the school – he/she sets the example for the rest of the faculty.  The fact that he wasn’t even aware of the demographics of his student population was horrendous.  It goes to show how little thought or attention is paid to the immigrant students.  On a larger scale, I think that the principal’s ignorance is a good indicator of how resistant the rest of the country is in regard to increasing immigrant populations. 

It was absolutely ridiculous to read that the teachers and administration at Madison viewed diversity as accepting everyone as equal, the same.  They all claimed not to notice skin color or cultural/ethnic indicators; instead, their students are a giant melting pot and all get a long.  The principal even went so far as to call it “the real world.”

I think that that kind of mindset is extremely dangerous when concerning immigrant students.  It is important for them to feel like their heritage/culture is accepted and it is important for them to get quality education.  The teachers at Madison seem extremely selfish; they pass the buck when it comes to ESL students because they feel like it is more work for them.  Their idea that “diversity means conformity” is yet again a lazy attempt to hide their inaction in terms of immigrant population growth.  The teachers and administrators try to hide behind this cookie-cutter view of diversity so they don’t have to spend time addressing the actual issues in the school.

Teachers claim that they don’t see race, but when the students were describing the school population, race was one of the most determining factors of which group you belong to.  The administrators are unwilling to accept that there has been a major shift in the population which requires another major shift in the teaching strategies used.  Instead, they ignore the changes (and the need for change) leaving students behind and condemning many to low achievement levels.

What can be done for schools like Madison?  How can we show teachers that accommodating for their immigrant minority students is not a burden, just a simple task of altering their teaching approach?  Instead of sorting students by age, what would be a more appropriate way to organize students in a way that allows them to achieve their maximum learning potential?

Made in America: Chapter 7

Immigrant students face many difficulties when they move to the United States.  Not only are there many cultural differences that teachers are unaware of, but students may be academically unprepared (little to no literacy) to succeed at an American school.  As in the first example, cultural misunderstandings can be quite common with immigrant students.  Without the teacher having proper background knowledge, it can make an immigrant student's transition into American schools and cultures even more traumatic.  The added pressure to "fit in" makes it that much harder for students to perform successfully and at an appropriate level for their age grade.

To top it all off, many of these students are also facing difficult issues at home.  The book estimates that almost 40% of immigrants in California are undocumented which makes continuing education impossible or extremely difficult and also suggests that most of their families' financial stability is questionable.  Not only do these immigrant students have to deal with balancing their culture and values with American culture and values, but many are also forced to quit school and support their family.

I became increasingly upset while reading this chapter because it made me realize how ignorant teachers can be when it comes to school demographics.  Instead of viewing the ESL students as a group of kids that needed extra help in order to succeed, the teachers seemed to think of them as an inconvenience. In my opinion, this puts the students at an even greater disadvantage because they are not pushed as far as mainstream kids, not given the same opportunities for successful learning acquisition, nor are they expected to achieve much.  In one section, Olsen writes "continuing LEP students have been gloomily labeled "ESL Lifers" by staff" (154).  This absolutely disgusted me because it was a label created by the teachers.  How are we supposed to expect students to succeed when we've already stacked the deck against them?  As a teacher, part of our responsibility is to give our students the tools they need to succeed and to learn; it shouldn't matter if the student is mainstream, ESL, or special education.  All students deserve the best education we can offer.  It is unprofessional and irresponsible to give our students anything less and put what is easy before what they need/deserve.

Chapter 6

For me the most interesting thing about this chapter was that the majority of immigrant families felt that they would lose their morals or innocence if they allowed their children to live the way that "American children" live.  The students also seemed to think that white children disrespected their parents and family names by the way that they behaved.

• American teenager girls "'are so open' and... 'so free'"(124).  Although I was aware that women in other cultures have less freedoms than those in the United States, it was amazing to learn that this included simply talking about their own problems or concerns. America is viewed as seductive, provocative, and dangerous from a  Newcomer's perspective; America is a place that they must protect their children from.
• For many immigrant girls, it is necessary for them to work and support the family so their brothers can continue with their educations and provide a better future for the family.
• One of the most significant passages that I read in the chapter was when a father spoke about his daughter, Leticia.  He said that "[she wants to be like them, but she doesn't see that those girls have lost their values.  They dress like they want the boys, and they don't go home to their families...She tells me this is not Mexico and doesn't want to listen to me. I am afraid what will happen to her here" (130).  It was shocking to see that immigrant parents were so afraid of what will happen to their kids here.  My parents are afraid if I leave the country because they fear the violence.  Immigrant families are afraid for their children here because they fear a loss of values.  I think that this is an extremely significant indicator of how different other countries' cultures are in comparison to the United States.  This is something that, as future teachers we must be aware of.   So many immigrant children are being sent back to their homelands because of this overwhelming fear of becoming "too American.

From this chapter, I am mostly curious about how this family fear of Americanization coincides or conflicts with the adolescents' views on becoming American, fitting in, and growing up in a second country.  How does this sort of familial conflict impact their behavior in the classroom?  If girls are only allowed socialization in school, could that account for why they talk more or are not as attentive in class as immigrant boys, whose main responsibility seems to be to create a better future for their families.

Made In America Chapter 5

• "For not to be able to define one's race is not really to exist on the social map of the non-newcomers."
• As a member of the "white, privileged" group, statements like these are not easy to hear.  It is hard to me to understand how much race defines other people's identities and the struggle they go through to form those identities because my race is, at least in my mind, so far from my identity.  I don't see myself as a race.  How does this "social map" play out in the classroom?  Does it hurt the student's learning when they stick with people they know and feel comfortable around?  Do the racial divides promote student learning because it creates a comfortable learning environment or does it hinder student learning (specifically in regards to learning English as a Second Language).
• "acts white"
• This is something that I've heard frequently in both my own experiences in middle/high school and during my observations at Von Steuben Middle School.  Many of the ESL students that identify with the Latino group discuss fellow classmates who do not identify with the Latino group as "acting white."  These students still talk in Spanish in class and have the same difficulties with learning English, yet they have a different presentation - they dress differently, behave differently, aren't as outspoken, and typically keep together with the few other students who "act white".  It's interesting to see the different behavioral values that are associated with each group and how those stereotypes play out when working with the students one-on-one and in group settings. 
• "Several teachers spoke about how it was divisive to 'make education an ethnic, political thing" (114).
• I was kind of shocked when I read this.  Even with my limited experience in the classroom, and my failure to notice my own race, I still see how racially and politically charged the classrooms are.  There is so much tension between what can and cannot be discussed because of those racial and political issues that fuel our education system and determine what is appropriate or not.  In Von Steuben, it is particularly easy to see that the ESL students feel separated and othered from their non-ESL peers because of how racially divided and motivated the school is.  I think that it is almost inevitable that when a group of people divide and separate themselves, that one or a few groups be favored.  It's not right, but you see it all the time in school and work settings.  It's ludicrous that these teachers failed to see that.  The students weren't making is "an ethnic, political thing" by walking out, they were responding to "an ethnic political thing". 

Made in America Chapter 3

This chapter was really eye-opening for me.  For the first time in a long time, I became aware of the impact of race and the impact of my "whiteness".  Many of the students in this chapter expressed an affinity to exploring racial issues or to exploring their own racial identities and the social consequences of those identities.  Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the chapter was seeing how the white students felt about race.  In a predominantly "white" society, where white culture is most accepted and sought out as "American," people who are white do not typically feel the social consequences of race.  By that, I mean that white people do not always understand race or what it means to be white.  It is not uncommon for people to be labelled by their race, but most white people in America do not feel racialized at all.  It is a very rare occasion that I even think of myself as "white".  We live in a culture that is so racially charged, yet whites often do not feel that pressure because of their dominant and privileged position in society.

The students who were asked to research what it means to be "white" and what "whites" experience at Madison came up with some very interesting conclusions:

• "She's black and I'm white, and that's that" (69).
• "But out in the world, I never have to think of myself as white - only here" (69).
• "We don't think of ourselves as white until someone makes us think of ourselves as white" (70).
• "It's all in how we see each other. We make each other racial"( 70).

It was amazing to me to see that these high school students were so aware of the privilege behind their race. I think that the young boy who claimed to only be racialized in Madison was implicitly aware that his "whiteness" held power and prestige outside of the diverse school walls.  He didn't feel his whiteness outside of school because he wasn't a numerical minority outside of school and he (most likely) lived in a predominantly white neighborhood.  

For me, this chapter poignantly called attention to my own lack of cultural awareness and my implicit acceptance of my social dominance because of my white skin color.  I attended a diverse high school, yet I would say that most students "acted white" if they were not white and the rest of the student were actually white.  After high school, I went to a community college that was predominantly white, and the ISU (again predominantly white).  I have been submersed into a predominantly white culture and never felt what it was like to be a minority.  The white students at Madison were a numerical minority and because of this they became acutely aware of what other students of color were "privileged" enough to receive. It was interesting to see how slighted they felt in Madison because people of other racial backgrounds seemed to be given more attention - whether it was classes offered on their heritage or a higher acceptance rate into the advanced courses. 

Coming from a "white privileged"background, this makes me wonder if all minority students feel this slighted.  Also, what can I feasibly do as an educator to be inclusive of all cultures/racial groups?  How can I ensure that a culturally inclusive atmosphere is adopted throughout the entire school, no just my classroom?

Made In America Intro-Chapter 2

Introduction

As I began reading “Made in America”, I was really excited to see what Laurie Olsen would do with her research and how she would address the issues of racism, prejudice, and multiculturalism.  I am really interested to see how Madison High School is representative of our nation and how, as a future teacher, I can use this knowledge base and Olsen’s experiences in both my ESL and mainstream courses.  I just finished re-writing my teaching philosophy and incorporated the issue of multiculturalism.  As I stated in my philosophy, teachers are now faced with a global classroom and the challenged that accompany it.  I really am looking forward to seeing how Olsen’s research and experiences pan out.

Chapter 1

The first thing that struck me when reading Chapter 1 was the student Patty’s comment about the Chinese students and their game.  I thought it showed an interesting dynamic within the school – students might be interested in other cultures and languages but do not actively engage (or attempt to engage) in the other cultures.  Patty could have asked to learn the game, or asked more questions about why they play that game, but chose not too.  I’m not sure if this is setting a general tone for the entire student body/school, but It made me stop to think about how I would actually address and embrace a multicultural learning community.

I think that it is extremely important to understand the history of the cultures in my room, and their stories of immigration.  I really enjoyed the brief history lesson on California immigration and changes in the schools.  I’m fairly unfamiliar with the history, so it was a nice background to the dynamic of Madison High School.

Chapter 2

This chapter really hit me.  It was incredible to read some of the stories and experiences that these newcomer students had.  For example, one of the students, Carolina, talked about how she had been laughed at when she first moved to America by the “native-borns”.  She felt completely isolated and ashamed of who she was because she hadn’t yet learned “how to be American”.  After reading this, I completely changed my idea about the experiences immigrant students have – it isn’t just about learning to speak English or write in English, it is about learning how to be American (what to wear, how to act, how to play sports).  All of the things that native-born students think are inconsequential are actually a really big deal for immigrant students.  It was so powerful to read that the students were so afraid of the laughter.  Being made fun of seemed to be a bigger concern than making errors on homework.  It was cause for much of the immigrant students’ anxiety, silence, and isolation.

I really struggled with this chapter because it was difficult for me to imagine what this sort of self-induced separation would look like.  At the high school that I went to, almost all of the groups were interracial and multicultural.  It was almost shocking to me to read that some students felt so isolated.  I’m not sure if this is because we had a low level of ELL learners, or if I was just unexposed to and unaware of this separation and isolation.

Cary Chapters 9 & 10

Chapter Nine
Second Language Acquisition can be difficult for learners at any age, especially when they are forced into an English Only setting.  I liked how Dolores incorporated many of her students' home languages into the classroom in order to create a sense of inclusiveness that balanced both English an LOTE.  I definitely agree with her idea to incorporate many different types of parent/college student aids, but I also question the feasibility of providing such support for my future students.  The text said that Dolores usually had at least one aid to act as a resource for her students every day.  I think that it is amazing she had so much help and involvement from parents and community members.  Realistically though, I think it would be really difficult for me to find aids that would be able to support each of my ESL students at a high school level.

However, I still thought that Dolores' experiences could be relevant and helpful in my future classroom.  For instance, I liked how she published a classroom newspaper that encouraged her students to engage in the material and experience an editing process.  Along writing the jokes and articles for the newspaper, the students also had to review edit each other's submissions to choose the most acceptable or 'news-worthy' entries.  This is a great idea for ESL learners because it allows them to get comfortable with the idea of having their English corrected in a low-anxiety setting.  It also shows ESL students that native English speakers need help and editing too.  The newspaper also creates a project that encourages more advanced writing and reading skills and acts as a visual representation of the students' progress.

I wish that the chapter would have covered more ways to relate to our ESL students whose native languages we are unfamiliar with.  Dolores offered useful tips like the classroom aids and focusing on both first and second language development (not just support!), but it just seems impossible in certain school and community settings.  How are we supposed to reach these students without access to so many aids or in a district that does not support a bilingual classroom?  How do we encourage students that their first language is important and worth developing when we are working in communities that are typically English Only?

Chapter 10
This past weekend, I went to the Illinois Association of Teachers of English conference in Springfield.  In one of the sessions, we talked about including games in the classroom and motivating students through some sort of reward.  I was reminded of this reward concept when Toby offered art work exposure to his students which extrinsically motivated them to collaborate and produce high caliber projects.

Initially, I was a little shocked by the level of racism that Toby felt he was experiencing in his multilingual classrooms.  Especially for the 5th grade, his students seemed to be expressing some pretty intense feelings of hatred or discontent with speakers of other languages.  It was brilliant that Toby created a project that required students of various language and cultural backgrounds to collaborate in order to get the extrinsic rewards that were offered.

The real take-away message from this chapter is that in order to avoid conflict (or manage conflict when it occurs) teachers need to establish and encourage multi-cultural exploration and understanding.  Toby attempted to gain multi-cultural understanding to stop the conflicts in his classroom by exposing students to the cultures they were mocking and requiring interaction with students of other cultures and language backgrounds.

These types of conflicts are prevalent in various educational settings, whether it is your classroom, the hallways, or an after-school program, and typically require immediate and comprehensive attention.  Cary listed several different scenarios based on grade levels that could potentially cause conflict in the classroom.  As a future teacher, I thought that this was really helpful because it allowed me to consider how I would handle situations that I haven't experienced yet.  Personally, I think that encouraging a multi-cultural classroom that is open and inclusive is most effective in deterring peer conflict.

Cary Chapters 6 & 7

Chapter Six
This chapter discusses a question I find myself wondering quite frequently - how do I help students improve their English writing?  Since the first time I wrote my own lesson plan, the idea of helping my students become better writers has always been perplexing.  Do I give my students a bunch of grammar handouts and require rote memorization? Do I have them write about something - anything! - every day?  How much is too much to expect from students? Most importantly, how can I motivate my students to want to write?

Victor presented a variety of different strategies to help tackle some of my questions and really get kids interested in in the writing process.  First of all, it is almost impossible to hold any student's interest with grammar assignments and required daily journals on prompts that mean little to nothing to them - if I had a nickel for every time I was forced to write about my favorite pet or childhood hero, I would probably be very wealthy! I really loved Victor's approach to writing.  He gave his students a topic that impacted them and made them invest their time in it.  By getting the students invested and engaged in the topic (their own safety!), his students were more willing to participate in the writing process.

My favorite part about his unit, besides getting the students interested, was that Victor started the letter to the Mayor as a class.  Especially in the ELL setting, I think that group/class work facilitated by the teacher creates a low stress environment and encourages more participation.  He made "fix-ups" and brainstorming ideas a part of the classroom every day.  When students made mistakes, it seems like they would be less likely to withdrawal again and listen to the "editing crow."  After the group/class work, Victor had his students write individual letters.  Although each letter they would write would be different from the last, he set his students up with the tools they needed to create well-written letters.  He also ensured that each student had help from both the teacher and their peers to fix any mistakes they may have come across.

Victor's purpose-based writing activity really made me think about what I was focusing on in my own lesson plans.  Although it is important to note that not every activity or teaching method will work for each classroom, I think it is even more important to evaluate the plans we are creating to ensure that we are benefiting our students as much as possible.  This comes from having a well-balanced plan; for improving writing, that may be differentiating writing styles (why students are writing), alternating between form and message (pick your battles!), and involving students in all three steps of the think, write, and revise cycle.

One of my favorite things to incorporate into the classroom to assess student writing is the student portfolios.  I think it is a great way to get students involved in their own assessment.  Portfolios are physical proof of what progress has been made and offers up something tangible that students can be proud of at the end of the school year.  By adding specific writing assignments to the portfolio, it can be an effective way for teachers to see how progress is being made/not being made and beneficial when discussing what a student may need to improve upon.

Chapter Seven
Although I will most likely not be teaching at the 4th grade level, I really liked the way that Joellen took a proactive approach to incorporating both ELD and content material in her lessons.  In her Shoebox archaeology unit, she used a variety of methods to engage her mainstream students while still providing enough background knowledge/support for the ELL students to also be engaged and comprehend the content material.

As like several of the other teachers in this textbook, Joellen began her unit with an attention grabber - the archaeology "dig" project - to spark her students' interest.  In a high school English course, I could see myself introducing a novel like The Crucible by Arthur Miller with a witch hunt activity or a role play  that would have a similar effect.  I would supplement these activities with my own demonstrations to link vocabulary to actions and create meaning for my ELL students.

I also really liked how she engaged her lowest-level ELL students in the material by guiding them through activities with the language needed for that day.  I could see myself using this strategy in both a pull-aside and entire class setting.  It is important to review vocabulary and certain idioms to enhance overall comprehension.  At a high school level, this could look like wall-text and text-tours, or simple paired activities.

The most important things I took from these two chapters is to create activities and lessons that are engaging by offering multiple platforms for students to experience the material.  Whether it is through various writing and drawing activities or turning a hands-on activity like the archaeology dig into a research project, students of all language proficiencies need a variety of mediums in order to understand the material.

Not only did Joellen require hands-on participation through the artifact dig, she also had the students discuss what they had found and write down multimodal descriptions.  This was a fantastic use of the activity and required her students to engage with each other and help each other to understand what they had found.  She also had the students organize their group's assumptions of the artifact prior to engaging in research which encourages students to think critically about the artifact and use their background knowledge.  Finally, she ended in the research presentations for each group which resulted in a great discussion about how each of the artifacts were connected.

Drawing connections seems to be vital to the success of any ELL program/lesson.  Without the connections to other content/lessons/core subjects, there seems to be a learning gap for ELL learners.  Although it is nearly impossible to create these connections every time and with everything our students are learning, I think that it is very important to strive to make those connections in order to help our students reach their academic potential.

Cary Chapters 4 & 5

Chapter Four

When I first started reading Chapter Four, I have to admit that I was beginning to get a little bit skeptical about the textbook.  The last few chapters seemed to highlight moderately to extremely successful instances with second language learners and I found myself enjoying the experiences being shared in the textbook, but also questioning what I was going to do if (and when) I was presented with a student who was really struggling with acquiring English.

I thought that the way that Cathy handled her ELL students, Gustavo and Erica, was really insightful.  It is a great idea to get to know your students on a cultural level (like we discussed last week) and on a more personal level.   By getting to know what interests her students, Cathy was able to come up with creative ways to increase their English usage.  This strategy can also be used in mainstream classrooms to help increase student participation as a whole.  Along with getting to know her students, I think that Cathy actually provided her students with opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations which made it much easier for her students to produce speech acts in a low stress environment. I was also pleasantly surprised when they started discussing the third ELL student, Ophelia. Although, I didn't like that Ophelia wasn't making 100% progress, it was almost comforting to actually read about a teacher who was struggling so much with helping a student acquire English as a Second Language.

It was also kind of a relief to read that Cathy's teaching, as amazing and thorough as it was, was not all that sparked her students' progress in English acquisition.  It takes some of the pressure off of us as teachers to realize that not all students will benefit from classroom learning and that we cannot possibly give them all the lessons they need in order to be successful academically.  What we can do, however, is give them the tools they need in order to be successful.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this chapter was the interest inventory.  I volunteer for a local program called Partners in Reading at the Normal Public Library which helps younger children become better readers.  Part of what we do during our first meeting is take an interest inventory of the child we are working with.  Although they aren't typically second language learners, they are young children who are still learning the language.  I found this strategy to be extremely helpful with the children I am partnered with because it allows me to find books that might interest them more which makes the reading/learning process more fun and exciting!

Chapter Five

This chapter really made me think about how and why I will use textbooks in my future classes.  Eventually, I will be teaching high school English, so a lot of my lessons will revolve around novels - not necessarily textbooks.  After reading about Karen's classroom, it made me re-evaluate how I create my lesson plans; obviously I am going to have to focus a lot on the novels, but each novel should be treated as a supplementary text to be combined with other media and texts.  This approach is transferrable in a class with both ELL and mainstream students because it helps to encourage understanding on multiple levels.

I recently learned about text tours in my Teaching Literature course and I find them to be very helpful when introducing a new topic or novel.  She was able to help them understand the chapter (or at least start to!) and implicitly introduce reading and comprehension strategies. I also liked how Karen was able to go with the flow, so to speak, with her students and encouraged them to process the information by making it more personal to them.  She actually postponed the lesson because she felt that the personal stories would help her students understand the material better  In the end, I think that it made her students more engaged in the text and excited to learn.  It was almost like the high school edition of Jeff's Box Sledding introduction - it gave the students a desire to learn about the topic at hand.

I also really liked the handout that Karen gave her students to summarize the chapter.  I think that its simple design provides the perfect platform for her students to organize their thoughts and it also provides a great study guide for them to look back on.  As a teacher, this could also be used as an informal assessment tool; you may be able to determine what aspects of comprehension and reading you need to focus on more in the classroom to really help your students grasp the key concepts.

Finally, I loved that Karen incorporated humor into her classes every day.  I think it takes a lot of guts for a teacher to be able to laugh at him/herself, especially in front of students.  By adding humor to the mix, I think Karen did herself and her students a favor and created a more light-hearted learning environment that encourages mistakes as an opportunity to learn! At first, I was a little taken aback by her willingness to joke about her students who confused "grinning" with "grinding", but I saw how she was able to make that a learning experience for her other students who might have been having the same issue and still make the students who made the error feel that it was ok.  This just proves how valuable humor can be in the classroom!

Cary Chapters 2 & 3

Chapter Two
I am truly inspired by Lenny's desire to gain more knowledge about his student's backgrounds.  Although it was sparked by the new student, Ka's, arrival, I think it was a really useful teaching strategy to encourage students to learn more about their own ancestry.  By having students learn about their own culture and their journey to America, I think that it creates more of a equal playing field; it allows students to relate to each other in some way which might make an ELL student feel more comfortable.  It also provides a learning experience for Lenny and gives him insight into both Ka and his other student's background.  As a teacher, I think that this is important because it might help you to identify why students are having certain issues.

For example, when I was working with the ELI as a conversation partner, I learned that the Korean student I was talking with typically had problems with forming sentences in English because sentences are broken down to subject-verb-object in English and subject-object-verb in Korean.  This kind of knowledge can be learned through your own research or by assigning students to research specific areas in their own culture.

I also really liked the idea of pairing ELL students with stronger native speaking partners.  It gives students the opportunity to communicate with others and receive feedback from their peers.  Peer partnering can also help students to become more involved in the classroom environment and encourage them to learn to be actively engaged in a low-stress setting.

Chapter Three
This chapter also had a lot of valuable information for helping ELL students to comprehend more in the classroom.  I especially like how Jeff began his unit with something that caught all of his students attention.  The activity wasn't something that required a high level of language comprehension, instead it was an activity that grabbed his students attention and made learners of all language proficiencies want to start the unit.

Throughout the Stone Fox unit, Jeff combined multiple teaching strategies such as read-alouds, movie viewings, and power words to help students understand the story on a more specific level and as a whole.  I also found that the book response journal entries were very useful.  I think that they encouraged the students to really invest in the story which makes it easier for them to be interested in the rest of the lessons.  The power words might not have been as effective if Jeff simply wrote them on the board and didn't require the students to actively use them.  The journal entries are a place where students can synthesize all of the materials that they have been engaged with and it provides a specific place for them to put down their thoughts.  Also, writing about their experiences with the story or how it relates to their life can encourage the students to participate in whole-class discussions because they already have something prepared - it takes away some of the anxiety!

Besides explaining how a multitude of materials can effectively be used in the classroom, I really liked how this chapter addressed the issue of a teacher's personal time.  It made me think about how much planning actually has to go into each lesson in order to ensure that student progress is made.  At the same time, it also made me realize that in order to be an effective teacher, we have to be able to take time for ourselves or else we might get burnt out a little too soon.

Cary Introduction & Chapter 1

Introduction
My first response to the Stephen Cary text, Working with English Language Learners, was that this would be a beneficial resource for me in both my classroom observations and future teaching experiences.  The text is very approachable and clearly identified the different goals to be addressed in the text.  I especially like Cary's personable writing style; I felt as though I was being directly addressed and that the information presented to me was going to be useful.  I don't know how many times I have come across a textbook that could be a valuable resource, but gets pushed aside or unused because of its inability to effectively communicate those ideas.
The introduction addresses a list of ten questions that really help to focus my attention as a reader and future teacher.  The questions address a variety of issues that I may come across when teaching ELL students such as make textbooks more readable, improving writing/reading and supporting a first language. Of these questions, however, I think the most important and neglected issue is how to effectively assess a student's English.  Although I have taken a class on TESOL methodology and testing, I'm still not entirely sure how to use those tools effectively in a classroom to help students reach their potential.
Cary mentioned that "Language acquisition is more a matter of get-this-with-that, than get-this-then-that; it comes in wholes, not pieces" (3).  This really snagged my attention because I think that it poignantly states that, as teachers, we need to recognize that language learning (or any learning in general) can not come in pieces.  I think of learning as a kind of puzzle, you don't get the final picture with just a few pieces.  Instead it requires a combination of all puzzles, just as learning requires a combination, not  succession, of learning and teaching strategies.  By thinking of learning as a holistic process, teachers may be better prepared to help students become more successful in their language acquisition.
Overall, I am truly excited to continue reading this text.  It has so much useful information that is presented in a way that is both easy to comprehend but requires you to think outside of the box.  I think this will be a great asset for me to continue to use throughout my practicum and into my future classroom.

Chapter 1
As I mentioned previously, one of the areas I am most interested in is how to assess my ELL student.  Although I was given many strategies, it still was unclear as to how to implement these in my classroom. I really enjoyed reading Chapter 1 as it focused on Lisa's struggle with assessing her ELL student, Amalia.
As a pre-service teacher, I was kind of shocked that Lisa went around the rules set up by her district to request a later testing date for Amalia.  Honestly, I would have never even thought of doing something like that for one of my ELL students before reading this.  It was amazing how giving Amalia that "break-in" time helped to create a comfortable learning environment for Amalia without giving her the added pressure of performing well on the LAS proficiency test.
By first establishing that her classroom was a safe learning environment (not a testing zone!), I think Lisa really set Amalia up for success.  This semester I am currently taking a level two Spanish course.  It is the first time I have taken Spanish in probably over 4 years and I can definitely relate to Amalia's struggles.  I find it hard to want to speak in class or participate during group work.  If I was faced with a proficiency exam during the first week of class, I would probably be even more reluctant to participate.
In terms of assessing Amalia's progress, I really liked the four-box assessment tool.  I think that it is a great way to easily track what Amalia succeeds in and what she may need more work on.  Although I think it is a good tool for one or two ELL students, it may be difficult to do this on a larger scale.  It is a lot of paperwork to do for more than just a few students and it may be difficult to keep up with. If this method was adapted to maybe a few activities or specific classroom assignments, I think that it could be a really valuable piece of information.

Personal Introduction

Hi! My name is Tiffany Johnson and I am 21 years old. I am from Grayslake, IL and I went to Warren Township High School in Gurnee.  I have one older brother, Kevin, who is literally my biggest (maybe only? ha!) fan and one of my best friends.  Even though he is 7 years older than I am, I am lucky to be so close with him!

My brother is actually one of the many reasons why I decided to become a teacher.  As a little kid, I watched him struggle through his high school classes without the proper help or with teachers who seemed to care very little about the individual success of their students.  When I got older and went to high school myself, I found that this was a very common occurrence with students who were not understanding the material or not self-motivated.  During my Junior year of high school, I was taking an AP American Literature course and was completely taken aback by my teacher.  For the first time in a long time, I was taking a class with a teacher who I felt was genuinely interested in the materials he was teaching and the success of each of his students.  He transformed the classroom and the learning experience into something that was so interactive and engaging.  After that class, I was inspired to become a teacher like that - someone who challenges students to reach their utmost potential and gives them the resources and support to do so in a safe, fun, and engaging atmosphere.

Here at Illinois State University, I am a Junior  and am currently majoring in English Education.  I will also have endorsements in TESOL and Middle Level Education by the time I graduate.  I am also actively involved in Phi Sigma Sigma, a social sorority,; Kappa Delta Epsilon, a Honorary Education Fraternity,; and various volunteer opportunities around campus, such as Partners in Reading at the Normal Public Library.  I have held positions on the executive board of both Phi Sigma Sigma and Kappa Delta Epsilon and am currently the Vice President for Kappa Delta Epsilon.

On a more personal note, I actively practice yoga daily and I am learning how to meditate.  I also enjoy doing various arts and crafts projects - in my free time, it is not uncommon for my friends to find me searching Pinterest for new projects or organizational ideas for my future classrooms!

Overall, I'm just a Mid-West, Suburban girl trying to make a place for myself in the world. =)