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.