My thoughts.....clouded by 12 hour work days,  24 Kindergartners, and a 2 year old at home, oh and Grad school! :) Yikes right.....

Coursework

            The coursework for this class was probably a little bit different for me. As a teacher who has been in a classroom now for 5 years, it was strange to be the observer instead of the one being observed. Of course, it also made me take a lot of how I do things in my classroom into consideration. I feel like I was able to take a lot of the things I was learning in class and implement them into my daily routine. At the same time, I was able to use new information to modify what I already do every day.

Processes for obtaining licensure

            I think we are very lucky in Tennessee that ESL is an add-on endorsement. In many states, it is treated like a separate subject. I would look for this to begin changing in states like Tennessee (and Kentucky) soon as the need for ESL teachers continues to spread to more rural parts of the country.

                       

Experiences working with ESL students

            I have been working with ESL students since the spring of 2007. I have always found the process to be a new and exciting adventure each day. The cultural diversity brings such richness to the classroom that not only do the students benefit from it, but I feel like I grow as a teacher and a person as well.

Application of your Wiki and related materials designed as part of specific classes

            The Wiki (and blogs) are a great place to keep track of everything you have worked on. As I finished each assignment in class, it was nice to know that I had easy, on line access to everything I had done. I am also excited that I can continue to use this as a way to help other teachers and parents when it comes to helping ESL students.

           

What advice do you have for others who intend to pursue the add-on and who hope to work with second language learners in the future?

            If you are looking to get into a rewarding field, working with ESL students is a wonderful field to work in. You will face challenges with them that you don’t always see and you will see just how good your skills are at creative problem solving and innovation. As far as getting the add-on endorsement goes, make sure to take advantage of the time you get to spend in a classroom so you can have a realistic idea of the environment you will step into when you get a job teaching ESL. If you are limited in the time you spend in a classroom, you will have very unrealistic expectations.

Literature Circles

What are your overall impressions of implementation?

            I felt it was a great idea and layout, but the implementation with Kindergarteners made it a little bit difficult as it took a lot of pre-teaching. This level of work would be more appropriate toward the end of the year. That is not to say, however, that it wasn’t valuable, it just took a lot of front-loading and teaching to make the organizers useful for them.

           

How did students react to the literature?

            They LOVED it! They wanted to read more books like the ones we’d been reading. I also think they loved the small group discussion of the books.

How did students react to discussing the selected texts?

            They had a great time talking about the stories and using rhyming words. It was very high interest for them.

How appropriate is the Literature Circle Technique for second language learners?

            I think it is wonderful, but I may need to adjust a few things to use it with such beginners not only to the language, but to reading and writing. This is already very similar to how I do my reading groups. The main addition to what I already do in reading groups is the use of multiple graphic organizers.

What changes would you make if you were to repeat this?

            I would not use three organizers. I would probably just use one, to be filled out as a group to help model the process of organizing thoughts on an organizer for future use.

What suggestions to you have for other ESL professionals considering implementing literature circles?

            I would make sure that you really think about the ability level of your students before you plan everything out. Make sure your organizers will be easy for your students to use. If not, you will spend a lot of time trying to get the students to understand how to use them. Once that’s accomplished, they may only be going through the motions of using the organizer without actually understanding why they are doing it.