Sociocultural Aspects of Schooling for ELs

After reading the case study done on Miguel by Rubinstein-Avila, I have learned about the difficulties that many English learners face in today's schools. Miguel, like many English language learners, came with his family to the United States at a young age. His developing literary skills did not give him the confidence to succeed in school. It was his motivation to keep trying that caused him to succeed. Miguel is a great example of a student who has the motivation to succeed but lacks the necessary skills and support to do so.  As Rubinstein-Avila puts it, "academic applied pupils" need not be the typical Caucasian students who have recieved multiple areas of support. It is our job as teachers to teach and give students the skills necessary to succeed. Therefore, for my action, I will address the literary skills of English language learners in my class by building their confidence in the language and creating an environment that will foster literary growth. English learners, especially those foreign to the United States, should benefit from activities that build confidence and positive relationships among students.

Lesson Planning Blog Post

The teenage brain needs constant stimulation during school to growth and develop. My lesson plans are designed to stimulate thinking among students by using two basic strategies. One strategy is to develop a personal connection with students and trigger the emotional memory lane of their brain. This allows for students to become more connected in the classroom and with me, mainly because the emotional memory lane is the strongest of all the lanes. Students will want to maintain this relationship throughout the school year and become more active in class.

Another strategy in my lesson plans is consistency and routine; I include and practice consistency and several routines with all material and with every lesson. Students' brains are repeatedly stimulated with the same material and concepts during each lesson, adding to their automatic memory lane. In addition, the routine of classroom management is in place so that students know both what to expect from me and what I expect from them each class and some anxiety is taken away from their brains.

Management Plan (Revised)

I have revised my Classroom Management Plan and added two supportive strategies based on the readings by Kohn and Towbin.

Classroom Management Plan

SDAIE Assessment

The following is an assessment I used with my whole class, but was designed for English learners. It is designed at the (i + 1) level, targetting the Early Advanced level of Cluster 7 which says, "Respond to messages by asking questions, challenging statements, or offering examples that affirm the message."

My cooperating teacher and I went up and down the rows in the classroom and called on each student to do the following:

We would read a statement involving a geometric question, logic, or solution from Unit 3 and any previous unit. The student being called on would have one of the following options:

1. Challenging the logic of the solution if we read a statement
2. Give an example if we presented logic
3. Answering the question if we asked a question
4. Asking a question if they did not know the information to complete the previous steps

We used this assessment to monitor the progress of student understanding.

SDAIE Strategy

I have observed my CT implement various SDAIE strategies. One such strategy is the continuous use of graphic organizers, realia, and visual clues in the classroom. My CT gives his lessons via PowerPoint and students use their iPads to take notes and look up material on the Internet. The PowerPoint is filled with graphic organizers: diagrams, drawings, charts, and pictures. Students can either copy down the organizers to their notes by hand or use their iPads to download them off of the school's website. The students who do not speak English well are the main beneficiaries of these graphic organizers, though it should be noted that they are helpful to all students in the classroom. From what I can tell the strategy has been successful, many students seem to benefit from drawing the diagrams and synchronizing their knowledge using the graphic organizers.

Student Literacy Habit Survey

I created a digital survey to give to my students using Google Forms. The link to the survey can be found here and the link to the results can be found here. My students were told to take the survey as part of their participation. Since we have iPads for each student in our classroom, I decided to opt for a digital survey instead of a handwritten one so that both the students and I would enjoy a level of convienence.

Here is the embedded survey:


Reflection: The data gathered from this survey was quite interesting to me. I see that many students are exposed to Spanish or other languages at home and many are required to speak a language other than English in public settings. Also, many students have struggled in their English classes and almost all of the students who struggled felt uncomfortable in at least some of their classes just based on how they speak English. I plan to continue analyzing the data throughout the semester and keep an eye on the students who I feel need the most help.

Injustice at School

Not only were there not enough books for students, but the current books are in terrible condition and most look like rags. This injustice promotes an idea to students that books can be abused and misused and that the school cannot even fund enough books for all students.