Classroom Interview Paper

During my interview with Mrs. P, I discovered that she and Laura her English Language Learner have a nurturing and positive relationship. While observing, I found that Mrs. P to patient and giving of her time with Laura. She was exemplary when providing Laura with time to collect her thoughts and finding the accurate words to explain or question something. Laura is a very outgoing student, and Mrs. P embraces Laura’s personality by allowing her to be herself in the classroom. Laura’s personality has aided in her adjustment in the classroom. Mrs. P shares how Laura’s personality is infectious and often brings the classroom together as a whole. She gets along well with others and is excited to learn. In the article How to Create a Welcoming
P’s classroom are a small group writing center, a vocabulary finder center, and art center. At the writing center, the student has to write a short fun sentence correctly using the vocabulary word. For the vocabulary finder center, the student is provided with five to ten words and definitions. The student is to match the words to their correct definition. The art center consists of the student putting the word into action using visualizing; a strategy Maureen Mc Laughlin mentions in the book Reading Content Area Reading: Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness. This process occurs when the student draws a picture demonstrating the word in motion (pg. 82). At the end of the week, Mrs. P takes all three parts and makes a study book for the student to use as a reference.
However, a difficulty mentioned in the article Best Practice for ELLs: Vocabulary Instruction when teaching vocabulary, is that “teachers assume that English learners know a concept and the word for that concept in their primary language.” Often this is seen with “technical” terms in math, science, geography, and history. The article suggests that if the student doesn’t know the word in their primary language, it should be taught “directly in English.” By understanding this concept is why assessing the ELL before starting a lesson is
Some areas they are focusing on are the main idea and supporting details, inferring from the text, and idioms. Laura will continue to use in the classroom is the iReady app to focus on areas on her comprehension level where she struggles. Recently Mrs. P has provided Laura with the Readtheory.org site that can help build reading comprehension. Mrs. P said that she uses technology to differentiate lessons in the classroom. One example she provided was showing fun, educational videos that students could relate to. She mentioned the last video she incorporated into her lesson was on Martin Luther King’s life as a young boy. She said all of her students enjoyed the video and many were able to recall most of the events in order as well as infer Mr. King’s purpose. Using technology in the classroom can enhance the student’s learning experience with fun, relatable information on a particular