Entry2

Welcome back to my blog!

https://youtu.be/z9Rq75AiZDY

For my second blog, I decided to interview my friend Alex.  Spanish is Alex's first language, and began to learn English at the age of 3. Although he was introduced to English at an early age, he was not proficient until he was in the fourth grade. At home he only speaks Spanish, the book states that many ELLs speak their first language at home and practice English in school, that why I think it took Alex a few years to be proficient in English.  Alex also says that because he lacked the language, he was faced in an embarrassing situation, lucky his mom went to the school and was able to switch him to an ESL class. I think the school could've saved him from this embarrassing situation if the district had required the school to ask the language they speak at home, because "current accountability requirements do not mandate " for this informations. (Pg.8) I asked Alex if he noticed any differences between him and other students in his classes. He said that the students who's English is their first language, had an easier time writing English compared to him. Even now that he is a college student, he says he is still struggling to write proper English. I can relate to his statement. The books state that, "monolingual English speakers are being held to higher language standards," and that ELL students are having a harder time trying to meet those standards. (Pg. 31). Alex and I are have been speaking and writing English for more than half of our lives, and we still have trouble meeting standards.

References:

Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.

Introduction: Karla Martinez

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog. I hope you all enjoy my first video and I cannot wait to see the videos you all have created.


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Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. My name is Karla Martinez, I am currently majoring in Teaching and Learning with a certification in 4th grade through 8th-grade Mathematics.

I was born in Mexico City and migrated to the United States when I was about eight years old. Spanish was the only language I spoke, and once I was in the States, I had to learn English. As the book states, I became an Eglish Language Learner (ELL). (p1) When I started school, I was placed in a bilingual class, I later was able to be in an all English class. I eventually graduated from high school, I was in the top 15% of my graduating class. The textbook states that although the schools are being held accountable when students do not meet certain standards, there is still a huge gap for ELLs.(13) I honestly did think there was a gap between me and my peers.  I think that if I had worked harder I would have been able to be in a higher ranking. There might have been a gap between my school and other districts and even gaps between other schools within the district. Now that I am on a path to be a future teacher, I am going to try my best to help those students that might need extra support. I cannot control the gaps that my students might face outside of school, but I can try to make the gap in the classroom as minimum as possible.

References:

Wright, Wayne (2015). Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, Second Edition.