4.3 Diversity, Cultural Understanding, & Global Awareness
Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness. (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c)
Artifact: ELL Project
Reflection:
The English language learner (ELL) project was completed to demonstrate the ability to create a specialized lesson plan for a student learning to speak English as a second language. In completing the ELL project, I had to first identify a student and then determine in which ways I could help her improve her skills in my classroom by integrating technology in a way that was specialized to her type of learning. The ELL project identified key concepts in the unit and outlined methods in which I could support her learning needs in a manner that was different from other students in the class. I completed this project individually but did have some assistance from the special education teacher to help with instruction to all the other students.
Standard 4.3 establishes the criteria for the modeling and facilitating of digital tools that support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness. This artifact demonstrates my ability to facilitate biology curriculum to an English language learner through the use of various digital tools. By helping the student discussed in my project, I was also able to model the appropriate methods of working with ELL students to other teachers. Additionally, other ELL students were able to observe a model teaching method to help ELL students be successful. This lesson also allowed the facilitation of additional conversations with other students regarding their approach to digital tools and other ways to facilitate the support of their diverse learning needs.
This artifact also supported diverse student needs in that it addressed the very diverse needs of an English language learner such as vocabulary, learning strategies, and comprehension strategies compared to that of a typical freshman high school student. The ELL project also enhanced cultural understanding in that I was able to learn more about her culture and she was able to learn more about mine as we worked through the project. To further enhance both of our cultural understandings I was eventually able to compare biology topics to vocabulary from her language and culture to help her remember terms. She also asked questions about American culture to learn how to connect to me and her classmates. Global awareness was also impacted in that through an enhanced cultural understanding, both of us learned more about the world around us. It was interesting to learn about the way school works in her country and why her education level is what it is because of her education foundation and she also learned about education foundations in America thus increasing her global awareness as well.
Completing the ELL project was beyond beneficial to me. I learned so much about this particular student and my classroom methods. I learned that the way I was teaching was not really benefiting her ability to learn the classroom material and as a result I was able to re-evaluate the way in which I taught other ELL students in my classroom. Additionally, I formed a much closer relationship with this particular student and as a result was able to provide more support, especially emotionally, to her throughout the school day instead of just in my class. In doing this ELL project again, I would like to work with several ELL students to see what kind of impact I could make on them too. I treasured every minute of working with this student, but wish I could have made a larger impact on other students too and therefore increased their learning and understanding of biology concepts.
This ELL project benefitted student learning immensely! This particular student did not have much confidence and was easily frustrated by her inability to understand classroom material. But this student was not the only one to benefit. Because of my work with the ELL project, I was able to apply these methods to my other ELL students and even my special education students who do not necessarily have a language barrier but do have other disabilities that hinder their learning. The impact of this project can be assessed by the summative assessment scores and state milestone scores of this particular student. Additionally, overall student impact can be assessed by gathering data from students as they learn and determining if the methods of the ELL project are beneficial to students and their comprehension of classroom material.
The English language learner (ELL) project was completed to demonstrate the ability to create a specialized lesson plan for a student learning to speak English as a second language. In completing the ELL project, I had to first identify a student and then determine in which ways I could help her improve her skills in my classroom by integrating technology in a way that was specialized to her type of learning. The ELL project identified key concepts in the unit and outlined methods in which I could support her learning needs in a manner that was different from other students in the class. I completed this project individually but did have some assistance from the special education teacher to help with instruction to all the other students.
Standard 4.3 establishes the criteria for the modeling and facilitating of digital tools that support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness. This artifact demonstrates my ability to facilitate biology curriculum to an English language learner through the use of various digital tools. By helping the student discussed in my project, I was also able to model the appropriate methods of working with ELL students to other teachers. Additionally, other ELL students were able to observe a model teaching method to help ELL students be successful. This lesson also allowed the facilitation of additional conversations with other students regarding their approach to digital tools and other ways to facilitate the support of their diverse learning needs.
This artifact also supported diverse student needs in that it addressed the very diverse needs of an English language learner such as vocabulary, learning strategies, and comprehension strategies compared to that of a typical freshman high school student. The ELL project also enhanced cultural understanding in that I was able to learn more about her culture and she was able to learn more about mine as we worked through the project. To further enhance both of our cultural understandings I was eventually able to compare biology topics to vocabulary from her language and culture to help her remember terms. She also asked questions about American culture to learn how to connect to me and her classmates. Global awareness was also impacted in that through an enhanced cultural understanding, both of us learned more about the world around us. It was interesting to learn about the way school works in her country and why her education level is what it is because of her education foundation and she also learned about education foundations in America thus increasing her global awareness as well.
Completing the ELL project was beyond beneficial to me. I learned so much about this particular student and my classroom methods. I learned that the way I was teaching was not really benefiting her ability to learn the classroom material and as a result I was able to re-evaluate the way in which I taught other ELL students in my classroom. Additionally, I formed a much closer relationship with this particular student and as a result was able to provide more support, especially emotionally, to her throughout the school day instead of just in my class. In doing this ELL project again, I would like to work with several ELL students to see what kind of impact I could make on them too. I treasured every minute of working with this student, but wish I could have made a larger impact on other students too and therefore increased their learning and understanding of biology concepts.
This ELL project benefitted student learning immensely! This particular student did not have much confidence and was easily frustrated by her inability to understand classroom material. But this student was not the only one to benefit. Because of my work with the ELL project, I was able to apply these methods to my other ELL students and even my special education students who do not necessarily have a language barrier but do have other disabilities that hinder their learning. The impact of this project can be assessed by the summative assessment scores and state milestone scores of this particular student. Additionally, overall student impact can be assessed by gathering data from students as they learn and determining if the methods of the ELL project are beneficial to students and their comprehension of classroom material.