To be honest, in my research, I haven't found one particular person who is well known for their research in EL's and learning math. I haven't seen a name repeated or see many articles from one individual. I could argue, that Hattie is someone who's research will support EL students in math, but his research was not specifically focused on supporting just one group of students, it was more on how we can support all students. The one consistent theme that I have found in my research, is that interaction and direct teaching of the academic vocabulary is the KEY! Now the question is, how do we teach the vocabulary in an interactive, interesting, and innovative way so that students remember those big and confusing sounding math words? There are so many strategies with teaching vocabulary, that teachers need to play around with different ideas and strategies so that they can see what works best for them in their classroom, in their school, and for their students. I work at two very different school sites, and what will work for one school site, isn't necessarily what will work for another. Also, teachers need to be willing to try different strategies to find the one that works best for them. That means they need to be willing to be vulnerable to try new and different strategies. Also, schools can look at where vocabulary is revisited. Why does it only have to be in the math class? Why can't a teachers in an ELD class spend time focusing on, reviewing, and providing experiences with the vocabulary from a core class? Why can't we extend our language learning from our core classes into our ELD classes?
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Throughout the country there are students who do not speak English as their first language. When they enter school they are already at a disadvantage because they are having the learn a second language, and learn the academic content in the second language as well. This makes it difficult for the students to perform proficiently in math throughout their school career. Each year, as their English language grows, their English only classmates are accessing much more of the math curriculum. As a result, the English Learners fall behind and struggle to catch up. This problem occurs at a national level in many states. There are some states, such as California, where there is a larger percentage of students who are English Language Learners. The performance gap is evident in California. Here in Napa, there is a significant percentage of students who are English Language Learners. Teachers are constantly looking for ways to support the English Language Learners to help them achieve at grade level throughout their academic career. In the research articles I am seeing a common theme of emphasis on language in Mathematics and really being intentional with how language is introduced, reviewed, and used in a math classroom.
Since I am not in the classroom this school year, my essential question is going to focus on a whole school site. I would like to put my focus on English Language Learners and what can be done across a whole school to help support their learning and extend their educational growth in ALL subjects. I have chose to focus on this group of individuals because they are a group, that as a whole, are academically not performing as strongly as their English only peers. This is going to help point me to my driving question. I will need to know what systems are already put into place by the school to support this group of students. I will need to know how these systems are being used and how much success the school has seen throughout the years using these systems. I have completed a capstone on teaching Math to EL students and I have read many books and discussed with peers on how to support EL learners, so I feel strong about my knowledge of how to support EL learners in a classroom. However, I haven't looked at how to make a positive change within a whole school system for EL learners. What can I do as an Academic Specialist to support all EL learners in ALL subjects? My scope is now larger than just my own classroom, so my knowledge and view needs to adjust as well. I plan to look into how I can support and coach teachers to ensure that they are putting the necessary systems into their own classrooms to support all of our EL learners. Maybe this leads me to my first draft of my driving question: What systems can be put into place at a middle school to best support our EL learners in all subjects? Again, this is my first draft. I know it will change as I explore this more, but this is where I am beginning.
This year I find myself in a new position in our districts schools, I am an Academic Specialist. My job is to support and coach teachers throughout the school year. Until now all school sites had a full time Academic Specialist, but this year due to budget cuts Academic Specialists are split between two sites. So I am not only in a new position, but I am at two different middle school sites. I am deep into learning about the culture of each school and getting to know the teachers who make up each school. I am truly enjoying getting to know each school, how they work, and the teachers and personal who make up each site.
My passion with teaching, is to help individuals push themselves to be and do the best they can. My passion started with students, but has evolved into helping teachers be their best so they can best support their students. I am so excited about having a position that officially gives me the time and platform to support teachers to grown and be their best. I will see where this new position and focus takes me this year. |
AuthorKathy Martin is an educator in Napa, Ca. She has taught all ages, K-8, in her past 14 years of teaching. She looks forward to exploring more about the world of education. Archives
October 2019
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