Reflective Blog # 6             SPSE 6712

December 2, 2011

Personal Reflection of My Journey

Field work and Applied Research in ESL has been a wonderful course experience for me.  As a practicing ESL teacher, I really enjoyed conducting fieldwork in my own class as well as in the other ESL class with former students.  I really got to know the students that much better from the experience.  My favorite part of the coursework was conducting the action research project to troubleshoot common issues in second language acquisition and the ESL classroom.  I also really enjoyed reading about “the second classroom” and how important it is to build real relationships with your students.  I feel that this has been an extremely valuable course in helping me to learn how to assess my students in a different sort of way but a very necessary way.  I have had many wonderful experiences working with ESL students over the last 10 years on and off but I wish I had the knowledge that I gained from this course before.  I often think back on previous experiences while reflecting on coursework and think how I might have applied the strategies to my former students.  This was the last class that I needed to take to acquire teaching licensure.  I highly recommend teachers who are interested in teaching ESL to pursue the add-on license or the M.Ed. in ESL at MTSU to be well prepared for working with English Language Learners.  I would tell the teacher who is looking for recognition not to go into ESL because you don’t often get the full respect from other teachers and administrators.  But if you love the diversity of cultures and are compassionate about helping students that struggle to achieve and overcome their language gap, then ESL is for you.

Blog Entry # 5                  SPSE 6712

Implementation Of Literature Circles

1.  What are your overall impressions of implementation?

          My students really enjoyed the book review activity.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen them that focused before.  The literature circles had some definitely positive aspects of use.  The graphic organizers and reinforced peer discussion are great tools to enhance comprehension and fluency.  I liked watching all of the students assume their roles in the groups as well.

2.  How did students react to the literature?

          The book that was decided upon turned out to be rather hokey but nonetheless, the students enjoyed learning how to work cooperatively in group roles.  Their comprehension of the story was substantially increased through the activity.

3.  How did students react to discussing the selected texts?

          The students did have some difficulties staying focused at times, even with the team leader in place.  There were tons of innuendos and plays on words getting thrown around in between discussions in Spanish, but then again, this group of students is a really funny group and could practically be comedians at times.

4.  How appropriate is the Literature Circle Technique for second language learners?

          The literature circles technique is ideal for second language learners because it offers lots of opportunities to enhance comprehension of a text.  It provided fun graphic organizers for the kids to use and let the students dictate their own lesson and learning.  The students liked having group roles and even though they joked around a lot at times, they took their roles seriously and completed their tasks effectively and efficiently most of the time.  The ELL needs the kind of extra support that a group setting such as those used in literature circles has to offer to gain fluency in reading.

5. What changes would you make if you were to repeat this?

          The obvious change for me would have been the book.  I would have liked to have used a book with multiple themes and relevant experiences that the students could have enjoyed talking about using prior knowledge.  I thought the giving the students the opportunity to choose their group book would make the experience more fun for them and they might take ownership in that they helped choose the book.  Other than that, I think it would get smoother for the students once they really got used to the routines of the group roles.

6.  What suggestions do you have for other ESL professionals considering implementing

literature circles?

          I highly recommend that ESL teachers try to use age appropriate books in literature circles that the students can relate to such as “The Circuit,” by Francisco Jimenez for say, a group of middle school Hispanic ESL students.  The best kinds of books are the ones that offer plenty of opportunities to reflect upon characters’ experiences, such as “The House on Mango Street,” by Sandra Cisneros, for a group of high school ESL students.  This sort of group works especially well for students of varying proficiency levels because it keeps every student involved, participating, and comprehending.