Prompt: What types of teaching strategies have you utilized with your ELL students? Of the strategies discussed, which one(s) do you think you will implement in the future?
For my ELL students, the most common strategy that I use is purposeful grouping. I've found that mixing students and increasing opportunities for academic conversations to occur has been most beneficial for these students to make connections and develop their understanding of the material. I also try to pair students intentionally without making the pairings seem intentional. Sometimes I will number students off and tell the even numbers to find an odd numbered partner or I will identify students as either "peanut butter" or "jelly" and ask them to make a sandwich pair. Either way, the method of pairing students up changes every time.
I also try to include more visual examples or draw from their prior knowledge as much as I can. For example, when we talked about the voluntary response bias in statistical sampling, I surveyed the class and asked them to remain standing if they like the LA Lakers. I then asked the standing students if they liked Kobe Bryant and then took my results to "assume" that the population all liked Kobe Bryant. Students were able to draw connections from this illustration and use their own words to define "voluntary response bias". When I talk about properties of equality, I try to use the analogy of a see-saw to connect the concept with a mental image of balancing a playground toy.
What I would like to implement more of in the future is implementing students' background into the class and curriculum. I'm not as familiar with Native American culture as I would like to be and not comfortable enough to incorporate significant amounts into my lesson plans. Still, I would like to make more culturally responsive lessons and classroom structures in the future.
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