Hello Everyone! My name is Thom Tran and I am very happy to be here. I will be graduating May 2019 with a BS in Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood through 6th grade. Currently I am student teaching fourth grade Math and Science in Fortbend Independent School District.
Click here for my video
Thom,
ReplyDeleteHow crazy is it that, that more than 100 different languages are spoken in FBISD. I am unsure of how many different languages are spoken in LCISD, but I do know there are 13 different languages spoken at Dickinson Elementary alone! I think it’s great how diverse schools are which makes it so much more important for us to be prepared. It must have been hard for you as a kindergartener having to learn a new language. With that, you have a great understanding of what some ELL students struggle with. Wright says, “Helping ELLs succeed academically requires helping them adjust to the culture of the classroom and the school…” (Wright, 2015, p.19). I believe this to be true as students should feel safe and comfortable in the classroom in order to concentrate more on their work.
Wright, Wayne E. (2015) Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners, Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing
Rachel,
DeleteAlthough I am bilingual and can relate to students who are ELLs I am constantly learning something new everyday. It is true that culture is very important to a student's identity. Depending on how long a student has been learning English this student must have struggle with their new identity. I can see it as something they will struggle with for a very long time. As for me, learning English was very difficult at first. I had a grandmother who love to eat American food (those items she knew how to pronounce) Otherwise she strictly spoke to us in Vietnamese. My parents spoke limited English and they also learned from us kids and they are still learning now in 2019 and they have been living in the U.S eversince 1975. Another thing too is that English is such complex language with the rules that follow it. With this I believe as an ELL it has to be frustrating to keep the rules in order.
Thanks for your reply Thom,
DeleteI have realized that although ELL can be placed in the same classes and given the same title, their struggles can be so different. Some students might not speak any English at home like your childhood, whereas another student might have parents who speak English fluently at home. With your own personal ELL experience, I think you can connect with these students and understand their struggles more than I.
Hello Thom! I enjoyed listening about your story, and I really appreciate your teaching philosophy. You said that you learned Vietnam as your first language, and did not learn English until you were in Kindergarten. Since your parents only spoke Vietnam at the time you were beginning to learn English, did that make it more difficult for you? I think that it is amazing that you growing up in a low-income family has made you want to teach students that all come from low-income families. According to Wright (2015), many poor and minority students “live in low-income neighborhoods, where living conditions are crowed, crime rates are high, and access to good school and community libraries is minimal” (p. 12). So, I think we as future educators need to keep that in mind, and provide all low-income students the opportunities and resources to be successful.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
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DeleteJeanie,
DeleteTo answer your question, learning Vietnamese was not difficult for me. It is my mother tongue language. I do not remember learning it and I never took any formal training to speak Vietnamese. What was difficult is keeping up with the language. When I started conversing with classmates in English at school I tend to keep that English mentality even at home. In my opinion that was a negative strike for me. The more I spoke English the less Vietnamese I would speak. Although I can speak fluently when I converse with peers it does take my brain a bit more time to access the correct word I would need if it’s a term a do not use in my daily routine.
As a minority my parents did not have the degree and education someone of their age who is an American would have. We might not have the monetary supplement to fall on but we had a ton of family time. Dinners as an entire family and we had familial support and an endless amount of love for each other. Since I did grow up in a low SES neighborhood I know what these students struggle with. I think my main concern with growing up in the area as I did is not being expose to the same academic vocabulary as someone who grew up in middle-class and upper-middle might have.
Hey Thom! I can’t believe that there are more than 100 different languages spoken in FBISD. That’s crazy to me; I’m over at Pasadena ISD, where I’m not really sure how many different languages are spoken there but I for sure know that Spanish and English are spoken. It’s crazy to think about how there are differences in language, but also in other areas of life. Our text mentioned, “our nation is made up of many cultural groups distinguished by ethnicity, gender, class, language, and religion” (Wright, 2015, p. 20) We have so many schools where there’s so many different backgrounds in different areas of life and it’s so important to be able to understand all the different backgrounds and being able to personally relate to your students is beneficial for not only you, but for them as well. You wanting to teach at a title 1 school is so amazing and you are definitely going to do great because you’ll know what it’s like for them and you’ll be able to assist and help better then someone who hasn’t been in their shoes before.
ReplyDeleteWright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Hey, Anna! I also did not know that there were 100 different language spoken in Fort Bend ISD. While you are in Pasadena ISD, I am in Alvin ISD. After looking at your comment and Thom’s video, I was curious as to how many languages are spoken in my school district. I looked it up and learned that there are 58 different languages! Admittedly, that is a higher number than I was expecting, but I am pleasantly surprised at it! I love being in a diverse school district because the one I grew up in was not very diverse, so it is refreshing for me.
DeleteAnna,
ReplyDeleteI think diversity is a great! Not only can I teach my students about my customs and traditions they can also teach me about theirs. I can see talking about diversity being a very interesting piece for a Social Studies lesson! What I have learned from my ELLs is there is no two same story. Each child comes to our classroom with different needs and it comes down to us Teachers to see where we can help them. As an ELL I am looking forward to making connections with my students as well. I know students today are more different than I was at their age. I am looking forward to what I am learning in my classroom today and can not wait to be a future teacher where I can practice what we will learn in this class.