Brianna
EDU 220
Philosophy Paper
December 1, 2014
We all have heard either from our parents or family member the statement, education is
the key to one’s success in life. Education is very important but to an English Language Learner
such a statement will sound foreign because it is not heard in their homes every day. One of my
teaching approaches will be to guide the kindergartners by providing positive and supportive
environments. Parent involvement is crucial in order for any ELL student to succeed and the
cultural background of the families makes the classroom a place where the kids can learn from
one another.
I moved to the states at the age of 10 from a different country and one thing that stood out
on the first day of 5th grade class was the positive and supportive environment that surrounded
me. It is very important for students to be relaxed and not feel any stress especially while at
school because when they are not relaxed and stress free, they lose their ability to learn and stay
focused. One of teacher’s roles in the classroom is to create a nurturing environment where
students will not feel embarrassed or criticized. By doing so, the child will want to participate in
the classroom and socializing with their peers will become something they look forward to
every day.
Having to teach ELLs in a Structured English Emersion setting will pose its own
challenges. Teaching Kindergarten students four hours of a language they are still trying to
acquire will be interesting because children at the age of five and six are still eager to learn.
While curriculum has to be met, I also have to take into consideration how much information can
be taught in any given day or week. The goal of SEI is to get ELLs tested out of not being
proficient in the English language and this can be accomplished with the amount of hours
dedicated to the program.
Being culturally sensitive is an essential skill to posses when serving...