M5: Assignment-Blog

If the last module was the largest module we have had so far this semester, this module was the shortest! I can definitely tell the end of the school is dawning. However, I still learned a lot from this module and was able to make a lot of connections. For this module, we participated in a discussion about differentiation for ELLs using Chapter 4 and by reviewing the ELP standards. Chapter 4 taught me a lot about how to use computers with ELLs and other students in the classroom. Its main purpose was to show “the potential of multimedia and digital technologies to engage in student learning” (Peregoy & Boyle, 2017, p. 132). It says that with the invention of the computer and the internet we have become visual learners more than listeners or readers and that we must keep up with this change in our interactions with students. This includes potentially using films or movies more in the classroom. This just reminded me of another class I’m taking. It talked about the power of comic books and mentioned how technology is making us more visual so comics are probably more helpful to students than a book that solely has text. It said the internet has created multiliteracies, that reading on the internet is multimodal, and connections that wouldn’t have happened otherwise exist in the digital space more compared to the physical space. That’s personally what I love about the internet, those connections that are made. Recently I came across a disabled man and he said he spends most of his time online, because it can be more inclusive and welcoming for him and he gets to be anything he wants to be on there, like a character in a role-playing game. Because the internet is so inclusive and diverse it urges biases to be confronted and rid of in an educator, according to the chapter, simply because you are working with people from different and diverse areas. I thought like many other modules before, the chapter also suggested giving students a framework to model after and learn more about their backgrounds to activate prior knowledge in the student. The chapter said as well students, using technologies of the present, can now make videos, podcasts, blogs, or engage in virtual scavenger hunts to increase their understanding, activities and tools that weren’t accessible to them before. This is because the ELP standards stress that students speak, share and participate in exchanges of information. The standards also say to consistently provide key details and definitions for the readings of an ELL. After our discussion, in this module, we submitted our lesson planning tying into our student observation, a draft. I chose to have students create a character map, since my focus is English, and it can allow practice with the four domains, because my student has trouble with all of the domains. I look forward to hearing feedback.

References

Peregoy, S.F. Boyle, O. (2017). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for Teaching K-12 English Learners. Boston. Pearson.