Blog 21

What I worked on in class:

During today's class I focused on working on the article that I will be using for my literature review. I also gathered more information on my focus and the results of my data. The article I chose was, Play and Literacy Learning in a Diverse Language Pre-kindergarten Classroom. This article focuses on a teachers research on how children from diverse language backgrounds learn by playing in literacy learning. I feel as if this article provides me with a good resource and information that I can use towards my research as it shows the teachers perspective on how his or her students. The focus of my paper is how an ESL teacher connects with her students on an emotional level, as she can relate to their emotions, and how she overcomes her struggle to provide them with the best education. The data that I collected shows how this teacher is there to guide her students every step of the way whether it is on a social level or on an academic level. She is constantly providing them with support as well as giving them the confidence that they can achieve a task independently.

Information from the article:

• ·        "6.3 million children between the ages of 5-17 years spoke a language other than English at home. "

I will be putting a statistic in my paper. I completely forgot how EXTREMELY important it is to provide statistics in research papers!!!

• ·        "Developmentally appropriate practice assumes universal developmental notions for understanding children and their growth..." (page 49)
• ·        ".. teachers use multiple perspectives to see learners grow and learn in developmentally appropriate settings by viewing children's knowledge of diverse languages, dialect, and discourse patters as a developmental 'plus', not a developmental deficiency."

Like the teacher I interviewed she knows how important it is to understand her students. By understanding your students on a cognitive level, their living situations, and how they work with others allows the teacher to modify her teaching to accommodate their needs to ensure the best learning possible.