❤ Valuing Bilingualism 



Although everyone in the class can speak English, my teacher will occasionally count down to quiet the kids in Spanish. I love that she does this because you can see some of the kids attention completely switch to her, like a switch went off in their brains. 

There is only one true ELL student in my class, and she doesn't write the best in English yet. So my teacher will explain to her what the word means and compare it to something similar in Spanish even though my teacher's L1 is English. I think this is something amazing my teacher does because she isn't just saying "no this is wrong go back and fix it or go ask a classmate" she truly works with her (definitely something I'll take away with me).

Other than the occasional counting down, there isn't much other incorporation of other languages. However, I wouldn't say that she doesn't value L1+L2 because sometimes when the some of the students whisper to one another in a different language, which is usually Spanish, she doesn't tell them to only speak in English. 

Something my teacher does an amazing job at, is drawing to the students experiences and relating to things they've gone through or enjoy. For example, anonymous student really loves football, but isn't the greatest at math. My teacher will explain to him that if he wants to play football one day, then he's going to need to pass math and and all starts with not giving up and paying attention - both are two things needed in football as well. Also, when it comes to serious situations, she speaks to the children like people, not kids. Anonymous student came up to my teacher and was delighted that her father was going to be out of jail in two short years. My teacher hugged her and told her how proud of her, her father was going to be. My teacher and her students share a special bond because she's created a home-feel to her classroom that allows for honesty, openness, and for the students to be who they are. If they don't understand something, she goes down to their level to help them understand. 

I hope when I have a classroom of my own I can create the environment she has in her classroom. It's incredible!

When it comes to parent involvement, my teacher strays away from saying "mom and dad" and usually just says something like "whoever takes care of you" or something in that nature. This is because the majority of the students are lacking either one or both parents. One of the students actually got dropped off at his older sisters house and the mom never came back for him... 

She has found out a lot about each of the students home life which also helps with how she interacts with the parents. 

For example, when it comes to anonymous student, she knows the mother is here illegally and can't read the send home notes and so my teacher google translates all of it and sends a special note home. Also, another student doesn't have parents so when she is misbehaving, instead of saying "I'm calling mom" she will refer to grandma - her care taker.

When the students are misbehaving to a certain extent, the parents are notified. Also, the field trip information, etc. is all sent home with the students to share with the parents/care takers.