Why Is It Important To Teach Ells In The Classroom

As a future educator, it is important for me to make my classroom a great learning environment for all of my students. Growing up, I would always enjoy hands-on activities in the classroom. I remember looking forward to different holidays because we would be able to participate in an arts and crafts activities while being able to learn about the holiday we were celebrating. Until I started learning more about English Language Learners, I never realized how these activities can be more difficult for some students. Because certain lessons inside of the classroom can be more difficult for ELLs, I think it is extremely important to be able to help them learn the material to the best of their ability. I remember some of my classmates that weren’t

Despite this, I never thought about the many difficulties many of them were overcoming at the time. I’ve wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, and now that I am attending college to become one, I am realizing the different aspects of teaching that I have never thought of. Teaching ELLs is something that never crossed my mind when I thought of becoming a teacher, however, after learning about the growing amount of ELLs in the Unites States, I think it is necessary to allow them the same educational opportunities as every other student. There are many different ways for ELLs to be able to learn inside of the classroom, and after learning about many of the variety of ways to teach students and adjust lessons, I feel confident that as a teacher I can make my classroom welcoming for students that are from both different language and cultural backgrounds. My philosophy for teaching ELLs will enable them to feel comfortable in a welcoming classroom, and also allow them to learn to the best of their

Beginning from my classroom environment all the way to assessments, I want my ELL students to feel comfortable and confident with the work they are doing. Because they will probably be in a completely different atmosphere than they are used to, I need to be aware that there will many situations of unfamiliarity among the student, however, this isn’t a reflection of the student’s knowledge of content. Not only that but, “Educators who understand the power of translanguaging encourage bilinguals to use their home languages to think, reflect, and extend their inner speech” (BOOK, CHAPTER 5). Because of this, I know that when teaching ELLs, I should not ignore their first language and actually use that to help them learn and develop their academic skills in English. I also want my ELL students to be able to learn the material appropriate for their academic ability because “Research on teaching and learning indicates that all students need to be given opportunities to participate in challenging academic work that promotes disciplinary knowledge and encourages high-order thinking skills” (BOOK, CHAPTER 6). As a future educator, I want my ELL students to still be able to participate in work that encourages high-order thinking skills so they can than grow