Placement Week 2 So by this time I understood who the troublemakers were, but there was one student the teacher would NOT stop yelling! She would yell at him when he was trying to sharpen his pencil. She yelled when he had to go to the bathroom and took too long. She yelled at this ELL when he did not know how to complete his idioms worksheet. This is when it made me mad but I couldn't say anything to the teacher. I realized he was no troublemaker, just a student who was not understanding a language. Frustrated by the teacher, I approached the student. I asked him why he didn't complete the worksheet. Obviously he had no clue what he was doing. I sat with him and worked through the worksheet. As soon as the students left, the teacher called the parents to complain about his lack of participation and interest in the class. She complained to me that he never raised his hand to answer questions, and when she called on him he never knew the answer.
The next day I got a chance to teach some idioms! I made sure I was prepared. I read a fun book that had the drawings of the idioms. The students laughed, but they understood that some of the idioms were ridiculous. As I read the book I asked about each idiom. The student that supposedly never answered questions, raised his hand! I picked him! HE UNDERSTOOD!!!! He knew what the idiom actually meant. To help the students see this visually, I printed out all kinds of idioms and I had plenty of picture books containing idioms. The students got to draw the idiom on the paper and the actual meaning on another. ALL the students succeeded and the teacher did not even acknowledge the big accomplishment! Oh well... at least the students will pass the idioms tests now! =)
So by this time I understood who the troublemakers were, but there was one student the teacher would NOT stop yelling! She would yell at him when he was trying to sharpen his pencil. She yelled when he had to go to the bathroom and took too long. She yelled at this ELL when he did not know how to complete his idioms worksheet. This is when it made me mad but I couldn't say anything to the teacher. I realized he was no troublemaker, just a student who was not understanding a language. Frustrated by the teacher, I approached the student. I asked him why he didn't complete the worksheet. Obviously he had no clue what he was doing. I sat with him and worked through the worksheet. As soon as the students left, the teacher called the parents to complain about his lack of participation and interest in the class. She complained to me that he never raised his hand to answer questions, and when she called on him he never knew the answer.
The next day I got a chance to teach some idioms! I made sure I was prepared. I read a fun book that had the drawings of the idioms. The students laughed, but they understood that some of the idioms were ridiculous. As I read the book I asked about each idiom. The student that supposedly never answered questions, raised his hand! I picked him! HE UNDERSTOOD!!!! He knew what the idiom actually meant. To help the students see this visually, I printed out all kinds of idioms and I had plenty of picture books containing idioms. The students got to draw the idiom on the paper and the actual meaning on another. ALL the students succeeded and the teacher did not even acknowledge the big accomplishment! Oh well... at least the students will pass the idioms tests now! =)
[pictures to come soon of the idiom activity!]