In just the first 2 sessions of my ELL placement, I have realized how much I really enjoy programs like this. The young girl I have been working with is very bright, but does not have the methods to express her intelligence just yet. I love helping her harness that ability.
There have been a few challenges in working with her. Although she is bright, she has trouble digging deep to answer more analytical questions. She tends to not pick up on context clues in her readings. Most times, for her to truly understand the significance of an event in her text, I will either have to act it out or give her a more relatable example that is comparable to the one given in her book. From there, I have to ask her multiple questions that lead her to the answer of the prompt given on her worksheet. Although it can be exhausting, I find it really rewarding when she is able to think about something on a deeper level.
My favorite memory thus far has been teaching her how to use a dictionary. At first I did the searching for her, and she watched how I found the words. When I handed the book over to her, it was very interesting to watch. She didn't know the order of the alphabet too well and struggled with knowing which way she should look in the book to find her word. This made me start to wonder if teachers nowadays are giving their students enough resources. These students do have computers, but there is a big difference between an online dictionary and a hard copy. You really need to be able to use both. Especially with this child as an English language learner, I was shocked that no one had taught her how to use one before.
I loved hearing you talk about your experience. It sounds like you are definitely having an impact!
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