Wish List

Sometimes I make wish lists in my head. I know its not a very good thing to do because I can never have all the things I want nor should I be wishing them in the first place, but then again it's healthy to dream right? So I decided to write down a very short wish list so as not become an unhealthy wisher.

I wish...

1. I had jeep liberty. They're really cute, ya know.

2. Ice cream was good for you.

3. My family lived closer to me.

4. I could dry instantly after being wet. It would be an awesome super power.

5. I could remember everything a teacher ever said to me.

6. I was instantly an amazing photographer with all the expensive gear.

I Can Do It

So I have a crazy life, pretty much like a lot of college students. I work 12+ hours a week, I swim 20 hours a week, and I go to school. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but not too bad so far. I just have to take one day at a time. Recently I had to write a paper for my health class about consciously observing my positive and negative actions and thoughts. My paper was pretty honest and I just put down what happens to me on a daily basis. Sure I have my ups and downs, but I think its more important to concentrate on the ups. I had a couple of rough days during my observation, however, and it showed in my paper. At the end of my paper my teacher wrote, "Wow--how do you do it all? work and swim and school?" It was so nice to have a professor of all people to notice my busy life as an outside observer and respect me for my hard work. It was such a nice comment to me for some reason and really perked up my day and attitude. I like the motto that Sister Susan W. Tanner said, "I can do hard things." It makes me feel so good when I accomplish a "hard thing" and just reflect on it.

Teaching

Surprisingly, I feel like I'm becoming a better teacher. I miss my gospel doctrine calling and LOVED it when I got to teach relief society. I taught my drama class a poem today and it totally flowed naturally. Things come quickly to me and I just feel like be a teacher was a life calling for me.

I wrote this little list for my TELL 430 class based off an article I read for fun. I feel smart. :)

Important Things to Remember When Teaching ELLs:

(according to Karalee Fuller)

1. Repetition is key. Just like you and me, they don’t understand everything the first time. Mix up the ways you teach important concepts to help it stick. (multiple contexts)

2. Just because a student can speak to you does not mean they understand the textbook or certain academic vocabulary. (BICS vs. CALPS)

3. English words are hard. Sometimes a word can be deciphered, but often times not. Would you know what the word interpretation means by just looking at the word?

4. Every ELL needs help outside of the classroom. In order to catch up to their peers they need more academic time. Ex: after school programs that support academic learning

5. Visual support helps ELLs. Pictures are the universal language.

6. Every lesson should be engaging and motivating.

7. Practice, practice, practice.

8. Relate new concepts to things they already know/prior knowledge, whenever possible. (scaffolding)

9. Group work has been seen to help with confidence and learning. The teacher doesn’t have to be the only one teaching.

There is not one “right way” to teach something.