English Language Learners and Me

So I had my first class last night. It's Structured English Immersion. I am learning primarily about the history of English Language Learning so far. We have to do an instructional unit--a three day lesson plan--teaching to both the content standards and the language standards. It's hard to try to mix language learning into content!! And I decided to make it easy on myself and do a Language Arts, Reading lesson with Kindergarten students and it was still difficult to think of how to make it fit together!!

So my Unit is going to be a lesson on word recognition and rhyming. The first lesson I will read the first few pages of Horton Hears A Who and then we'll talk about the letters, words, sentences connections and then about how some words sound the same. We'll progress to creating our own rhymes. It should be fun!!

Kindergarteners are still learning English as it is, so it should be easier to teach English to Language Learners because you're already kind of teaching it. I didn't just pick Kindergarten to make the assignment easier though. I want to teach either Pre-K, Kindergarten, or First Grade when I graduate.

Eventually I may get my PhD, but that's a ways away and I haven't decided if I want to go into Educational Psychology yet or not. Don't get me started on Educational Psychology...I could talk about it for awhile.

Sometimes I question my decision to go back to school, but there are times, like now, when I feel like I've made the right decision.

I majored in English Literature for my undergraduate degree and while I loved it and wouldn't change it for the world, I haven't found much use for it. I was going into publishing, but that didn't work out. Turned out it wasn't what I wanted after all.

Then I sort of fell into working with children. They grow on you ;)

So here I am.

Right now, from where I'm sitting, the future looks bright. And coming from me, that's an amazing statement.

May it be so!!