Assigned grades and subjects
I am lucky enough to work with a wide range of ages at my school. I work with infants, first graders, second graders, fourth graders, and sixth graders. In infantil, I work with one class of 4 year olds in their English class, and with two classes of 5 year olds in their English class, as well. With first grade, I assist in many subjects including English, science, and arts. With second grade, I assist in their science and English classes. With fourth grade, I assist in their art classes. Finally, with sixth grade, I assist in their art classes and one of the group's English sessions. I personally enjoy the variety of students I work with because it has made me grow as a teacher as I have had to learn to adapt the needs of various groups.
When I first arrived at the school, one of my main goals was to try to be as attentive as possible to the various needs of different students. In order to reach this end, I made it a top priority of mine to learn as many students' names as quickly as I could. When addressed by name, there tends to be a more personal attachment and a student is more likely to listen to you as well as come to you when they have questions or doubts. I believe it is extremely important for students to feel as though they are able to come to their teachers when they are struggling as that will facilitate their learning and growing process.
I believe being fully-bilingual myself has been greatly beneficial for me in this job, as I am able to understand my students fully when they have a question or problem when they cannot fully express themselves in English. However, it has been a conscience goal of mine to not let my students use my ability to understand as a crutch for them to not try to express themselves in English. I typically pretend that I do not understand them in Spanish, but that I am merely deducting what they are saying from context clues, and repeat back to them what they said to me in English. In this way they may grow to understand me little by little.
My goals for my students vary with each different grade with which I work. With infantil, my main goal is to get them enthusiastic about the English language and the few words they can say. In English they know basic words in basic topics including colors, weather, family members, and clothes. I habitually ask them to tell me the color of something, a name of someone in their family, what they are wearing, etc. just to get them to use the few words they know on a regular basis.
My goals with my first and second graders are similar but with higher standards. I try to get them enthusiastic about the language as well, but I try as much as possible to get them to answer me in complete sentences instead of just words. Their sentences are basic but I believe that is key to be able to gain confidence in a language.
With fourth grade, I try to speak to them as if they could fully understand me. I work with them in the art class and I have found this type of setting to be very beneficial for learning English. In an arts classroom, they are already in a setting where they are expected to express themselves, try something new, and to get out of their comfort zone. In this setting I give them that extra nudge to try to express themselves fully in English as best they can. With sixth graders in the art classroom, the expectations and goals in English are the same with a higher standard, as they have two more years of experience.
Overall, I have learned to adapt through working with a wide age range and I believe this has improved my ability to perceive each student as a unique individual with individual needs.
When I first arrived at the school, one of my main goals was to try to be as attentive as possible to the various needs of different students. In order to reach this end, I made it a top priority of mine to learn as many students' names as quickly as I could. When addressed by name, there tends to be a more personal attachment and a student is more likely to listen to you as well as come to you when they have questions or doubts. I believe it is extremely important for students to feel as though they are able to come to their teachers when they are struggling as that will facilitate their learning and growing process.
I believe being fully-bilingual myself has been greatly beneficial for me in this job, as I am able to understand my students fully when they have a question or problem when they cannot fully express themselves in English. However, it has been a conscience goal of mine to not let my students use my ability to understand as a crutch for them to not try to express themselves in English. I typically pretend that I do not understand them in Spanish, but that I am merely deducting what they are saying from context clues, and repeat back to them what they said to me in English. In this way they may grow to understand me little by little.
My goals for my students vary with each different grade with which I work. With infantil, my main goal is to get them enthusiastic about the English language and the few words they can say. In English they know basic words in basic topics including colors, weather, family members, and clothes. I habitually ask them to tell me the color of something, a name of someone in their family, what they are wearing, etc. just to get them to use the few words they know on a regular basis.
My goals with my first and second graders are similar but with higher standards. I try to get them enthusiastic about the language as well, but I try as much as possible to get them to answer me in complete sentences instead of just words. Their sentences are basic but I believe that is key to be able to gain confidence in a language.
With fourth grade, I try to speak to them as if they could fully understand me. I work with them in the art class and I have found this type of setting to be very beneficial for learning English. In an arts classroom, they are already in a setting where they are expected to express themselves, try something new, and to get out of their comfort zone. In this setting I give them that extra nudge to try to express themselves fully in English as best they can. With sixth graders in the art classroom, the expectations and goals in English are the same with a higher standard, as they have two more years of experience.
Overall, I have learned to adapt through working with a wide age range and I believe this has improved my ability to perceive each student as a unique individual with individual needs.