Lupita

            I think that Mrs. Potter’s concern about specific students in her classroom and what she has observed shows that she is perceptive and observant in each and every one of her student’s needs. Some students are able to follow along with the pace of the class and the processes, and that works for them. There are some students, however, that just don’t or can’t. While it is stressful to have to tailor teaching toward individual students and make adaptations, a teacher’s job is to make each of their student’s chances of learning equitable. Equality doesn’t always mean that teaching practices look the same for each and every student. I absolutely agree with the chapter from Kostelnick about Marcus, a student that needed special adaptations to help him be able to participate and be successful in his classroom community. While there were certain things that the teacher needed to do differently to accommodate Marcus, they were not huge sacrifices for the teacher at all, and they helped Marcus stay on task, behave well and be happy a lot better.

            In the case of Lupita, I think that Mrs. Potter needs to take this idea of equitability to heart. Lupita deserves a fair chance in being able to learn all of the material and have access to the available resources that other students are able to take advantage of. Lupita definitely fits the profile of an English Language Learner, as a student that was raised in Mexico and does Spanish work. According to the Freeman article, she seems to fit in the category as “limited formal schooling” like Pepe. Lupita was not exposed to supplies and things that other students her age were exposed to, and she does not seem to have academic proficiency in her L1. This means that she is even more behind in becoming both conversational and academically proficient in her L2, English.

            If Mrs. Potter knows that she has had little experience with supplies, puzzles, toys and interaction, it is important that she provides these opportunities for Lupita now. Designing assignments that include these items, where other students are able to help scaffold and interact with Lupita, and where the teacher has designed extra support is essential to help Lupita grow and learn more. As Mrs. Potter designs lessons, it is essential that she keeps Lupita, as well as Eddie and Jonathan in mind.

            There are specific helpful adaptations that we have talked about in class to aid in the learning of English Language Learners. The Breitfelder article even makes a good point about the use of visuals as adaptations. While this article mainly focused on students who have diagnoses of autism, ADD, and other disorders, visuals can be extremely helpful for English Language Learners, as well. Any support that helps students with the language content of an assignment or lesson can improve their comprehension and learning of English. Using pictures, graphs, maps, organizers, gestures, and even the white board or overhead can help support an ELL greatly. Giving directions in several ways, such as verbally, on the board, and on a worksheet give ELLs more opportunity to understand the assignment.

            Another adaptation that Freeman suggested was teaching content around themes. This helps organize the content for ELLs and begin to grasp academic content and grow in academic proficiency. An extremely important accommodation that we have talked about throughout the semester is valuing an ELL’s home language and culture. Making Lupita feel like Spanish and her Mexican heritage are important makes her feel like she is part of the classroom community and has access to the content given. Using literature or other background knowledge that relates to Lupita’s culture and language would help greatly in developing her proficiency. Something that could help with the knowledge of this culture and language is developing a relationship with Lupita’s parents or guardians. Including them into her learning would only help her school life and home life align.

            Mrs. Potter was able to observe Lupita’s skill with puzzles and her seemingly enjoyment of them in her free time. She was also able to see that lead to natural interaction with her peers. Using this knowledge to help promote interaction would help Lupita’s proficiency levels. Discovering other things that Lupita is interested in would also be helpful in knowing how to use Lupita’s gifts and talents to help her learn about things that she may not be as interested in or help her develop her language skills. Sitting down with Lupita and taking the time to interview her and learn more about her, as well as paying close attention and observing her in class are good steps that Mrs. Potter could take.

            English Language Learners have a lot on their plates with not only trying to learn the academic content of what is being taught in there classroom, but at the same time trying to learn the language that the content is given in. In order for Lupita to be growing and developing, it is essential that Mrs. Potter take the time to create accommodations and adaptations for Lupita’s learning. She owes it to each and every one of her students to get to know them, their strengths and weaknesses, and specific things that need to happen in order for them to continue to grow and develop as learners.