I often wonder what exactly are our ELLs are thinking as they listen and try to understand teachers in everyday math life. It must be particularly difficult during standardized testing time as they are unfamiliar with new English and Math vocabulary on the test especially since they can not receive must assistance from their classroom teacher.
This video gives a glimpse of how a bilingual ELL might receive information from their teacher about math, specifically math problems on standardized testing. It also demonstrates the frustrations classroom teachers face when helping an ELL.
This video helped me understand my students better and I hope it will do the same for you. It is a must watch.
What do you think? I would love to get comments about it. Let me know
-Marian
Hi Marian, Thanks for the great share. I think a lot of people think that math would be the easiest thing to teach english language learners, after all its just numbers. Rarely is a standardized math exam without word problems. I feel really lucky to live in a county and province where we provide so many resources to ELL students. The case is not the same for a lot of other places. Parents want their children to succeed, that is why they left the comfort of home to come to a strange new place where they don't have anything. It is so easy for ELL students to get discouraged and lost in the system. As teachers we need to be vigilant in understanding our students and ensuring that this doesn't happen. All they need is someone to believe in them. Thanks for the share Marian, such an eye opener.
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