Mod 20 Discussion: Goals for This Course Revisited

My goals at the begining of the course were as follows: One of my goals for this course is to learn strategies that will help me do a better job for incorporating the home language and culture of my non-native English speakers  into my classroom activities. Another goal is help my non-native English speakers overcome anxiety as a result of culture shock so that they realize that my classroom is safe place for them to learn. Finally,  I would like to learn better strategies for reaching out to the parents of my non-native English speakers and including them in the educational process.

I certainly accomplished goal number one, for I have a stronger sense of how to add cultural elements into my lesson plans. I also accomplished goal number two for the following reason: I have a better sense of the kinds of accomodations I might need to consider to help my ELL students overcome any barrier, including culture shock anxiety, and so become better students. I also beleive I acomplished goal number three; one activity in particualr gave me insight into how to better approach the parents of my ELL students: that activity was creating the agenda for a workshop for new families from other countries. My workshop was called: New Families from Other Countries Potluck Get-Together. The purpose of that workshop was to create a viable partnership between the classroom teacher responsible for educating new students from other countries AND the parents of those new students from other countries. I think I might use that workshop at my school in the future.