Refugee DEvelopment center
adult ESL tutoring experience
final reflection
Overview on Project
For my LLT307 Honors Option Project, I decided to volunteer every Wednesday night from 6-8pm for this entire semester with adult English language learners at the Refugee Development Center. Classes were held at the downtown Lansing Library. Each session included two classes, high proficiency and lower proficiency, and was assigned to the higher proficiency class. The class structure typically consisted of the lead teacher leading introductions, announcements, review of previously learned material, a new lesson of the day, worksheets and practicing the new lesson information, and ending with small talk and conversational skill building. In order to better reflect upon this experience, I maintained a blog for each tutoring session which describes the events and learned material at tutoring and my own reflections.
Rationale for Project
I selected this specific project for two main purposes. One of which was due to this LLT307 course surrounding English Language Learners. I wanted to have an experience where I could see various principles and language pedagogy in action and consider this Refugee Development Center English class in relations with my LLT307 course. Additionally, as an Elementary Education major, I have focused much of my studies in content related to young children. Although feel passionate about teaching young children, elementary teachers do not only work with children but also with co-workers as well as parents. As the United States continues to grow more culturally diverse and English Language Learners appear in classrooms, it’s important to also take into account that ELL students often have ELL families as well. This experience working with adults no doubt supplements my goals as a future elementary educator.
Challenges
Although various challenges related to working with someone whose native language is different than my own was something I anticipated going into this tutoring program, what I did not see coming was the manner in which the Refugee Development Center responded to the November 8th, 2016 election. I also was surprised in my own reaction to the manner in which the Refugee Development Center responded. Having tutoring the night after the president-elect was announced brought much talk on my MSU campus, and I was expecting a similar response at RDC that night. However, upon arriving I was quickly updated that there will be no speaking of the election at this tutoring site both among tutors and adult students (neither lower nor higher proficiency classes). For me, this was one of my most difficult challenges of this semester project. As professors at MSU in my classes throughout the day had been telling students the election would not be discussed in their classroom, I was expecting the exact opposite at RDC. Specifically, I felt this was a challenge because with my original viewpoints, I disagreed with the non-response that was taken in regards to the current event. I believed, and still do believe that school is political. Learning is political. Language is political. I feel that banning the discussion of current events just due to the political connection is not a great reflection of what the real world is like. However, I did not bring up my feelings to the lead teacher as I that it wasn’t my place as a volunteer tutor to question her decision. I did however bring up my thoughts and RDC’s reaction with my LLT307 professor who helped me see a new light on the issue. She helped me to understand that it’s not only about reflecting the real world per say, but also important that before a teacher brings up a potentially deep topic such as that, the teacher must be prepared to deal with wherever the conversation may go. Although this is a much simplified recap of this conversation, it left me feeling as though a new light had appeared in my own building pedagogical metacognition and helped me to understand why this RDC teacher might have decided what she had.
Final Thoughts
Although I did have challenges within this project, in the end I feel that I have come away with higher thinking skills especially related to pedagogical practices and teacher decision making. I have a deeper understanding of cultural sensitivity having worked with adult English language learners as well as have gained experience teaching while also maintain a respect for learners who are older than me. Although there was an array of projects to select for this honors option, I feel glad that this was the path I chose.
For my LLT307 Honors Option Project, I decided to volunteer every Wednesday night from 6-8pm for this entire semester with adult English language learners at the Refugee Development Center. Classes were held at the downtown Lansing Library. Each session included two classes, high proficiency and lower proficiency, and was assigned to the higher proficiency class. The class structure typically consisted of the lead teacher leading introductions, announcements, review of previously learned material, a new lesson of the day, worksheets and practicing the new lesson information, and ending with small talk and conversational skill building. In order to better reflect upon this experience, I maintained a blog for each tutoring session which describes the events and learned material at tutoring and my own reflections.
Rationale for Project
I selected this specific project for two main purposes. One of which was due to this LLT307 course surrounding English Language Learners. I wanted to have an experience where I could see various principles and language pedagogy in action and consider this Refugee Development Center English class in relations with my LLT307 course. Additionally, as an Elementary Education major, I have focused much of my studies in content related to young children. Although feel passionate about teaching young children, elementary teachers do not only work with children but also with co-workers as well as parents. As the United States continues to grow more culturally diverse and English Language Learners appear in classrooms, it’s important to also take into account that ELL students often have ELL families as well. This experience working with adults no doubt supplements my goals as a future elementary educator.
Challenges
Although various challenges related to working with someone whose native language is different than my own was something I anticipated going into this tutoring program, what I did not see coming was the manner in which the Refugee Development Center responded to the November 8th, 2016 election. I also was surprised in my own reaction to the manner in which the Refugee Development Center responded. Having tutoring the night after the president-elect was announced brought much talk on my MSU campus, and I was expecting a similar response at RDC that night. However, upon arriving I was quickly updated that there will be no speaking of the election at this tutoring site both among tutors and adult students (neither lower nor higher proficiency classes). For me, this was one of my most difficult challenges of this semester project. As professors at MSU in my classes throughout the day had been telling students the election would not be discussed in their classroom, I was expecting the exact opposite at RDC. Specifically, I felt this was a challenge because with my original viewpoints, I disagreed with the non-response that was taken in regards to the current event. I believed, and still do believe that school is political. Learning is political. Language is political. I feel that banning the discussion of current events just due to the political connection is not a great reflection of what the real world is like. However, I did not bring up my feelings to the lead teacher as I that it wasn’t my place as a volunteer tutor to question her decision. I did however bring up my thoughts and RDC’s reaction with my LLT307 professor who helped me see a new light on the issue. She helped me to understand that it’s not only about reflecting the real world per say, but also important that before a teacher brings up a potentially deep topic such as that, the teacher must be prepared to deal with wherever the conversation may go. Although this is a much simplified recap of this conversation, it left me feeling as though a new light had appeared in my own building pedagogical metacognition and helped me to understand why this RDC teacher might have decided what she had.
Final Thoughts
Although I did have challenges within this project, in the end I feel that I have come away with higher thinking skills especially related to pedagogical practices and teacher decision making. I have a deeper understanding of cultural sensitivity having worked with adult English language learners as well as have gained experience teaching while also maintain a respect for learners who are older than me. Although there was an array of projects to select for this honors option, I feel glad that this was the path I chose.