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Update! Just had my meeting with Antero today, and it was so eye opening to the simplest of things that people just frequently forget. We talked about ELL learners, and how to make them feel more comfortable in the classroom. How to make them feel respected, how to choose the right words to teach in, how to create a learning environment that encourages them, ect.
Making ELL students know that their culture is respected is a huge priority for me. Me being from a totally different culture than them, I never want them to feel like I'm talking down in any way, shape, or form. Antero said that bringing it back to the basics, not pushing specific vocabulary, creating an environment where they can share their cultures with one another is the ideal way to do that. One specific line that Antero said that stood out to me was, "If you decorate your classroom only with things that inspire you, you will be putting your students in a cage". That idea really struck me -- I never thought about how visual motivation could be done "wrong". What helps and inspires me or others close to me may not be anything near what inspires my students, especially ELLs. Pictures speak a thousand words, and visual aids within the learning environment are so important to ELL students. Creating a learning environment that helps them start to understand and take in American language as well as support the sharing of their own is imperative. A few tips Antero passed on about allowing students to share their own cultural preferences were to have the students pick the music of the day -- allowing this will let them share a part of themselves with the class.
Overall, the meeting with Antero was so nice and informative, he is so full of wisdom and love for teaching. :)
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