Entry 1: Self-Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Morgan Smith and I am studying teaching and learning at the University of Houston's main campus. I plan on graduating in the spring of 2019. I will be starting student teaching in the fall, and I am anxious to learn as much as I can about learning a second language before I am in the classroom full time.

Click here to watch my introductory video!

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Entry 2: ELL Interview

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For the video log, I interviewed 20-year-old Gabby who learned English as a second language. Gabby originally spoke Spanish at home with her parents until she started going to public school in the United States at age 5. She is a bilingual speaker who is currently proficient in both languages. Gabby's story is interesting to me as I have never learned a second language, and I could not relate to many of her experiences. One of the things that really stuck out to me was when she said, "you're never fully living life in English." She explained how when she reads books in English, she is always thinking about it in Spanish as well. Wright reminds us that as teachers we need to be aware that "the languages in an individual’s repertoire are not separate and compartmentalized, and students always draw on what they know and can do in one language to make new meanings in another" (Wright, 2015, pg. 40). This is important to understand because we should always b...
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Entry 4: Course reflection

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This course has strengthened my overall understanding of some of the methods and practices that can be used to help students who are learning a second language. I am aware that learning content-based material along-side while trying to acquire a second language can be very challenging. However, I believe that I have a large repertoire of strategies to better facilitate their learning and make the transition from their L1 to their L2 more enjoyable and efficient. This class will positively impact my professional practice because I have more knowledge of how to help different populations of students. As a teacher, we must be prepared teach students that learn differently from one another, have learning disabilities, as well as students that have not had as very much exposure to the English language. This means that we must have multiple methods for addressing the academic challenges they are facing. In order to do this, teachers need to get to know all of their students so ...
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