Blog Ch 10 & 11
What
stuck out to me in Chapter 10 was using technology with linguistically diverse
learners. Student teaching this semester I have seen firsthand a lot about
this. It really is amazing how much technology helps with this in terms of ELL
learners. I have come across children who can barely understand a word of English
but because of technology they are on the same page as their classmates. But
also with English speaking students who want to learn another language. On page
247 the text brings up online translators. Yes, they are extremely helpful but
from my own personal experience they aren’t always reliable. Personally, yahoo
translator I think is extremely unreliable because I needed help translating a
small paragraph for Spanish class back in high school. I know this is wrong,
but I thought I could just copy and paste the paragraph into the online
translator and homework done right? Well wrong! It translated the paragraph
into something completely different, and inappropriate and let’s just say it
didn’t end with a 0 for my homework grade. So just like any other piece of
technology there are pros and cons for this. On the following page the text
also discussed interactive maps. Being social studies is my concentration I
think interactive maps are extremely beneficial for a student’s learning. It
brings the map to life, therefore the student is learning in a more fun way. If
a student learns in a way that if fun for them the more likely they will
understand and retain the information being taught to them. “The Modern
Language Association (MLA) has an online interactive map of languages spoken in
the United States. The map uses census data to display the locations and the
number of speakers of over 300 languages. Zoom in from the entire country to a
region, state, local community, or zip code to view which languages are spoken
there.” This might be the social studies nerd in me, but that’s awesome! How
extraordinary is that?!
Chapter
11 discussed the topic of teaching portfolios. This is extremely relevant since
this is our final project for this class. Like Professor Chen said the Philosophy
of Education is the most important part because it describes and discusses who
you are as an educator, what you stand for, and what you believe in. Along with
this, reflection is a big part of this because it is a form a self-assessment.
In reflection a learner “examines past actions to identify what to maintain or
change.” I think reflection is extremely important for everyone, teacher,
student, anyone in any profession because it allows you to take a step outside
yourself and examine an entire situation without being in it anymore.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI agree that a translate app or website needs to be used sparingly. When I was student teaching, a teacher used Google Translate to translate a midterm because he made the test up too late and couldn't get it to the Spanish teacher. The poor kid couldn't even do the assignment because she said it doesn't make sense! I think that the use of technology for ENLs would provide a great support such as bridging a cultural divide or eliminating a language barrier. ENLs can use Google Translate for phrases or terms instead of whole paragraphs which would provide vocabulary growth, especially with Tier III vocabulary.
There's always pros and cons to anything I guess and what you said about online translator is true. It's can't be always right but like luigi said instead of translating whole paragraphs, translating a vocabulary word would be great help for ELL students. Sometimes just knowing the main vocabulary words about the topic that a student is learning can help catch up what the classroom discussion is about.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting context to consider the two chapters through. I know personally, I've always struggled to think of how to teach students who speak a different language than the one I am teaching in. And I can only imagine how difficult it is for the actual students to try and learn when they cannot communicate with their peers and teachers. Online translators are difficult because of the nuances that exist in languages. Phrases often used in the english language won't translate well to, say for example, spanish because those speakers do not use the same phrase. Culture and language are built around each other and technology cannot account for that.
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