English Language Learners

English language learners are a topic that I have not come across as a future educator very often. I'd heard of these students within a classroom and my mom has had them in her classroom as well. It would be challenging to overcome this obstacle within my own classroom but Beers gives several fantastic suggestions in how best to overcome this challenge. My favorite topic was the suggestion of the echo class (Beers, 112) in which students learn the material in the second language then take the echo class in their native language to help them to better understand what was being taught in the second language (I think I have that right). I think this idea is fantastic because the students are able to hear the lesson being taught in the language they are trying to learn and in this process, although they may not be able to keep up with that language, they may hear the social cues or colloquialism that assists in teaching that lesson. I think the use of these echo classes are just a wonderful idea for those learning that second language. I also think that Beers and Danling do an excellent job n providing instruction in how to best coach these ELL students in saying that the students should converse primarily in their native language (111) so that learning the second language becomes less as of a formality over time because they are incorporating that second language in a manner that they are best able to understand. I enjoyed the suggestions Beers and Dangling provided within this chapter and feel as though I have a slightly better hold on what I would be able to do with the ELL students within my own classroom. I hope that I can make these students feel as comfortable in learning this new language as possible and hope that I can assist them through that difficult journey.