Blog #8 Sheltered Instruction Observation

This video on sheltered instruction solidified by belief that sheltered instruction is good teaching. While there are minor differences that need to be taken into consideration for ESL students, overall, sheltered instruction incorporates best teaching practices. As I watched the videos, I noticed the following strategies the teacher used:

• reviewed expectations and objectives for the lesson
• modeled directions 3-ways: verbally, written, and demonstrated
• frontloaded vocabulary with visuals and synonyms
• modeled metacognitive strategies
• increased wait time
• culturally relevant content
• Post-it note strategy

Overall, unless I just saw the teacher teaching, without Dr. Grassi pointing out what the teacher was doing, I would have assumed this lesson was just another lesson. The diary board is a great strategy and I think there are a couple of ways the teacher could make the strategy even stronger. If the teacher divided the students into groups and each group had their own diary board, it would engage the students in working collaboratively and use language in an authentic setting. I would have liked to see more student talk; while I understand the need to model and demonstrate, I feel the students could have been engaged more by talking about the text (I realize we may not have seen the end of the lesson where the students share their post-it notes). I really like the post-it strategy and in the upcoming school year I intend to use when we read novels. It's a great way to interact with the text; it is also sheltered because the student can use a simple graphic representation to show confusion, visualization, excitement etc. Unlike a dialectical journal which requires complex written skills, this strategy can be done first and then working in pairs, students can formulate a written entry into a dialectical journal.

I enjoyed how the teacher modeled reading strategies and her metacognition. Too often students may not understand how to use different reading strategies but when the strategy is explicitly explained and demonstrated, all students can comprehend it. Metacognition is a powerful strategy but also a challenging on for all students, especially ESL students. Imagine reading a text in a language you are not proficient in and then attempting to think about the text in that language or translating your thoughts into English. The text, Esperanza Rising, clearly shows the teacher respecting the variety of cultures in her classroom. I am a huge advocate of incorporating literature from a variety of countries and authors. Our classrooms are diverse but sometimes our curriculum (especially literature) focuses on writes who are male and white. There are wonderful authors who come from all over the world and all students need to be exposed to the variety of writers out there. By including diversity in the curriculum, students see we value them for who they are and we are not trying to assimilate them into the dominate American culture.