Today was my last day with my ELL student M. We reviewed the test that she just took in Ms. R’s class. I wrote before about some really rough times that M has been going through recently; she has missed quite a few of Ms. R’s classes. Because of all of her absences she did not do too well on her history test. Ms. R asked if I would review the test with her. We went over all of the answers and discussed the ones that she missed. I think it really helped her to have the extra review time, and she said she would go and ask Ms. R if she can retake the test. I hope she goes and retakes the test. I really see potential in M. She can go far in life if she chooses too!
In reflection, I think my time with my ELL student was a great success. It was really an advantage that she was also in my cooperating teacher’s class; this gave us more time together and a better opportunity to have a relationship. It also gave us a lot of information to review together.
In reflection, it all goes back to what Mr. Raymond talked about in the beginning. . . relationships and rapport! My time with M was so successful because we developed such a bond. When we were finished today, M gave me a note; in this note she told me that she trusted me and I listened to her whenever bad things happened to her. Trust is so important in the teacher-student relationship. M trusted me and that helped her to listen to me and to apply herself even more. I think we began on the right foot whenever I read her introductory letter to her in Spanish. This helped her to see that I was willing to be a learner too and in turn she gave more of herself to the learning process.
I am so glad we had the opportunity to work with the ELL students. It helped me so much because I was able to gain a better understanding of how difficult it is to be a young person who does not know the language. . .this will help me to be a better more compassionate teacher.
